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Is anything other than blind nationalism what we're calling "propaganda"...? The west absolutely has a role in the current state of the world. I don't think it

Is anything other than blind nationalism what we're calling "propaganda"...? The west absolutely has a role in the current state of the world. I don't think it's propaganda to acknowledge to situation is messy, and far more complex than "Russia is bad guy. Everyone else: good guy with no wrong doings." If anything, I feel as though the propaganda is strongly flowing the other way. I'm blown away by how quickly popular media snapped back into war mode. Just like the early days of the Iraq war, it's a bombardment of war memes, the good guys are amazing, "did you hear about the Ghost of Kyiv?", "Russia is surrendering!", "One Ukrainian soldier dismantled a tank with his bare hands", "A sniper killed a top general." The war is heartbreaking to see in real time. It's also frustrating to see all the simplified, good/bad hot-takes that perpetuates the US' "I'm not responsible for any of this" attitude. Meanwhile, we continue our own regime change wars, arming of states hostile to others, and then feign surprise and outrage when people call out the west's meddling when things go tits up.

xdennis 5y ago
Most of the states in eastern Europe have been victimized by the Russians. All the countries which aren't partially controlled by Russians have tried to join the west (EU, NATO) to protect themselves from Russians. Countries which weren't enthusiastic enough about joining the west (Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Georgia) are occupied by Russians. Russians are the orcs. It is literally as simple as that.
- ThalesX 5y ago
  > Russians are the orcs. It is literally as simple as that. Has it ever been as easy as that?...
- scantis 5y ago
  Would you like to kill all orcs or is there a magic spell to make them precious elves again? What about the wee little snotlings and the goblins?
- dillondoyle 5y ago
  Yes. Ukraine wants in EU and NATO. 'the west' was reluctant, especially on NATO membership. The messaging might have been wrong. Because they don't want to dilute the open door policy. But they specifically said not right now and that nothing was being discussed. Not to mention NATO is self defensive and that both sides have been proliferating weapons.

xdennis 5y ago

Most of the states in eastern Europe have been victimized by the Russians. All the countries which aren't partially controlled by Russians have tried to join the west (EU, NATO) to protect themselves from Russians. Countries which weren't enthusiastic enough about joining the west (Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Georgia) are occupied by Russians. Russians are the orcs. It is literally as simple as that.

ThalesX 5y ago
> Russians are the orcs. It is literally as simple as that. Has it ever been as easy as that?...
scantis 5y ago
Would you like to kill all orcs or is there a magic spell to make them precious elves again? What about the wee little snotlings and the goblins?
dillondoyle 5y ago
Yes. Ukraine wants in EU and NATO. 'the west' was reluctant, especially on NATO membership. The messaging might have been wrong. Because they don't want to dilute the open door policy. But they specifically said not right now and that nothing was being discussed. Not to mention NATO is self defensive and that both sides have been proliferating weapons.