naraburns nihil supernum
1yr ago
(text post)
29863 thread views
Israel-Gaza Megathread #1
This is a megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
sarker
It isn't happening, and if it is, it's a bad thing
1yr ago
You cannot keep two million people living in the conditions people in Gaza are living in and expect peace.
What exactly is so bad about Gaza?
As far as I can tell, until the recent turmoil:
they had electricity
life expectancy was 75 years so they presumably have some reasonable healthcare
obesity rate is 20% so presumably they have enough to eat
they can't leave, but the blockade only begun in earnest after the battle of gaza in 2007. Also Egypt is also not letting them in
I wouldn't want to personally live there, but it didn't exactly seem like hell on earth and much of what's wrong with it is the result of the gazans' own actions.
life expectancy was 75 years so presumably they have some decent healthcare
Fair enough although you get a LOT of mileage out of germ theory, half-decent sanitation, vaccines, and cheap readily available antibiotics. Obstetrics makes a difference too. If you combine that with half-decent nutrition you no shit have most of the gains you get from modern medicine right there. The rest is essentially incremental improvement plus trauma surgery; maybe you could stretch and throw obstetricians in that as well.
Alongside the bigotry they have also been dealt debilitating losses in war, militarily and morally by Israel.
I suspect that even if we try to buy off each Palestinian with a billion dollars, many will spit on it since they place avenging their defeat over everything else, including their own prosperity.
I am a bit worried that Social media is biasing my opinions on Muslims given how the response of the vast majority of the Muslim diaspora has been extremely predictable with a small minority even being willing to concede that this looks really bad and perhaps there are lines that shouldn't be crossed.
I say this because I am good friends with a number of muslims (Indians) and I now sometimes wonder if the warmth only exists because I never discuss politics IRL.
---- A few minutes later ----
Now that the burst of angst has passed by and with a more clear mind I'd hope the general materialism that pervades middle class Indian thought also includes the Muslims since it is a much easier vice to control or justify.
sky high unemployment rate, youthful population, the corrosive mental effects of dependence on outsiders/foreign aid, and hatred of their neighbors/occupiers inculcated from birth. perfect cocktail for insurgency
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Notes -
What exactly is so bad about Gaza?
As far as I can tell, until the recent turmoil:
they had electricity
life expectancy was 75 years so they presumably have some reasonable healthcare
obesity rate is 20% so presumably they have enough to eat
they can't leave, but the blockade only begun in earnest after the battle of gaza in 2007. Also Egypt is also not letting them in
I wouldn't want to personally live there, but it didn't exactly seem like hell on earth and much of what's wrong with it is the result of the gazans' own actions.
Fair enough although you get a LOT of mileage out of germ theory, half-decent sanitation, vaccines, and cheap readily available antibiotics. Obstetrics makes a difference too. If you combine that with half-decent nutrition you no shit have most of the gains you get from modern medicine right there. The rest is essentially incremental improvement plus trauma surgery; maybe you could stretch and throw obstetricians in that as well.
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2rafa calls them an honour based tribal culture.
Alongside the bigotry they have also been dealt debilitating losses in war, militarily and morally by Israel.
I suspect that even if we try to buy off each Palestinian with a billion dollars, many will spit on it since they place avenging their defeat over everything else, including their own prosperity.
I am a bit worried that Social media is biasing my opinions on Muslims given how the response of the vast majority of the Muslim diaspora has been extremely predictable with a small minority even being willing to concede that this looks really bad and perhaps there are lines that shouldn't be crossed.
I say this because I am good friends with a number of muslims (Indians) and I now sometimes wonder if the warmth only exists because I never discuss politics IRL.
---- A few minutes later ----
Now that the burst of angst has passed by and with a more clear mind I'd hope the general materialism that pervades middle class Indian thought also includes the Muslims since it is a much easier vice to control or justify.
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Context Copy link
sky high unemployment rate, youthful population, the corrosive mental effects of dependence on outsiders/foreign aid, and hatred of their neighbors/occupiers inculcated from birth. perfect cocktail for insurgency
many other countries have similar conditions, now and historically, and it didn't lead to anything like this
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