^ Oh and soft power can justify MANY things.

 

Like doing a war against Iraq.... 

Or releasing nazi scientists to help you build your NASA program

Or releasing a mad Japanese scientists that experimented horrible things on the Chinese during WW2

 

"Being the good guys" can justify many things... Look at who call themselves the "good guys" today

 

Quote

Shiro Ishii ran Unit 731 and performed cruel experiments on prisoners until he was apprehended by the U.S. government — and granted full immunity.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/shiro-ishii-unit-731

 

The "good guys", they said...

Quote

Otto Albrecht Alfred von Bolschwing (15 October 1909 – 7 March 1982) was a German SS-Hauptsturmführer in the Nazi Sicherheitsdienst (SD), Hitler's SS intelligence agency. After World War II von Bolschwing became a spy and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Europe and later in California.

 

The """"GOOD"""" guys, they said....

35 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

^ it's soft power. The Americans understood it very well in the 20th century. It was one of their expertise.

 

Well yeah, it's very old. See William Randolph Hearst, for instance.

 

BTW, you can see the Bezos influence in the difference how the NY Times and the Washington Post have reported on the Twitter take-over. WaPo's editorial line about that event has been far more negative.

On 10/31/2022 at 7:28 PM, Stromboli1 said:

Big news!

 

https://theintercept.com/2022/10/31/social-media-disinformation-dhs/

 

DHS, CIA, FBI... whatever the name of the agency, their track record is ugly. And there are still have people believing these agencies are the "good guys".

 

It's a Kantian morality. The state is a cornerstone of citizen's life, so it's hard for people to see its flaws.

 

During the Iraq war, I thought that the Democrats were the ones criticizing the neo-cons and this extremely pernicious functioning of state's agencies. So, I was wrong... cause the Democrats turned out to be the biggest proponents of these agencies and their abuses.

 

Reminder:

Quote

Otto Albrecht Alfred von Bolschwing (15 October 1909 – 7 March 1982) was a German SS-Hauptsturmführer in the Nazi Sicherheitsdienst (SD), Hitler's SS intelligence agency. After World War II von Bolschwing became a spy and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Europe and later in California.

 

1 minute ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

 

Well yeah, it's very old. See William Randolph Hearst, for instance.

 

BTW, you can see the Bezos influence in the difference how the NY Times and the Washington Post have reported on the Twitter take-over. WaPo's editorial line about that event has been far more negative.

 

I have zero trust in people like Bezos or Bill Gates.

 

If antitrust agencies in the US (like the FTC) were efficient, they would've dismantled Amazon, Microsoft or Google long times ago. These people have too much market power (and they are near-monopolies).

 

These companies are way more "tentacular" than Standard Oil was when it was dismantled.

That's from when American politicians still had balls.

 

Quote

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/sherman-anti-trust-act

 

 

BTW, this guy was a Republican... I didn't know that. Interesting

 

The more I learn about American politics, the more I see that that I see the Republicans did the key reforms: they ended slavery (while lots of Democrats were slave owners), they forged anti-trust laws....

 

Very interesting, that's not what I would've guessed some years ago

The Iraq war was bi-partisan in the beginning 2002-2003.  For years growing up there was war mongering over Iraq in the media.  

 

But when the US was failing in Iraq the Democrats turned on the war while Republicans supported it.

 

Now in 2022 the neocons have rebranded themselves and are supporting/making propaganda about the Ukraine war and the Democrats have been very into it.  The Republicans are less into fighting Cold War 2 with Russia.

1 minute ago, Cult Icon said:

The Iraq war was bi-partisan in the beginning 2002-2003.  For years growing up there was war mongering over Iraq in the media.  

 

But when the US was failing in Iraq the Democrats turned on the war while Republicans supported it.

 

Now in 2022 the neocons have rebranded themselves and are supporting/making propaganda about the Ukraine war and the Democrats have been very into it.  The Republicans are less into fighting Cold War 2 with Russia.

 

Yep, that's my understanding too.

