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The horniness for war machines on this site has just gotten too extreme in the last year. Y'all need to stop fantasizing about the killing machines for entertai

The horniness for war machines on this site has just gotten too extreme in the last year. Y'all need to stop fantasizing about the killing machines for entertainment it's bad for your soul.

samsolomon 4y ago
A year ago a war broke out in Europe—it's still happening. Worldwide that has caused an increased interest in war and technologies associated with it.
- crazygringo 4y ago
  Indeed. Two years ago an interest in tanks and artillery shells was about last on my list, almost a historical curiosity. But suddenly I've become extremely interested, as it's become one of the top geopolitical focus points of our time. But "horniness for war machines" is as far from the truth as you can get. It's really just an interest in what it takes to preserve democracy. We can go for decades of peace and forget that sometimes preserving democracy really does depend on tanks and bullets, when an autocrat decides to attack.
  - l33tbro 4y ago
    Preserving democracy? Ah yes, those fine captains of industry from the Military Industrial Complex. Deeply enmeshed in the fabric of Washington policy and always acting for the benefits of freedom and democracy. "A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." - Smedley Butler
    - tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago
      The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that even if you have no intention to fight a war, an aggressive neighbor may have other ideas, so you don't have a choice other than being ready for it, if you want to continue existing as an independent country. How you're ready for it can vary, but deterrence by having better weapons is one effective way. In the best case, it works and you don't have a war. And if it doesn't, you still have better weapons to end the war - and preferably keep it on the enemy's territory so the destruction happens there and not in your country. Right now, Ukraine has its cities leveled, while Russia is (with a few exceptions) "only" losing military gear and personnel.
      - l33tbro 4y ago
        I agree. My point was that democracy has little to do with which nations the US chooses to defend. Moreover, 'peace' is essentially the continuity of economic imperialism and the maintenance of its hegemony - regardless of how inequitable that may be for everyone else. While this is an undergraduate take, it doesn't discount it from being true.
      - justsomehnguy 4y ago
        > even if you have no intention to fight a war "Crimea would be Ukranian or deserted" But of course you never heard that. Ukrainian maritime capability is another point but again you never knew anything abou that.
- scatters 4y ago
  The war started in 2014, with the invasion of Crimea and the Dobnas. The 2022 invasion was an escalation.
  - yucky 4y ago
    > The war started in 2014, with the invasion of Crimea and the Dobnas. That's what started it? Any idea what happened the day before the invasion of Crimea?
    - paulryanrogers 4y ago
      The Ukrainian president was overthrown for trying to increase ties with Russia? Which doesn't really justify Russian troops invading (albeit without uniforms) to annex parts of Ukraine.
      - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
        I have found this article to be a good debunker on the above talking point: https://www.thebulwark.com/what-really-happened-in-ukraine-in-2014-and-since-then/ https://www.thebulwark.com/what-really-happened-in-ukraine-i...
        jessaustin 4y ago
        That apologia might be more convincing if the word "NATO" appeared anywhere? Every time Putin speaks, he complains about NATO expansion into Ukraine and the resulting missiles pointed at his house from minutes away. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/70565 http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/70565
