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I don't understand why "only" and "and nothing more" are present in that sentence. You don't think strategic projection of power is important?
by baggy_trough 3y ago
I don't understand why "only" and "and nothing more" are present in that sentence. You don't think strategic projection of power is important?
- sreejithr 3y agoWhat about those islanders though? "Power projection" is important. But it's sad that its at the expense of human beings who live and work there.
- jakear 3y agoThis could be (and has been) said about literally any "first peoples" anywhere. Does something about them being "islanders" change things for you?
- sreejithr 3y agoOh so since we’ve screwed natives before, it’s fine to do it again to islanders? We shouldn’t ask these questions because we’ve done worse anyway?
- jakear 3y agoTalk when you've given your house back to whatever native people were there before you. Or should you give it to the "native" people that were there before them? Or the ones before those ones? Or maybe just accept that the one constant of life is everyone takes everyone else's shit if/when they can/want.
- sreejithr 3y ago> Or maybe just accept that the one constant of life is everyone takes everyone else's shit if and when they can and want. Sure. But if this is normal, why is it so hard to accept what Russia is doing to Ukraine? Just because evils were done in the past, doesn’t mean we should just accept it as universal truths and continue doing the same things to others (islanders). If you accept that Russia is wrong, then invading natives was wrong and taking land from islanders *IS* wrong. Disagree?
- throw47474777j 3y agoAre you saying the natives didn’t fight back?
- sreejithr 3y agoI’m not saying that. Natives did fight back. Just like the brave Ukrainians.
- throw47474777j 3y agoIt is possible to both agree with fighting back and trying to keep the peace such as it exists, and at the same time realize it’s obviously absurd to try to undo all the aggressions stretching back through history.
- sreejithr 3y agoOf course it’s impossible to undo evils of the past. I’m talking about the present though. The islanders shouldn’t be invaded for “power projection” because they are human beings too. It’s pretty much the same thing Russia is doing.
- int_19h 3y agoI don't think you can sensibly describe Guam as "being invaded" at this point. Last time there was a referendum there, outright independence from US got less than 4% of the vote. What they rightly want is proper representation within US.
- throw47474777j 3y ago> It’s pretty much the same thing Russia is doing. Complete gibberish. You can’t seriously be claiming that cities in Guam are being turned to rubble under heavy artillery fire, and children being kidnapped etc. Ukraine is at war.
- 3y ago
- c_o_n_v_e_x 3y agoI know someone who grew up near a US base in the Philippines. Her father was employed as a cook at the base. When the base was closed, they went back to eeking out a living through subsistence farming. There are some positive economic impacts for the locals.
- mc32 3y agoThen there is Okinawa and like a thorn, despite all their rejection, we remain unwelcome squatters.
- refurb 3y agoI mean, starting a war comes at a cost sometimes.
- jcranmer 3y agoWell, it depends on which "they" you're referring to. The Japanese love hosting the US bases there, except that Okinawa is to Japan largely as Puerto Rico is to the US, and the Okinawans themselves are quite unhappy to be the actual hosts (surely not helped by soldiers' predilections for raping local girls).
- ted_bunny 3y agoCapitalism good according to capitalism
- cscurmudgeon 3y agoLook at the bourgeoisie! -- Socialism pointing at subsistence farmers happy at earning a good wage
- Mat3777 3y agoThat's how it works ruling class makes up the "party line"
- cscurmudgeon 3y ago
- cscurmudgeon 3y ago> But it's sad that its at the expense of human beings who live and work there Why do you think it is happening at their expense? The other option is leaving these alone and letting the likes of China and Russia run the world.
- mc32 3y agoSometimes you have to let countries duke it out themselves and settle their scores by themselves. I also think post Cold War, we're spending way too much money protecting others at US taxpayer expense. Let those countries defend themselves. Why do we have to be the world police and take all the blowback?
- macintux 3y agoBecause we benefit disproportionately from world peace, uninterrupted shipping, and the world economy using the U.S. dollar as its reserve currency.
- mc32 3y agoThe dollar became the world currency by accident after the OPEC started pricing petroleum in dollars. We're starting to see a slow departure from that. If we did not spend those extra tens of billions per year in projecting power, we could better serve our students, workers, retirees, infrastructure, etc. Instead, they go to ensuring Japan, Korea, Philippines, etc. don't have to spend so much on defense. As China ascends to No. 1, will they take over the spending? (I'd be happy of they were the ones keeping shipping lanes for their own exports open and not us)
- thaumasiotes 3y ago> I'd be happy [if China] were the ones keeping shipping lanes for their own exports open and not us History's not on your side for that one. You're talking about the country that, plagued by pirates disturbing its coastal shipping, went to massive expense to construct an enormous system of inland canals running parallel to the coast that the pirates couldn't reach. If Chinese merchants wanted the sea kept clear, say because they wanted to trade with nearby islands, they had do that in their own private capacity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koxinga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koxinga
- bagels 3y agoDo you think that it is possible that in the last 400 years that the strategy might change in how to deal with piracy?