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This explains why I've been seeing #save_the_iraqi_people and related hashtags all over Instagram. For those not in the know: > demonstrators in Baghdad and el

This explains why I've been seeing #save_the_iraqi_people and related hashtags all over Instagram. For those not in the know: > demonstrators in Baghdad and elsewhere protest against lack of jobs and poor services. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/baghdad-police-open-fire-anti-government-protesters-191001143248615.html https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/baghdad-police-open-f...

vkou 7y ago
Contrast the public and political reaction to these events with the public and political reaction to the protests in Hong Kong.
- kingo55 7y ago
  What are you implying?
  - The_rationalist 7y ago
    That people have monstruous selective empathy I guess.
  - emptyfile 7y ago
    That not one of you is sincere. When a protestor in hong kong gets shot "the whole world" is on its feet, when SA and USA starve to death 80 000 children in Yemen no one bats an eye.
    - CathedralBorrow 7y ago
      I'm not going to deny the hypocrisy, but I think it's a very human thing really. Do you respond equally to every unjust death in the world?
      - emptyfile 7y ago
        Not sure what you're asking me. No, I'm not brainwashed enough to think that shooting a violent protestor is the same as intentionally starving to death a whole goddamned country. We don't even have to talk about how american police act... that's a whole other dimension of hypocrisy, unfathomable to me personally.
        CathedralBorrow 7y ago
        That's not what I was asking, but I'm fine with leaving it at that.
        vkou 7y ago
        Ah, he was a violent protestor. Perfectly justified to kill him on the spot, then. The protestors in Hong Kong were not violent at all, of course. Not a single on harmed a hair on a peace officer's head, or even so much as scratched a pane of glass...
- dwoozle 7y ago
  Iraq is a basket case country whose government is hanging on by a thread. China is a superpower with clear aspirations to unipolar hegemony. They are not comparable and cannot be held to the same standard.
  - Synaesthesia 7y ago
    Iraq used to not be a basket case country until it was invaded by the unipolar hegemony.
    - nickik 7y ago
      What nonsense. Iraq has been a shitshow for a very, very long time. And I'm not endorsing the war in any way.
      - hutzlibu 7y ago
        The relevant question for the people living there is allways: but is it better tody? And it seems, no.
        lostmsu 7y ago
        You never know who gets the power after a tyranny is removed. However, if you want tyranny to go, you have to gamble.
        hutzlibu 7y ago
        But the chances of a smooth transition are higher if the people of the country mange that by themself, instead of foreign forced change, where many suspect the motives are different.
        nickik 7y ago
        You are ignoring that the US is not the only forign power. In a time of state collapse, other state will always have the upper hand. Even if the US had not tried to create their kind of government, Iran sure as shit was trying to get their guys in. So for the US its not about a question about US control, Iraqi control. Its a question of US control or Iranian control. In this case they supported mostly the same groups, ironically. Iran did en up with the upper hand by far in Iraq, meaning the US achived LITERALLY the opposite of what they wanted to achive.

vkou 7y ago

Contrast the public and political reaction to these events with the public and political reaction to the protests in Hong Kong.

kingo55 7y ago
What are you implying?
- The_rationalist 7y ago
  That people have monstruous selective empathy I guess.
- emptyfile 7y ago
  That not one of you is sincere. When a protestor in hong kong gets shot "the whole world" is on its feet, when SA and USA starve to death 80 000 children in Yemen no one bats an eye.
  - CathedralBorrow 7y ago
    I'm not going to deny the hypocrisy, but I think it's a very human thing really. Do you respond equally to every unjust death in the world?
    - emptyfile 7y ago
      Not sure what you're asking me. No, I'm not brainwashed enough to think that shooting a violent protestor is the same as intentionally starving to death a whole goddamned country. We don't even have to talk about how american police act... that's a whole other dimension of hypocrisy, unfathomable to me personally.
      - CathedralBorrow 7y ago
        That's not what I was asking, but I'm fine with leaving it at that.
      - vkou 7y ago
        Ah, he was a violent protestor. Perfectly justified to kill him on the spot, then. The protestors in Hong Kong were not violent at all, of course. Not a single on harmed a hair on a peace officer's head, or even so much as scratched a pane of glass...
dwoozle 7y ago
Iraq is a basket case country whose government is hanging on by a thread. China is a superpower with clear aspirations to unipolar hegemony. They are not comparable and cannot be held to the same standard.
- Synaesthesia 7y ago
  Iraq used to not be a basket case country until it was invaded by the unipolar hegemony.
  - nickik 7y ago
    What nonsense. Iraq has been a shitshow for a very, very long time. And I'm not endorsing the war in any way.
    - hutzlibu 7y ago
      The relevant question for the people living there is allways: but is it better tody? And it seems, no.
      - lostmsu 7y ago
        You never know who gets the power after a tyranny is removed. However, if you want tyranny to go, you have to gamble.
        hutzlibu 7y ago
        But the chances of a smooth transition are higher if the people of the country mange that by themself, instead of foreign forced change, where many suspect the motives are different.
        nickik 7y ago
        You are ignoring that the US is not the only forign power. In a time of state collapse, other state will always have the upper hand. Even if the US had not tried to create their kind of government, Iran sure as shit was trying to get their guys in. So for the US its not about a question about US control, Iraqi control. Its a question of US control or Iranian control. In this case they supported mostly the same groups, ironically. Iran did en up with the upper hand by far in Iraq, meaning the US achived LITERALLY the opposite of what they wanted to achive.