4 ms·

> Who said Mexico and Brazil are friends of the US? Mexico and Brazil both represent significant economic threats to the U.S. I'm sure the US won't get any goo

by dictum 13y ago

> Who said Mexico and Brazil are friends of the US? Mexico and Brazil both represent significant economic threats to the U.S. I'm sure the US won't get any goodwill from other nations as long as it keeps seeing any other economic power not in decline as an enemy. Why the condescension for people who don't accept realpolitik as a fact of life?

bane 13y ago
I think lots of the anger here is not about realpolitik vs ideology as much as pure willful ignorance, wishful thinking and possibly outright delusion. There's lots of tut-tutting here about the NSA doing what the NSA is supposed to do under the guise of mock upsetness or outright ignorance. But here, when Germany is demonstrated to be part of it? Barely a righteous tone rises in anger. China outright infiltrates a nuclear weapons lab? Well shame on the US for not vetting their people better. [1] Lets not ever chastise China. Russia has spies embedded in the US banking industry for a decade? Oh that silly Putin! Here's a picture of him wrestling a bear! But the NSA breaking codes and tapping phones? Oh my goodness fuck! What will save us from the Stalinist purges! What precisely do we think the DGSE, MI5, MI6, BND, MAD, CNI, SVR, NSB etc. [3] all do? Rescue local cats from trees? Play with computers and microphones to see "what's cool?" There's lots of smart folks here, but it's like we're all drunk at our keyboards every time the NSA is shown to be doing what the NSA is supposed to be doing. 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_intelligence_activity_abroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_intelligence_activity_... 2 - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/22/germany-china-industrial-espionage http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/22/germany-china-i... 3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies

by dictum 13y ago

bane 13y ago

I think lots of the anger here is not about realpolitik vs ideology as much as pure willful ignorance, wishful thinking and possibly outright delusion. There's lots of tut-tutting here about the NSA doing what the NSA is supposed to do under the guise of mock upsetness or outright ignorance. But here, when Germany is demonstrated to be part of it? Barely a righteous tone rises in anger. China outright infiltrates a nuclear weapons lab? Well shame on the US for not vetting their people better. [1] Lets not ever chastise China. Russia has spies embedded in the US banking industry for a decade? Oh that silly Putin! Here's a picture of him wrestling a bear! But the NSA breaking codes and tapping phones? Oh my goodness fuck! What will save us from the Stalinist purges! What precisely do we think the DGSE, MI5, MI6, BND, MAD, CNI, SVR, NSB etc. [3] all do? Rescue local cats from trees? Play with computers and microphones to see "what's cool?" There's lots of smart folks here, but it's like we're all drunk at our keyboards every time the NSA is shown to be doing what the NSA is supposed to be doing. 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_intelligence_activity_abroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_intelligence_activity_... 2 - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/22/germany-china-industrial-espionage http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/22/germany-china-i... 3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies