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I'm not gonna change your mind, but I personally am glad I live in an era (for now, at least) of American hegemony. I can't name another empire or superpower in

I'm not gonna change your mind, but I personally am glad I live in an era (for now, at least) of American hegemony. I can't name another empire or superpower in human history that has shown more restraint. Obviously it has done some terrible stuff, but on the whole America has been uncommonly benevolent. The Chinese government is putting ethnic minorities in camps. The American government did that too, in WWII... The difference is, it's a point of national shame.

lasfter 6y ago
The American government is putting ethnic minorities in camps right now too. And performing forced hysterectomies on them. Either America is not ashamed of the atrocities it has committed, or it is so dense it cannot understand it is repeating them.
- eggsmediumrare 6y ago
  And it's a national shame that contributed to the largest mandate in American presidential election history. I think people misunderstand my point. America is far, far from perfect. It's just that other empires have been far worse.
  - hardlianotion 6y ago
    Some others have. I think your claim is bold and resistant to substantiation.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > The American government is putting ethnic minorities in camps right now too. That's a false equivalence. While I do not endorse the treatment of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers at the US border, it's quite different from what the PRC currently doing, which is forced imprisonment and indoctrination of its own citizens. > And performing forced hysterectomies on them. That was a small-scale case of medical malpractice by a single doctor, not large scale government-level policy: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/us/ice-hysterectomies-surgeries-georgia.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/us/ice-hysterectomies-sur...
justicezyx 6y ago
American government performed genocide on Indians.
ilstormcloud 6y ago
> but on the whole America has been uncommonly benevolent. I bet you'd feel a little different if you were born in Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria for that matter. Conflicts the US triggered have cost close to a million human lives since 2003. And honestly, a lot more can be said of the "Benevolent" superpower of yours.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > ...or Syria for that matter. Conflicts the US triggered... Wasn't the Syria conflict actually triggered by the Assad regime's behavior? https://www.history.com/news/syria-civil-war-assad-rebels https://www.history.com/news/syria-civil-war-assad-rebels: > However, in March of that year, 15 Syrian schoolchildren were arrested and tortured for writing graffiti that was inspired by the Arab Spring. One of the boys was killed. > The arrests sparked outrage and demonstrations throughout Syria. Citizens demanded the release of the remaining children, along with greater freedoms for all people in the country. > But the government, headed by President Bashar al-Assad, responded by killing and arresting hundreds of protestors. Shock and anger began to spread throughout Syria, and many demanded that Assad resign. When he refused, war broke out between his supporters and his opponents.
  - ilstormcloud 6y ago
    What do you think brought on the scourge of ISIS? US policies.
    - ardy42 6y ago
      > What do you think brought on the scourge of ISIS? US policies. What US policies, exactly? TIL ISIS was founded in 1999: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_...: > ISIL was founded by the Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi under the name Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999 and gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive,[103] followed by its capture of Mosul[104] and the Sinjar massacre. Apparently its founding purpose was actually to overthrow the Jordanian government for being insufficiently Islamic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama%27at_al-Tawhid_wal-Jihad#In_Jordan_(1999%E2%80%932001) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama%27at_al-Tawhid_wal-Jihad#...: > Al-Zarqawi started JTJ with the intention of overthrowing the 'apostate' Kingdom of Jordan,[1] which he considered to be un-Islamic. After toppling Jordan's monarchy, presumably he would turn to the rest of the Levant.[1] > For these purposes he developed numerous contacts and affiliates in several countries. His network may have been involved in the late 1999 plot to bomb the Millennium celebrations in the United States and Jordan.[12]
blackrock 6y ago
No, you are wrong. The Japanese Concentration Camps are not a point of national shame. Instead, they are a point of American pride. Case in point: One of Trump’s goons, Carl Higbie, referred to the Japanese Concentration Camps as “precedent”. [1] If this word came from some random racist prick, then nobody would bother paying him any attention. But instead, it came from one of Trump’s closest associates. This should make you sick to your stomach. [1] https://time.com/4574680/muslim-registry-japanese-internment/ https://time.com/4574680/muslim-registry-japanese-internment...
- ardy42 6y ago
  > The Japanese Concentration Camps are not a point of national shame. Instead, they are a point of American pride. > Case in point: One of Trump’s goons, Carl Higbie, referred to the Japanese Concentration Camps as “precedent”. [1] It's quite incorrect to generalize from a widely-condemned statement made by "one of Trump's goons" [1] to America, generally. [1] Carl Higbie appears to be a goon, quite literally.
disown 6y ago
> The Chinese government is putting ethnic minorities in camps. No. They are putting separatists/terrorists funded by the west in "camps". They aren't putting minorities in camps. > The American government did that too, in WWII... No. Our government exterminated our minorities. It's how a nation of 13 states became 50. Of course we became a nation of 13 states by genocide as well. The idea of benevolence is laughable. Not only did we nuke japan, burn german cities to the ground, use biological weapons in korea, etc ( and these are our vassal, or allies ). Look at how we benevolently nuked japan. As I said, for everything we've "benevolently" done in history, switch that to china.

