Even though we had a little bit of warning about federation, I think we’re off to a rocky start. Maybe we should have compiled a list of things we think that may make other people very upset. That way they can quickly get to know what we’re about and go hide in a social media bubble if it scares them.

I figure I’d start with a good one. America deserved 9/11. I’m burying the lede a bit with that one. I don’t think random acts of violence really accomplish much and I don’t think randos, albeit imperial core randos, should die. But this wasn’t a random act of violence, was it?

There’s a little something called Foucault’s Boomerang. Basically it’s the tools, means, and experiments carried out by imperial countries tend to make their way back home one way or another. Military gear gets tried out on the battlefield then next thing you know cops at home have the same equipment. It also works for cause and effect. America did 9/11 to itself.

After WWII America courted the monarchy of Saudi Arabia, who had some really “interesting” religious ideas at the time, to ensure a source of oil. Oil was very important to American manufacturing and the war effort. Our domestic reserves helped us get through WWII. We needed more. So the US decided to look the other way on Saudi foreign policy while they ensured us first dibs on the oil. The UK also made deals on building their infrastructure and finance needs, to which the US eventually pushed them of the back rooms where such deals were made. But that’s another story.

The US also backed anti-Soviet/anti-Communist groups in the Middle-East as they had in other parts of the world. This meant giving aide and weapons and training to those groups. In exchange they would beat up all the communists and pro-soviet people in their country and keep the borders open for US trade.

Not to “yadda yadda yadda” through a lot of interesting history but the US made a lot of enemies and ruined former alliances in these places because we valued the exploitation of their resources more than the actual relationships formed. Once the Soviets were gone, we could just do what we wanted to them and there was nobody left to oppose us.

So our former (and some current) friends stabbed us in the back. The imperialism boomeranged back home and we got a terrorist attack on US soil.

The people who died didn’t particularly deserve it but people die when an imperial power does imperialism. That’s part of why it’s bad. Imperialism will never benefit the common person, it will only hurt us in the end. You best believe all this funding, weapons, and shit going into Ukraine will come back on us too.

What are some other real-ass takes for our visitors who need disillusioning?

120 points

The US also backed anti-Soviet/anti-Communist groups in the Middle-East as they had in other parts of the world.

Let’s not gloss over South / Central America and the Caribbean. The US has backed regime changes/coups in Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina.

Can you imagine the base of stable examples of leftist governments that could exist today if the CIA wasn’t dedicated to overthrowing any “threat to capitalism” (read: example of better ways of doing things).

We used the head start on industrialization post WW2, and millions of years of stored energy in the form of fossil fuels (which have in turn killed us all), to enforce global hegemony of a brutal system of corporate profits above all else.

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53 points

GOOD post. glad you are here

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47 points
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15 points

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37 points

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45 points
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41 points

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28 points

Also, this is something to keep in mind when Americans try to claim that the Soviets started the Korean War.

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15 points

I’ll add to this that the US helped cement the power and privilege of the chaebol. These conglomerates are owned by families who collaborated with imperial Japan during the occupation.

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Cats belong indoors, they live longer and are generally more healthy. They murder less birds that way.

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55 points

Also, leave river rocks alone

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Also, leave river rocks alone

That was one of the most insane threads I’ve read on here

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17 points
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Seemed like most of the arguing was because that seems to be a uniquely American phenomenon. Anyone outside 'merica has never seen or heard of such a thing happening.

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5 points
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what thread?

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5 points

Indeed, “Leave only footprints” isn’t just a cute catchphrase to put on a sign.

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Oof, imagine not simply levitating.

when are we having the “stewardship of the environment requires us to not leave footprints” struggle session?

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34 points

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7 points
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but what about the murder treats

eat your beans

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84 points

This process of blowback is exactly why I think arming Ukraine is going to result in nightmare scenarios in the future, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the new reboot of 24 but about Slavs this time

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38 points

IIRC some neo-nazis in I want to say Germany got raided last year and were found to have weapons from Ukraine, but I can’t find the link.

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You’re probably thinking of this event in Italy.

https://thegrayzone.com/2022/11/15/blowback-italian-azov-tied-nazi-terror/

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29 points

Ah, that’s probably it. No weapons yet, then, just neo-nazi terrorists.

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78 points
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53 points

I’m pretty sure blockades are also illegal under international law. I think unilateral sanction regimes are, too.

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46 points
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The sovereign is he who decides the exception - Carl Schmitt

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There hasn’t been a blockade since the Cuban missile crisis.

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14 points

I should explain what I mean. I was using the terminology in a way that’s somewhat of a stretch.

There’s an argument to be made that economic embargo serves the same purpose as blockade, and that the only meaningful difference is not having actual warships present. And moreover that it should be treated as similar to blockade because it inflicts many of the same harms.

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42 points
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I think the US embargo on Cuba is a genocide. No really, it fits the UN definition of a genocide

Based take and should be added to the rotating header message list.

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12 points

“It’s not a genocide when WE do it!” Is all the USA has to say about it.

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2 points
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