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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
by 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 agoI 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).