lasfter 6y ago

The American government is putting ethnic minorities in camps right now too. And performing forced hysterectomies on them. Either America is not ashamed of the atrocities it has committed, or it is so dense it cannot understand it is repeating them.

eggsmediumrare 6y ago
And it's a national shame that contributed to the largest mandate in American presidential election history. I think people misunderstand my point. America is far, far from perfect. It's just that other empires have been far worse.
- hardlianotion 6y ago
  Some others have. I think your claim is bold and resistant to substantiation.
ardy42 6y ago
> The American government is putting ethnic minorities in camps right now too. That's a false equivalence. While I do not endorse the treatment of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers at the US border, it's quite different from what the PRC currently doing, which is forced imprisonment and indoctrination of its own citizens. > And performing forced hysterectomies on them. That was a small-scale case of medical malpractice by a single doctor, not large scale government-level policy: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/us/ice-hysterectomies-surgeries-georgia.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/us/ice-hysterectomies-sur...

justicezyx 6y ago

American government performed genocide on Indians.

ilstormcloud 6y ago

> but on the whole America has been uncommonly benevolent. I bet you'd feel a little different if you were born in Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria for that matter. Conflicts the US triggered have cost close to a million human lives since 2003. And honestly, a lot more can be said of the "Benevolent" superpower of yours.

ardy42 6y ago
> ...or Syria for that matter. Conflicts the US triggered... Wasn't the Syria conflict actually triggered by the Assad regime's behavior? https://www.history.com/news/syria-civil-war-assad-rebels https://www.history.com/news/syria-civil-war-assad-rebels: > However, in March of that year, 15 Syrian schoolchildren were arrested and tortured for writing graffiti that was inspired by the Arab Spring. One of the boys was killed. > The arrests sparked outrage and demonstrations throughout Syria. Citizens demanded the release of the remaining children, along with greater freedoms for all people in the country. > But the government, headed by President Bashar al-Assad, responded by killing and arresting hundreds of protestors. Shock and anger began to spread throughout Syria, and many demanded that Assad resign. When he refused, war broke out between his supporters and his opponents.
- ilstormcloud 6y ago
  What do you think brought on the scourge of ISIS? US policies.
  - ardy42 6y ago
    > What do you think brought on the scourge of ISIS? US policies. What US policies, exactly? TIL ISIS was founded in 1999: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_...: > ISIL was founded by the Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi under the name Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999 and gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive,[103] followed by its capture of Mosul[104] and the Sinjar massacre. Apparently its founding purpose was actually to overthrow the Jordanian government for being insufficiently Islamic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama%27at_al-Tawhid_wal-Jihad#In_Jordan_(1999%E2%80%932001) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama%27at_al-Tawhid_wal-Jihad#...: > Al-Zarqawi started JTJ with the intention of overthrowing the 'apostate' Kingdom of Jordan,[1] which he considered to be un-Islamic. After toppling Jordan's monarchy, presumably he would turn to the rest of the Levant.[1] > For these purposes he developed numerous contacts and affiliates in several countries. His network may have been involved in the late 1999 plot to bomb the Millennium celebrations in the United States and Jordan.[12]

blackrock 6y ago

No, you are wrong. The Japanese Concentration Camps are not a point of national shame. Instead, they are a point of American pride. Case in point: One of Trump’s goons, Carl Higbie, referred to the Japanese Concentration Camps as “precedent”. [1] If this word came from some random racist prick, then nobody would bother paying him any attention. But instead, it came from one of Trump’s closest associates. This should make you sick to your stomach. [1] https://time.com/4574680/muslim-registry-japanese-internment/ https://time.com/4574680/muslim-registry-japanese-internment...

ardy42 6y ago
> The Japanese Concentration Camps are not a point of national shame. Instead, they are a point of American pride. > Case in point: One of Trump’s goons, Carl Higbie, referred to the Japanese Concentration Camps as “precedent”. [1] It's quite incorrect to generalize from a widely-condemned statement made by "one of Trump's goons" [1] to America, generally. [1] Carl Higbie appears to be a goon, quite literally.

disown 6y ago

> The Chinese government is putting ethnic minorities in camps. No. They are putting separatists/terrorists funded by the west in "camps". They aren't putting minorities in camps. > The American government did that too, in WWII... No. Our government exterminated our minorities. It's how a nation of 13 states became 50. Of course we became a nation of 13 states by genocide as well. The idea of benevolence is laughable. Not only did we nuke japan, burn german cities to the ground, use biological weapons in korea, etc ( and these are our vassal, or allies ). Look at how we benevolently nuked japan. As I said, for everything we've "benevolently" done in history, switch that to china.