You okay? I’m talking about behavior, and you’re making it about people’s abilities. If you want people to engage in critical analysis, don’t start by saying they’re unable to do it.

Fox news calling the US an empire is not new. How old do you all think the moniker “Empire State” is? It’s wild how it’s in our language but we just don’t think about it.

Could someone explain the joke to me? I’m not very smart.

deleted by creator

I’m sure if you keep calling those who do as LARPers, it will surely encourage such dialogue.

If attacking civilians is the mark of psychopathology then the US does a good job of arming such nations. What the Houthis are doing is not happening in a vacuum. They have a history of resisting regimes propped up by the US. Does that make them saints? No. But we’re not any better.

Exec laughs in accountability and fires people

Maybe I would receive your arguments with more grace if it wasn’t laced with personal judgements.

If we have so little influence over Israel than that undermines your argument that we’re getting “power coupons” in return. I’m not even debating you on the morality of Kissinger, I’m meeting you where you stand: if we don’t exercise our influence then we are going to lose it (and Kissinger agrees with me on that at least)

The argument is that we’re not using our strongest influence by virtue of not threatening to withhold arms (even though it would be in US interest to do so to preserve influence in the region). I am not arguing that the US controls Israel like some vassal state.

If the US has no influence over Israel in regards to this conflict than that sounds like a critical policy failure and a huge geopolitical risk.

Edit: I’m curious what potential Israel allies you speak of that are not aligned with the US? Our own allies are distancing themselves from this clusterfuck.

If you don’t see how Israel is undermining America’s soft power then idk what to say.

You talk about how foreign policy is about power and influence - I am saying Biden doesn’t understand how influence works as evidence by him not using his power to influence Israeli policy even though it is leading to a more volatile middle east and lower approval ratings at home. In other words, he is undermining his own influence. But go on and tell us how we’re children for expecting more.

I think their goal is to displace 90% into Egypt and kill the rest. Still genocide.

Yeah, we totally reined in their terror by giving them everything they wanted. Biden thinks if he is nice enough they will return in kind. He tends to use the same tactic when negotiating with Republicans 🤦‍♂️

Love it. Often I’ll frame “better” in terms of individualism. Licking a boot as an individual is better than bargaining as a group I guess 🤷

Being pro-Open source is to be against the specialization of labor? That’s probably not what you mean, but I don’t get how having the option to participate negates specialized labor.

It does cover how larger industry would be coordinated, it is not advocating for communes. Feel like we’re reading two different things…

if you don’t believe that the ultimate power in any market is consumer choice

Because I believe in open source where I’m not a consumer, but a participant in it’s creation. The ultimate power in the market isn’t consumer choice, it’s the choice over what gets made and who gets paid.

I’m going through this one now, it’s framed as a thought experiment for a bottom up society: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/p-m-bolo-bolo