        mopsi 4y ago
        NATO is just an excuse, even die-hard Russian nationalists like Girkin don't take that seriously and openly mock his constant whining about NATO.
- freeopinion 4y ago
  I'm often intrigued by the use of passive voice in language. This is a particularly interesting one to me. I don't mean this as a criticism of samsolomon. I just find language and its connection to thought and action interesting. A war did something, as if all by itself. That expression contains so much dangerous obfuscation, but also potential for insight. Russia attacked Ukraine, and in this way "a war broke out". In the parent comment, the details are not the point. The passive voice serves well to get to the point the author is trying to make. Yet at the same time it reinforces the point to which the author is responding. It glosses over the horror of the war so that we can get to the interesting parts.
  - upsidesinclude 4y ago
    >Russia attacked Ukraine This is accurate, but it isn't the war being fought and it is hardly the first volley. Ukraine is a mostly unwilling participant in a much larger game. If you choose a most peculiar and narrow view regarding the nature of this conflict, it seems somewhat obtuse to question another comments "voice"
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  I didn't ask why I said it's bad.
seanw444 4y ago
They're machines. People find machines and how they function interesting, regardless of their purpose.
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  Yes and this is bad. Their purpose is part of what they are you shouldn't ignore it just because you think they're nifty.
  - 123pie123 4y ago
    one of my childhood fantasies was to create weapons that kill very effienctly once I had the opportunity to get a job in this field (electronics area) in my early 20's, I then questioned my morals and realised I didn't want to contribute to killing people many decades later, I'm not so moralistic - esp with the UKR / rus war but that ship has sailed
  - criddell 4y ago
    Viruses kill a lot of people. Is it bad to interested in viruses?
    - giraffe_lady 4y ago
      Is there a large scale multi-generation propaganda campaign to normalize the creation and deployment of lethal viruses on a global scale and to recruit people into their construction to that purpose? If so yes it's bad to be interested in viruses.
      - 123pie123 4y ago
        most technical advances are a double edge sword there is no good or bad science
      - CapricornNoble 4y ago
        Yes it's called "gain of function research".
fasteddie31003 4y ago
I'd argue that war machines are some of the most influential technology that will shape the world. They are very interesting to me.
recuter 4y ago
[flagged]
jonnybgood 4y ago
How are you using the word entertainment? You seem to be attaching a moral judgment to the word: that which is entertaining is agreeable or morally acceptable. If that’s the case, I would disagree. But in order for me to have disagreed with your comment, I had to first entertain it, which then has lead me to seek understanding. We don’t have to agree with ideas to entertain them, especially when the goal is to seek understanding. War and its tools should be understood, but first we have to entertain the thought of them and not shut our minds to them. Entertaining an idea is a precursor to understanding, which can lead to solutions for less suffering.
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  I'm using entertainment in the sense of amusement or diversion not consideration.
Balgair 4y ago
A lot of DoD people read HN too. These kinds of articles will attract them over, say, bitcoin or neuroscience articles.
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  So?

