naraburns nihil supernum
1yr ago
(text post)
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Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
This is a refreshed 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.
When The Times’s Israel correspondent Isabel Kershner recently asked an Israeli Army tank driver, Shai Levy, 37, to describe the purpose of the looming Israeli invasion of Gaza, he said something that really caught my ear. It was “to restore honor to Israel,” he said.
All these Islamist/jihadist movements — the Taliban, Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis — have deep cultural, social, religious and political roots in their societies. And they have access to endless supplies of humiliated young men, many of whom have never been in a job, power or a romantic relationship: a lethal combination that makes them easy to mobilize for mayhem.
And that’s why, to this day, none of these movements have been eliminated once and for all. They can, though, be isolated, diminished, delegitimized and decapitated — as America has done with ISIS and Al Qaeda. But that requires patience, precision, lots of allies and alternatives that have legitimacy within the societies from which these young men emerge.
Perhaps the greatest political challenge is what to do with surplus young men. It is this group that lies behind most terrorism, ISIS, inceldom, much of the dissident right, most challenges with policing and crime. Rich countries have more options than poorer ones, as do countries with lower birthrates compared to higher ones (due to reductions in the proportion of violent, dispossessed young men as a percentage of the total population).
f3zinker
Its A/B testing all the way down
2rafa 1yr ago
Perhaps the greatest political challenge is what to do with surplus young men.
This is the lazy man's politics. It is saving the furniture once the house is already on fire.
The greatest political challenge is not being able to spread the social and political tools we've developed to avoid a surplus of disenfranchisement. I.e. good economic policy. We know capitalism works. We know free trade works. We know universal western or Turkish, or Korean or hell even Russian culture is better than Jihadi culture.
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Notes -
[NYTimes, Friedman] Why a Gaza Invasion and ‘Once and for All’ Thinking Are Wrong for Israel
Perhaps the greatest political challenge is what to do with surplus young men. It is this group that lies behind most terrorism, ISIS, inceldom, much of the dissident right, most challenges with policing and crime. Rich countries have more options than poorer ones, as do countries with lower birthrates compared to higher ones (due to reductions in the proportion of violent, dispossessed young men as a percentage of the total population).
This is the lazy man's politics. It is saving the furniture once the house is already on fire.
The greatest political challenge is not being able to spread the social and political tools we've developed to avoid a surplus of disenfranchisement. I.e. good economic policy. We know capitalism works. We know free trade works. We know universal western or Turkish, or Korean or hell even Russian culture is better than Jihadi culture.
Imposing Korean culture on Palestine by the sword is heterodox policy suggestion, but I'm here for it.
Rule by the ones with the highest StarCraft MMR?
School from 7 am to midnight?
Hamas hagwon?
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