The government is against any type of "people uniting for a purpose", so trade unions is a big no. "Trade unions" actually exist in some state-operated companies, but their function is limited to like distributing movie tickets and daily goods to employees.
This is very instructive, to be honest. It shows how the GOP base leads Trump as much as he leads them. Trump was someone who basically threw the idea of taking responsibility for anything in the trash can, and it opened up the pathway for average citizens to act the same way, and do so with pride. But it's also true that a selfish leader was elected by, what we can now clearly see, is an obscenely selfish portion of the American electorate. When these people talk about "freedom", what they are actually talking about is "convenience". But they have to dress it up in grandiose terms to make themselves not come off as entitled brats.
You can't put the genie back in the bottle. Once Frankenstein's monster is out of the lab, not even the creator can control what it does anymore. That's the whole point of the story. The Republican Party has been building this creature for decades. An amalgamation of gun nuts, religious zealots, hardcore racists, and Lyndon Larouche-style conspiracy theorists, and tossing them in the pot with wealthy people who don't like to pay taxes.
The belief system around COVID-19 has now taken on a life of it's own. One of the main excuses you will hear from people is that it doesn't have full FDA approval, only emergency. If you think people trotting this excuse out will all of a sudden change their mind when it DOES get full approval (very soon, according to reports), I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. In fact, the moment stories about the full approval possibly happening this week started appearing in social media, the anti-vaxx crowd, as predicted IMMEDIATELY moved the goalposts to "it's politically motivated" "it's rushed" and alot of talk about "control groups" which is a term they heard a couple months ago and they think saying it makes them sound smart.
The point is, when they give reasons for their stance, they aren't operating in good faith. They are saying whatever is convenient to trot out in the moment. When "no full FDA approval" falls through, their media consumption sources will have a new one ready to go within an hour. These are people who, deep down, know how wrong they are, but are simply too invested in the bullshit to admit it. It's a massive psychological sunk cost fallacy. They'd literally rather save face on this than live. A ventilator is preferable to humiliation.
Last time I heard about something similar to a strike, it was a bunch of left-wing students from Peking University offering aid to some workers in Shenzhen in 2018, then went missing for a long time, and reappeared "admitting their mistakes for being used by foreign forces", both ironical and creepy right?
This idea of capitalist or foreign forces corrupting individuals is not unique to the Chinese government, it's actually quite common among the left in other parts of the world. But it's sociologically and psicologically untenable, and I say that as a left-winger. The simple fact is that the majority of human beings are not so easily influenced. True, you can influence someone in some trivial ways. But when it comes to core beliefs, these are extremely difficult to change, no matter how much influence you have. Try to convince a Christian to abandon Christianity, or try to convince an atheist that he should start believing in God. You won't be able to easily change the beliefs of those two people. Suppose that a certain individual, let's call him "Bob", is a Christian. Bob won't turn into an atheist simply because someone tells him that God doesn't exist. What's likely to happen is that Bob doesn't give a damn. You can confront him with piles upon piles of facts that contradict everything that the Bible says. And Bob will deny some of those facts, and he will re-interpret others according to his beliefs. So, for example, he will tell you that the Big Bang probably occurred just as science says, but he'll add to this that the Big Bang was created by God. And he'll say something along those lines for every piece of evidence that you can marshall against him.
People usually have core beliefs, and these are extremely difficult to change.
@m7600 actually they say that simply to frame dissidents as spies rather than deceived people. When average people buy it, it's like "they sent another agent" rather than "they corrupted another of us".
I would argue Chinese don't think about belief that much. It's all about "us" and "enemies". I'm not saying the "Chinese don't have a religion so they lack belief" cliche, but we are so used to claim to believe in something we don't care.
If you ask a Chinese they would say they believe in communism, but ask them about HK, Taiwan, Tibet, women, even laborers' rights, what you'll get is pure imperialism. (I mean, communism at least looks ok on paper before Lenin) In our minds we are still peasants of an ancient empire, not civilians, and communism is nothing more than a way to mark enemies. No wonder the "foreign force" theory works well.