The horniness for war machines on this site has just gotten too extreme in the last year. Y'all need to stop fantasizing about the killing machines for entertainment it's bad for your soul.

samsolomon 4y ago

A year ago a war broke out in Europe—it's still happening. Worldwide that has caused an increased interest in war and technologies associated with it.

crazygringo 4y ago
Indeed. Two years ago an interest in tanks and artillery shells was about last on my list, almost a historical curiosity. But suddenly I've become extremely interested, as it's become one of the top geopolitical focus points of our time. But "horniness for war machines" is as far from the truth as you can get. It's really just an interest in what it takes to preserve democracy. We can go for decades of peace and forget that sometimes preserving democracy really does depend on tanks and bullets, when an autocrat decides to attack.
- l33tbro 4y ago
  Preserving democracy? Ah yes, those fine captains of industry from the Military Industrial Complex. Deeply enmeshed in the fabric of Washington policy and always acting for the benefits of freedom and democracy. "A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." - Smedley Butler
  - tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago
    The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that even if you have no intention to fight a war, an aggressive neighbor may have other ideas, so you don't have a choice other than being ready for it, if you want to continue existing as an independent country. How you're ready for it can vary, but deterrence by having better weapons is one effective way. In the best case, it works and you don't have a war. And if it doesn't, you still have better weapons to end the war - and preferably keep it on the enemy's territory so the destruction happens there and not in your country. Right now, Ukraine has its cities leveled, while Russia is (with a few exceptions) "only" losing military gear and personnel.
    - l33tbro 4y ago
      I agree. My point was that democracy has little to do with which nations the US chooses to defend. Moreover, 'peace' is essentially the continuity of economic imperialism and the maintenance of its hegemony - regardless of how inequitable that may be for everyone else. While this is an undergraduate take, it doesn't discount it from being true.
    - justsomehnguy 4y ago
      > even if you have no intention to fight a war "Crimea would be Ukranian or deserted" But of course you never heard that. Ukrainian maritime capability is another point but again you never knew anything abou that.
scatters 4y ago
The war started in 2014, with the invasion of Crimea and the Dobnas. The 2022 invasion was an escalation.
- yucky 4y ago
  > The war started in 2014, with the invasion of Crimea and the Dobnas. That's what started it? Any idea what happened the day before the invasion of Crimea?
  - paulryanrogers 4y ago
    The Ukrainian president was overthrown for trying to increase ties with Russia? Which doesn't really justify Russian troops invading (albeit without uniforms) to annex parts of Ukraine.
    - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
      I have found this article to be a good debunker on the above talking point: https://www.thebulwark.com/what-really-happened-in-ukraine-in-2014-and-since-then/ https://www.thebulwark.com/what-really-happened-in-ukraine-i...
      - jessaustin 4y ago
        That apologia might be more convincing if the word "NATO" appeared anywhere? Every time Putin speaks, he complains about NATO expansion into Ukraine and the resulting missiles pointed at his house from minutes away. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/70565 http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/70565
        mopsi 4y ago
        NATO is just an excuse, even die-hard Russian nationalists like Girkin don't take that seriously and openly mock his constant whining about NATO.
freeopinion 4y ago
I'm often intrigued by the use of passive voice in language. This is a particularly interesting one to me. I don't mean this as a criticism of samsolomon. I just find language and its connection to thought and action interesting. A war did something, as if all by itself. That expression contains so much dangerous obfuscation, but also potential for insight. Russia attacked Ukraine, and in this way "a war broke out". In the parent comment, the details are not the point. The passive voice serves well to get to the point the author is trying to make. Yet at the same time it reinforces the point to which the author is responding. It glosses over the horror of the war so that we can get to the interesting parts.
- upsidesinclude 4y ago
  >Russia attacked Ukraine This is accurate, but it isn't the war being fought and it is hardly the first volley. Ukraine is a mostly unwilling participant in a much larger game. If you choose a most peculiar and narrow view regarding the nature of this conflict, it seems somewhat obtuse to question another comments "voice"
giraffe_lady 4y ago
I didn't ask why I said it's bad.

seanw444 4y ago

They're machines. People find machines and how they function interesting, regardless of their purpose.

giraffe_lady 4y ago
Yes and this is bad. Their purpose is part of what they are you shouldn't ignore it just because you think they're nifty.
- 123pie123 4y ago
  one of my childhood fantasies was to create weapons that kill very effienctly once I had the opportunity to get a job in this field (electronics area) in my early 20's, I then questioned my morals and realised I didn't want to contribute to killing people many decades later, I'm not so moralistic - esp with the UKR / rus war but that ship has sailed
- criddell 4y ago
  Viruses kill a lot of people. Is it bad to interested in viruses?
  - giraffe_lady 4y ago
    Is there a large scale multi-generation propaganda campaign to normalize the creation and deployment of lethal viruses on a global scale and to recruit people into their construction to that purpose? If so yes it's bad to be interested in viruses.
    - 123pie123 4y ago
      most technical advances are a double edge sword there is no good or bad science
    - CapricornNoble 4y ago
      Yes it's called "gain of function research".

fasteddie31003 4y ago

I'd argue that war machines are some of the most influential technology that will shape the world. They are very interesting to me.

recuter 4y ago

[flagged]

jonnybgood 4y ago

How are you using the word entertainment? You seem to be attaching a moral judgment to the word: that which is entertaining is agreeable or morally acceptable. If that’s the case, I would disagree. But in order for me to have disagreed with your comment, I had to first entertain it, which then has lead me to seek understanding. We don’t have to agree with ideas to entertain them, especially when the goal is to seek understanding. War and its tools should be understood, but first we have to entertain the thought of them and not shut our minds to them. Entertaining an idea is a precursor to understanding, which can lead to solutions for less suffering.

giraffe_lady 4y ago
I'm using entertainment in the sense of amusement or diversion not consideration.

Balgair 4y ago

A lot of DoD people read HN too. These kinds of articles will attract them over, say, bitcoin or neuroscience articles.

giraffe_lady 4y ago
So?