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Instead of downvoting cryptoz, I encourage people to counter what he said with their own replies. The majority of his statements in this post are verifiable fac

by irq 8y ago

Instead of downvoting cryptoz, I encourage people to counter what he said with their own replies. The majority of his statements in this post are verifiable facts. (I do not know this person, fwiw).

Rexxar 8y ago
I don't down vote him but I understand that some people want to keep political discussions out of this forum, especially when this is not directly related to the original submission.
jds375 8y ago
I agree. I’d guess that the downvoters are thinking along the lines of: - Sure it’s bad now, but the US military is made up of far more than just the president... many of which may be good, rational actors. - Just because it’s bad now doesn’t mean it won’t get better quickly (there has been a lot of pushback on the president’s agenda) - The US may still be comparatively better/benevolent than any other dominant superpower Note that these aren’t necessarily my views (I’d need more time to think and consider). But I think they point out some decent possible counter arguments to OP
- ajross 8y ago
  > Sure it’s bad now, That's the thing though: it's not bad now!. Not by any historical standard, at least. For most of our history and prehistory, right up to the past 70 years, stupid warfare has been the rule. Petty tribal disputes, armed insurrections, ethnic cleansing and suppression and random gang violence were absolutely routine for almost everyone even as recently as our great grandparent's lifetimes. Virtually everyone saw violence like this at some point. Now, in most of the world (no, not all of it, but yes: most), pretty much no one does. And that's important. What we've been doing is working. Don't rock the boat.
  - jds375 8y ago
    I actually completely agree with you (Enlightenment Now by Pinker provides excellent data backing all of this up). Our collective pessimism is actually a major problem I think. But to clarify, when I said “sure it’s bad now” I meant that in the context of the current military leadership. Unfortunately I can’t really defend that argument much further given that I don’t necessarily agree with it (it was just speculation on potential counter-arguments).
garmaine 8y ago
There’s a lot of bad political rhetoric and scare mingering that is frankly not even worthy of my time to address. Like, for example, that Trump will eliminate presidential elections and by implication install himself as president for life, or that he even has the authority or capability to do so.
- cryptoz 8y ago
  Of course he doesn't have the authority to do so. He still plans on doing it and that is clearly unstable and not a 'feature' of a solid military you want to have. I'm not the one fear mongering. It is the US government doing all the fear mongering. The "stable genuis" leading the country is the one doing the fear mongering.
manfredo 8y ago
The individual facts are verifiable, but the overall conclusion that "the US is the most wildly insane, two-faced and upside-down country in the world right now in terms of military" is a borderline troll comment - I sense a strong possibility that it is meant to elicit a reaction rather than engage in a dialogue. Not to the point that I'd advocate its removal, but enough for me to downvote and not respond. Seriously, the US is more insane than North Korea, a country that routinely launches ballistic missiles over countries that are essentially in a state of cold war with it? The United States' military position is more unstable than Venezuela, a county that is imprisoning it's own brass and experiencing large scale desertion[1] to the point that it's speculated that there may be a coup soon? I do not believe a reasonable person make either of these claims. [1] http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article204927784.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/...
- cryptoz 8y ago
  I am not trolling. That's ridiculous. I'm merely speaking the truth. And yes I would make both of those claims. And I am a reasonable person. If you think that my statements above make me an "unreasonable person" just for my comments of fact and opinion, then you are the one trolling and attempting to invalidate my entire existence as a person. I stand by my points.

by irq 8y ago

Instead of downvoting cryptoz, I encourage people to counter what he said with their own replies. The majority of his statements in this post are verifiable facts. (I do not know this person, fwiw).

Rexxar 8y ago

I don't down vote him but I understand that some people want to keep political discussions out of this forum, especially when this is not directly related to the original submission.

jds375 8y ago

I agree. I’d guess that the downvoters are thinking along the lines of: - Sure it’s bad now, but the US military is made up of far more than just the president... many of which may be good, rational actors. - Just because it’s bad now doesn’t mean it won’t get better quickly (there has been a lot of pushback on the president’s agenda) - The US may still be comparatively better/benevolent than any other dominant superpower Note that these aren’t necessarily my views (I’d need more time to think and consider). But I think they point out some decent possible counter arguments to OP

ajross 8y ago
> Sure it’s bad now, That's the thing though: it's not bad now!. Not by any historical standard, at least. For most of our history and prehistory, right up to the past 70 years, stupid warfare has been the rule. Petty tribal disputes, armed insurrections, ethnic cleansing and suppression and random gang violence were absolutely routine for almost everyone even as recently as our great grandparent's lifetimes. Virtually everyone saw violence like this at some point. Now, in most of the world (no, not all of it, but yes: most), pretty much no one does. And that's important. What we've been doing is working. Don't rock the boat.
- jds375 8y ago
  I actually completely agree with you (Enlightenment Now by Pinker provides excellent data backing all of this up). Our collective pessimism is actually a major problem I think. But to clarify, when I said “sure it’s bad now” I meant that in the context of the current military leadership. Unfortunately I can’t really defend that argument much further given that I don’t necessarily agree with it (it was just speculation on potential counter-arguments).

garmaine 8y ago

There’s a lot of bad political rhetoric and scare mingering that is frankly not even worthy of my time to address. Like, for example, that Trump will eliminate presidential elections and by implication install himself as president for life, or that he even has the authority or capability to do so.

cryptoz 8y ago
Of course he doesn't have the authority to do so. He still plans on doing it and that is clearly unstable and not a 'feature' of a solid military you want to have. I'm not the one fear mongering. It is the US government doing all the fear mongering. The "stable genuis" leading the country is the one doing the fear mongering.

manfredo 8y ago

The individual facts are verifiable, but the overall conclusion that "the US is the most wildly insane, two-faced and upside-down country in the world right now in terms of military" is a borderline troll comment - I sense a strong possibility that it is meant to elicit a reaction rather than engage in a dialogue. Not to the point that I'd advocate its removal, but enough for me to downvote and not respond. Seriously, the US is more insane than North Korea, a country that routinely launches ballistic missiles over countries that are essentially in a state of cold war with it? The United States' military position is more unstable than Venezuela, a county that is imprisoning it's own brass and experiencing large scale desertion[1] to the point that it's speculated that there may be a coup soon? I do not believe a reasonable person make either of these claims. [1] http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article204927784.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/...

cryptoz 8y ago
I am not trolling. That's ridiculous. I'm merely speaking the truth. And yes I would make both of those claims. And I am a reasonable person. If you think that my statements above make me an "unreasonable person" just for my comments of fact and opinion, then you are the one trolling and attempting to invalidate my entire existence as a person. I stand by my points.