 

I despised Bush's goons for that. I thought Democrats were the "good guys" back then. But I fell for the "good guys" crap too easily. Later, I learnt that the more people call themselves "the good guys", the more shit they have to hide.

 

Maybe that's the big lesson I learnt when I went from being a kid to being a man.

6 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

 

Yep, that's my understanding too.

 

I despised Bush's goons for that. I thought Democrats were the "good guys" back then. But I fell for the "good guys" crap too easily. Later, I learnt that the more people call themselves "the good guys", the more shit they have to hide.

 

Maybe that's the big lesson I learnt when I went from being a kid to being a man.

 

Republicans are traditionally/ideologically against foreign crusades, but some administrations did not follow that rule.  If Trump was president and the Ukraine war happened maybe there would have been less war material sent over.

 

Democrats were also the ones that prosecuted the Vietnam war (Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson especially).   In foreign policy the Democratic administrations have been more criminal than the Republicans, but the Republicans had their criminal phase when they teamed up with the neocons (Bush II).

 

Both parties are a mix of good and pure evil, and it often depends on one's perspective.

3 minutes ago, Cult Icon said:

Both parties are a mix of good and pure evil, and it often depends on one's perspective.

 

That's one of the themes of the Witcher... but it seems that in a two-party state you have to pick the lesser evil (which Geralt wouldn't like...)

I think that the wolves in sheep's clothings are the most dangerous.

1 minute ago, Enrico_sw said:

 

That's one of the themes of the Witcher... but it seems that in a two-party state you have to pick the lesser evil (which Geralt wouldn't like...)

 

“Evil is Evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitary. The definition’s blurred. If I’m to choose between one evil and another… I’d rather not choose at all.”

 

I am like Geralt, I don't choose at all lol.  

Daredevil season 2 was one of the best things Netflix came up with.

 

Remember Daredevil / the Punisher discussion of justice? These scenes are worth way more than hours of useless talk on "CNN/fake news".

 

 

Just now, Cult Icon said:

 

“Evil is Evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitary. The definition’s blurred. If I’m to choose between one evil and another… I’d rather not choose at all.”

 

I am like Geralt, I don't choose at all lol.  

 

 

That's what I would love too... But in a democracy you have to choose every 2, 4 or 5 years.

 

I also think most of these people are douches, but you need people to lead the country and worthy leaders are an extremely rare commodity.

This scene was great too.

 

 

The main evil aspect of Republicans is their contempt for the workers and poor people (anti-minimum wage, anti-healthcare and other social benefits) and their support for the rich and business owners.  If they did not have this aspect, I think they would win over tons of democrats while losing a lot of support from the rich.

3 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

Daredevil season 2 was one of the best things Netflix came up with.

 

Remember Daredevil / the Punisher discussion of justice? These scenes are worth way more than hours of useless talk on "CNN/fake news".

 

 

I haven't seen the show but I read a lot of their comics.  Punisher Max by Garth Ennis is probably my favorite anti-hero series.

 

The Punisher is basically the same as Judge Dredd, he just kills all current and potential offenders.

2 minutes ago, Cult Icon said:

The main evil aspect of Republicans is their contempt for the workers and poor people (anti-minimum wage, anti-healthcare and other social benefits) and their support for the rich and business owners.  If they did not have this aspect, I think they would win over tons of democrats while losing a lot of support from the rich.

 

I think it's good to have some redistribution, but there's a threshold. At some point, too many redistribution is highly counter-productive. It disincentives work and it's even unfair, because let's face it, in a highly taxed country (like France...), the middle class is the one that pays (the rich always have tax loopholes).

 

When it's more interesting to be unemployed than employed (or when the difference is too low), then the whole system is perverted.

 

You need social welfare, but not too much. It's a subtle balance.

4 minutes ago, Cult Icon said:

 

I haven't seen the show but I read a lot of their comics.  Punisher Max by Garth Ennis is probably my favorite anti-hero series.

 

The Punisher is basically the same as Judge Dredd, he just kills all current and potential offenders.

 

It's one of the rare netflix thing that was VERY VERY good.

 

It's really a great show.