zeke5123
5mo ago
Do you think this is the first time in military history that there was collateral damage? Do you think that conquered people always resist?
Also do you think it is good strategy to basically encourage human shields (provided side A arranges it so that if Party B attacks A, then B will cause collateral damage and be prevented from the collateral damage)? It seems like a really bad idea.
zeke5123
6mo ago
Below, there is a discussion of the civil war due to Robert E Lee statute being torn down. The other main event of the day is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
I would say as a general matter the biggest supporters of Palestine in the US are progressives. Progressives also hate the confederacy.
Question is can you separate them? The south was arguing for their right of self determination? Of course, imbedded within that is they wanted to savagely deny that right to blacks held in chattel slavery. Likewise, the Palestinians claim the right of self determination but their stated intention is to kill the Israelis (from the river to the sea has a meaning).
So in both cases there is a legitimate claim to right of self determination. But that claim is bloodied by what those people would do with such right and at least in the confederacy context that “bad thing” was enough to invalidate their right to self determination.
My question then is whether the right to self determination is properly thought of as as a right? If so, it seems at best it is a contingent right. If it is a contingent right, what contingencies are unimportant enough to “trump” the right?
zeke5123
6mo ago
The pro Palestine argument is that Israel is colonial power and that Palestine deserves freedom. The chant is “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
In the minds of most of these people, it is Israel that is keeping the Palestinians down. Yet Hamas, the regime in charge of Gaza, hasn’t held an election since 2006. They are an autocratic dictatorship. Why is the focus solely on Israel as “oppressors” and not the shitty, despotic regime in charge of Gaza?
zeke5123
3mo ago
History isn’t about creating get out of jail free cards. But it is a useful barometer for “what is normal” and what is “abnormal.”
By historical standards what is happening in Gaza is not abnormal nor is it a genocide.
zeke5123
6mo ago
Does Israel have an obligation to send water or electricity to Gaza? Let’s start there. Are you saying Israel has an obligation before we move on to any blockade.
zeke5123
7mo ago
Again, the sine qua non of anti competitive practices is creating a cartel. The government helps enforce one for labor. There just isn’t a comparison.
zeke5123
7mo ago
It is a government enforced quasi cartel. Cartels are the sine qua non of anti competitive behavior except for the labor carve out. It is really bad policy and we don’t need to resort to spherical cows.
zeke5123
4mo ago
I just think racism as a moral failing is just not that important. I think there are probably a lot of truly shitty people that aren’t racists and some nice people who are racists.
Generally, I’d care more about whether someone is generally nice to other people, are they hospitable, do they actively create harm for others, are they a narcissist, etc compared to racism.
zeke5123
7mo ago
You seem ignorant of the massive government thumb on the scale for unions. Companies are forced to negotiate with a union. Can you think of any other situation where an unwilling party is forced to negotiate in “good faith” and can be heavily fined if the government determines otherwise? Hell, for a long time companies were forced to allow union organizers onto their property to agitate for unionization.
zeke5123
7mo ago
Honestly each one deserves one (with Clinton the least deserving).
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GWB was a war criminal who sanctioned torture.
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Obama murdered US citizen teenagers and illegally entered into a war with Libya.
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The first impeachment was largely BS (yes Trump was politically motivated but he also smelled obvious corruption and there is nothing wrong with trying to find corruption even if some of your motive is to harm your political opponent) but I do think his dereliction of duty on Jan 6 was impeachable.
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Where to start with Joe. We could start with his unprecedented attack on the First Amendment (numerous examples including siccing the FBI on parents for going to school board meetings, the case the Fifth Cir just decided, using extreme force against anti abortion activists). Or his blatant disregard of the SCOTUS opinion on the renter moratorium that he restarted purely for political reasons after the court said in effect this is illegal but since the government said it will end we will allow an orderly end. Or his disrespect of separation of powers as shown in the student loan fiasco. Or of course his relatively obvious bribery. He is corrupt and probably exhibits the most disregard for the constitution of any president in my lifetime.
zeke5123
3mo ago
Seems to me it is just racism. Compare Floyd and Timpa. If colors of Perry and/or Neely were different, this isn’t a story.
zeke5123
6mo ago
If Palestine is from the river to the sea that means Israel does not exist. Now does it mean the necessary genocide of Israelis? No but in practice it will
zeke5123
6mo ago
I guess the only thing I’d say is that Bari seemed to be heading in the right direction even prior to the Hamas terrorism. It wasn’t so much “I can’t believe the leopards would eat my face” as someone who was changing.
zeke5123
10mo ago
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On balance Russia is wrong. But the cartoon cut out of “Russia bad” is over the top.
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There was on-going anti Russian people attacks in the Donbas. If there were a community of Americans living in Mexico that came under attack I imagine Uncle Sam might have something to say.
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The 2014 coup and Ukraine buddying up to Nato suggests Ukraine was in some sense threatening Russia’s interests (the same way the US flipped out re Cuba and the USSR and the same way the US will flip out over PRC and Cuba).
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Now I do think these issues, while influencing Russia, were not the principal reasons behind the Russian war (ie imperialism). So on balance I think Russia is the bad actor. But it isn’t the carton some people pretend.
zeke5123
3mo ago
You have a problem with war in that case. That is, you can’t attack Gaza effectively without the collateral consequences.
I go back to “don’t start nothing won’t be nothing.”
zeke5123
4mo ago
The question for those who eschew HBD is how do you deal with the systemic racism arguments? I guess you can say culture.
zeke5123
5mo ago
I think it is an abusive of language; both to try to change the way we think about something and to make words ugly. I hate the new speak.
zeke5123
6mo ago
There are two explanations: Jews are better or Jews have some weird conspiracy power.
I do think the bigger objection is the number of blacks (that appears political and not merit).
zeke5123
6mo ago
A civilization that parades around naked dead corpses of young woman civilians is a civilization that doesn’t deserve civil rights. Level up from your barbarism and sure, I can get behind that. Note there are Arab states — even if not western — that deserve civil rights.
zeke5123
6mo ago
The American stockpile is depleted because the Biden administration didn’t want to lose an election.
zeke5123
6mo ago
You basically said the right should abandon their libertarian ethos.
I’m saying “before you do that, perhaps live up to it by eliminating subsidies.”
This is of course a conservative approach. Incremental change and see if it solves the problem.
zeke5123
7mo ago
That’s a lot of words undermined by your first sentence. My whole point is “this war is categorically different from what happened in cold war proxy wars” and you confirmed in the first paragraph that I am correct.
You can’t say on one hand the Cold War established when nuclear weapons would be used and we haven’t reached that point while on the other hand acknowledge this situation never occurred during the Cold War.
Finally, my scenario hasn’t been falsified. My position is that if Russia was seriously threatened in Crimea or Moscow, Russia May use nukes which creates a spiral. Since the only way Ukraine could possibly threaten Russia this way is with our support, you just have your causal mechanism.
Finally, one need not find this example compelling to be worried about an existential threat. Let’s say there is a 5% chance. That is clearly a valid concern when giving weapons to Ukraine
This is of course a very silly post. Hillary didn’t already create a riot when she lost that targeted the capital.
I’m not suggesting that Trump would succeed but he might go farther this time. Prudence suggests either nailing him well before the election starts or well after; not during.
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