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Do you actually think saying Iran is a repressive state is false? Do you actually think Bannon's statements are normal? It's at least Nixon level bullshit at t

by sprafa 10y ago

Do you actually think saying Iran is a repressive state is false? Do you actually think Bannon's statements are normal? It's at least Nixon level bullshit at the moment; I expect it to get worst.

coldtea 10y ago
>Do you actually think saying Iran is a repressive state is false? In a way yes. Some peoples (populations) are predominantly conservative an religious, and want to be in a state that works that way. Calling it conservative or backwards etc (and with a qualifier "according to our standards" etc even better) is OK. Calling it repressive, as if the people there do not want it, can be downright misleading if not calculated. Not everybody has the "American dream" or western style democracy as their operating vision. And of course, it's easy to find some minority that is in opposition to the government everywhere, and present it such as it represents the majority. But it doesn't always, and seldom in such states, where some westernized affluent outliers (usually with twitter accounts) are paraded as "the voice of the new generation" etc, when they are as rare as hipsters in Salt Lake City. Trump has the Presidential office, at least 30%+ of the voters, and some major outlets etc supporting him, would you say he is the "real voice of America"? I guess not, and that's fair. But people and media do it all the time with some minority groups in arab states, latin america, etc., that don't reflect the general sentiment in their country at all (but are convenient for foreign interests). Even worse when this misreading turns a relatively stable country (Iraq, Libya) into a hell whole of civil war, chaos and fundamentalist muslim wackos of different fractions. Because some big powers interested in destabilizing the region or securing some natural resources for cheap convinced "do-gooders" that they are a "repressive state" and they need to "fix it". Millions have been murdered in fixing "repressive states" into far more repressive hellholes with the aid of such media reporting...

by sprafa 10y ago

Do you actually think saying Iran is a repressive state is false? Do you actually think Bannon's statements are normal? It's at least Nixon level bullshit at the moment; I expect it to get worst.

coldtea 10y ago

>Do you actually think saying Iran is a repressive state is false? In a way yes. Some peoples (populations) are predominantly conservative an religious, and want to be in a state that works that way. Calling it conservative or backwards etc (and with a qualifier "according to our standards" etc even better) is OK. Calling it repressive, as if the people there do not want it, can be downright misleading if not calculated. Not everybody has the "American dream" or western style democracy as their operating vision. And of course, it's easy to find some minority that is in opposition to the government everywhere, and present it such as it represents the majority. But it doesn't always, and seldom in such states, where some westernized affluent outliers (usually with twitter accounts) are paraded as "the voice of the new generation" etc, when they are as rare as hipsters in Salt Lake City. Trump has the Presidential office, at least 30%+ of the voters, and some major outlets etc supporting him, would you say he is the "real voice of America"? I guess not, and that's fair. But people and media do it all the time with some minority groups in arab states, latin america, etc., that don't reflect the general sentiment in their country at all (but are convenient for foreign interests). Even worse when this misreading turns a relatively stable country (Iraq, Libya) into a hell whole of civil war, chaos and fundamentalist muslim wackos of different fractions. Because some big powers interested in destabilizing the region or securing some natural resources for cheap convinced "do-gooders" that they are a "repressive state" and they need to "fix it". Millions have been murdered in fixing "repressive states" into far more repressive hellholes with the aid of such media reporting...