4 ms·

I didn't mean to hijack the discussion. I agree that Imperial Japan, Maoist China and Soviet Russia killed tens of millions of people, and Europe/United States

I didn't mean to hijack the discussion. I agree that Imperial Japan, Maoist China and Soviet Russia killed tens of millions of people, and Europe/United States had similar number of deaths in World War 1 and 2. I know there is terrible atrocities taking place right now all over the world. From the ethno-religious concentration camps, to human trafficking and slavery, forced prison labor etc. My comment was in context of the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and nuclear war, and how, as the United States enters into what many are calling Cold War 2, we should learn the lessons from the first Cold War and the realities of nuclear war. These major anniversaries provide a lot of news stories for all of humanity to take a moment to pause and reflect on.

googthrowaway42 6y ago
Seems to me that in order to take away any truly valuable lessons from some historical event, you have to understand the context in which it occurred. Generally speaking, humans are very bad at actually understanding how they themselves would actually feel, react, or behave in a similar situation. It's kind of like people who talk all the time about entrepreneurship or starting their own company but then never actually quit their jobs because the reality of handing in your resignation and going off on your own is quite different than the intellectualization of it.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  The general context of this particular anniversary is the "short twentieth century", from 28 July 1914 to 26 December 1991. In particular, the significance of the first date helps explain why it would be the US making a first strike, and the significance of the second date why it they held it necessary to make a countervalue strike. (Afterwards, 31 March 1991-12 November 2001 —from which we have many refugees— would start the twenty-first century of "nationalistic" fake news.)

googthrowaway42 6y ago

Seems to me that in order to take away any truly valuable lessons from some historical event, you have to understand the context in which it occurred. Generally speaking, humans are very bad at actually understanding how they themselves would actually feel, react, or behave in a similar situation. It's kind of like people who talk all the time about entrepreneurship or starting their own company but then never actually quit their jobs because the reality of handing in your resignation and going off on your own is quite different than the intellectualization of it.

082349872349872 6y ago
The general context of this particular anniversary is the "short twentieth century", from 28 July 1914 to 26 December 1991. In particular, the significance of the first date helps explain why it would be the US making a first strike, and the significance of the second date why it they held it necessary to make a countervalue strike. (Afterwards, 31 March 1991-12 November 2001 —from which we have many refugees— would start the twenty-first century of "nationalistic" fake news.)