4 ms·

It's the typical "you're either with us or against us" mentality that is very common nowadays. It's very difficult to be listened to when you have a reasonable

It's the typical "you're either with us or against us" mentality that is very common nowadays. It's very difficult to be listened to when you have a reasonable position (on any subject really). I believe this mentality is created by the massive propaganda we have been subjected to since a couple decades.

phatfish 5y ago
There is a war taking place, that tends to polarize opinion more than usual, whether in the last couple of decades, or centuries.
- cudgy 5y ago
  So, join the polarization in defeat because everyone is doing it? This is exactly when we need to be more cognizant of jingoism and the likely encroachment upon freedom and positing of dubious facts that the government and institutions will manufacture while the population is distracted not paying close attention.
throw__away7391 5y ago
No, not "with us or against us" just genuinely surprised at the level of anger being expressed by avgcorrection to what to me seemed pretty innocuous speculation: I think it's possible that the status of the VKS pilots is contributing to a reluctance to fly them into danger for political reasons. Russia is famous for corruption, seems a weird thing to defend. Even in the US there are at least some well-connected sons getting seats in fighter jets, and "paid drivers" have existed in Formula 1 since forever. Doesn't seem too far fetched, but right or wrong hardly worth any kind of attack. Additionally I never said the pilots would be incompetent--in my experience when people start responding to accusations that were never made, something else is going on in their head. For what it's worth, I like Russia. I'm ethnically from a former Soviet state and although I have very little cultural connection to it, whenever I meet Russians anywhere in the world they've been instantly friendly towards me just based on my name. Even with this happening I hope that someday within my lifetime EU/Russian relation can be fully normalized.
- avgcorrection 5y ago
  You are getting very defensive just because you got some pushback against your Mongolian Empire era-based theory.
  - throw__away7391 5y ago
    Lol, not my theory, stolen from a historian's podcast on the origins and history of totalitarianism in Russia. You really seem like you'd just be tons of fun at parties.

phatfish 5y ago

There is a war taking place, that tends to polarize opinion more than usual, whether in the last couple of decades, or centuries.

cudgy 5y ago
So, join the polarization in defeat because everyone is doing it? This is exactly when we need to be more cognizant of jingoism and the likely encroachment upon freedom and positing of dubious facts that the government and institutions will manufacture while the population is distracted not paying close attention.

throw__away7391 5y ago

No, not "with us or against us" just genuinely surprised at the level of anger being expressed by avgcorrection to what to me seemed pretty innocuous speculation: I think it's possible that the status of the VKS pilots is contributing to a reluctance to fly them into danger for political reasons. Russia is famous for corruption, seems a weird thing to defend. Even in the US there are at least some well-connected sons getting seats in fighter jets, and "paid drivers" have existed in Formula 1 since forever. Doesn't seem too far fetched, but right or wrong hardly worth any kind of attack. Additionally I never said the pilots would be incompetent--in my experience when people start responding to accusations that were never made, something else is going on in their head. For what it's worth, I like Russia. I'm ethnically from a former Soviet state and although I have very little cultural connection to it, whenever I meet Russians anywhere in the world they've been instantly friendly towards me just based on my name. Even with this happening I hope that someday within my lifetime EU/Russian relation can be fully normalized.

avgcorrection 5y ago
You are getting very defensive just because you got some pushback against your Mongolian Empire era-based theory.
- throw__away7391 5y ago
  Lol, not my theory, stolen from a historian's podcast on the origins and history of totalitarianism in Russia. You really seem like you'd just be tons of fun at parties.