5 ms·

Having lived through Vietnam, Pol Pot, Munich Olympics, the height of the cold war and then the collapse of the Soviet Union and most Communism, Iranian hostage

Having lived through Vietnam, Pol Pot, Munich Olympics, the height of the cold war and then the collapse of the Soviet Union and most Communism, Iranian hostages, Korean Air 007, any number of incidents in the middle east, more revolutions and coups in Africa than I can point to, bombings in Bali, Tianenmen Square, Falkland Islands, US invasions of Iraq, Grenada, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and on and on.... Why would I think that current events are different in some fundamental way?

tut-urut-utut 3y ago
> Why would I think that current events are different in some fundamental way? They are different in a sense US Empire and its vassals are starting to lose wars and influence, so westerners started noticing these events as negative. Previously, they didn’t care.
- michael1999 3y ago
  The parent listed Vietnam. The USA lost Vietnam even more soundly than Afghanistan, including almost 50k killed, and 300k wounded. Pol Pot murdered 40% of Cambodia. Saudi almost collapsed with the Grand Mosque. Nothing today comes close to those strains.
  - commandlinefan 3y ago
    > The USA lost Vietnam "We did not lose! It was a tie!"
    - michael1999 3y ago
      Sure it was, Otto. The helicopter evac was just convenient.
jassyr 3y ago
I wonder if in 1,000 years these power struggles and land disputes will feel as antiquated as witch hunts. Sadly I fear not, human greed has no limit.
bryanlarsen 3y ago
I don't think they're different. I think in both those situations and today they all had a small chance of kicking off WW3. If we keep rolling that D20 eventually we will roll a 1.
- lbltavares 3y ago
  you mean a 3
derbOac 3y ago
So, I lived through a lot of that and feel like some of this is people either forgetting or not having experienced what it was like pre-cold war thaw. On the other hand, Ukraine feels different to me for some reason and seems tied to broader territorial ambitions, which wasn't exactly the case before because the territory was put in place in WWII. There was Afghanistan etc but that didn't have the domino implications of NATO. The Soviet state also seemed more stable to me than the current megalomaniac plutocracy. China also didn't have the same presence it does now. There's more big players in some ways. On the other hand, for awhile there in the past there were nuclear drills in classrooms, and it was for a reason. I don't really see WWIII happening soon but if things continue to escalate everywhere it seems reasonable to wonder about it. People wondered then too.

tut-urut-utut 3y ago

> Why would I think that current events are different in some fundamental way? They are different in a sense US Empire and its vassals are starting to lose wars and influence, so westerners started noticing these events as negative. Previously, they didn’t care.

michael1999 3y ago
The parent listed Vietnam. The USA lost Vietnam even more soundly than Afghanistan, including almost 50k killed, and 300k wounded. Pol Pot murdered 40% of Cambodia. Saudi almost collapsed with the Grand Mosque. Nothing today comes close to those strains.
- commandlinefan 3y ago
  > The USA lost Vietnam "We did not lose! It was a tie!"
  - michael1999 3y ago
    Sure it was, Otto. The helicopter evac was just convenient.

jassyr 3y ago

I wonder if in 1,000 years these power struggles and land disputes will feel as antiquated as witch hunts. Sadly I fear not, human greed has no limit.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

I don't think they're different. I think in both those situations and today they all had a small chance of kicking off WW3. If we keep rolling that D20 eventually we will roll a 1.

lbltavares 3y ago
you mean a 3

derbOac 3y ago

So, I lived through a lot of that and feel like some of this is people either forgetting or not having experienced what it was like pre-cold war thaw. On the other hand, Ukraine feels different to me for some reason and seems tied to broader territorial ambitions, which wasn't exactly the case before because the territory was put in place in WWII. There was Afghanistan etc but that didn't have the domino implications of NATO. The Soviet state also seemed more stable to me than the current megalomaniac plutocracy. China also didn't have the same presence it does now. There's more big players in some ways. On the other hand, for awhile there in the past there were nuclear drills in classrooms, and it was for a reason. I don't really see WWIII happening soon but if things continue to escalate everywhere it seems reasonable to wonder about it. People wondered then too.