It's like "they paid them, so they did evil things for them", not "they corrupted their mind so…"
Why people believe this? Because it's exactly how they could be "corrupted" themselves.
In our minds we are still peasants of an ancient empire, not civilians
To be fair, this stereotype about Chinese people still exists in other countries. I argued about this with a colleague of mine once, I was surprised that an educated person believed in this stereotype. At one point I said to him: "You know that Chinese people today aren't living like they used to live during the Han dynasty, right? They wear t-shirts and jeans, and they use computers and cell phones just as much as you do."
I don't think communism exists economically in China today, to be honest. The government might be communist, but the economy certainly isn't. It has some aspects of it, like state-owned enterprises. But there's also private companies in China as well, even if they're not the main ones.
Deng Xiaoping pushed the country towards capitalism after Mao's death, simply because otherwise China will stay in poverty forever.
Now especially young people blame everything bad on life on evil capitalists. Why developed countries have better working conditions? Because communists existed. Why Chinese have to work longer without proper payment? Because capitalists abducted the country. They almost forget which claims to be the communism country.
To be fair, this stereotype about Chinese people still exists in other countries. I argued about this with a colleague of mine once, I was surprised that an educated person believed in this stereotype. At one point I said to him: "You know that Chinese people today aren't living like they used to live during the Han dynasty, right? They wear t-shirts and jeans, and they use computers and cell phones just as much as you do."
By ancient I mean "we" think very differently. For example let's say some people from Scotland don't want to be part of the UK, will a Englishman view them as sinful, treacherous and evil? They might think they're crazy, that's all. But if a Chinese says Taiwan should be independent, it will be "defiling the holy unity of our sacred nation". It's way beyond a political statement.
Now especially young people blame everything bad on life on evil capitalists.
That sounds kind of like what the Red Guards thought about "capitalist roaders" inside the Communist party of China, and of the "four olds" in general, during the Cultural Revolution.
That's another thing that Europeans tend to interpret in a distorted way, even among the left. For example, some people compare the Cultural Revolution to the insurgency in France during the May of 68, even though both events are not structurally similar. But Maoism was a huge deal in France back then, copies of the Red Book circulated among intellectuals. And even to this day, they speak of "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution", even though this full name sounds rather pompous in Chinese. Furthermore, I've read some works by Chinese authors that say there's nothing to romantize about the Cultural Revolution, it was "ten years of madness", as the title of Feng Jicai's book says.
That's another thing that Europeans tend to interpret in a distorted way, even among the left. For example, some people compare the Cultural Revolution to the insurgency in France during the May of 68, even though both events are not structurally similar. But Maoism was a huge deal in France back then, copies of the Red Book circulated among intellectuals. And even to this day, they speak of "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution", even though this full name sounds rather pompous in Chinese. Furthermore, I've read some works by Chinese authors that say there's nothing to romantize about the Cultural Revolution, it was "ten years of madness", as the title of Feng Jicai's book says.
Yeah the Cultural Revolution is basically the repeated story of an old emperor got paranoid and wanted to eliminate everyone who doesn't lick his anus. As the craziness spread it became an excuse to punish whomever you don't like, your teacher, your father etc. Now only who were the perpetrators don't hate that period.
I always feel bad when European and American intellectuals romanticize this kind of things. The worst of it is that even if they really came here, they would be welcomed as revered guests, rather than suffer like actual Chinese people.
By the way the first time I realize Mao is just another emperor is at middle school when I learn about Jiang Qing, she climbed so high only because she's Mao's wife. Even in OUR textbook you can feel that's not right
To me it seems that Mao didn't really have much power during the Cultural Revolution. He had some power, sure, but at some point the Red Guards became uncontrollable. They could have killed Mao if they wanted to, and they had many opportunities to do so. Obviously they weren't going to do it, but I think this is because the Red Guard saw Mao as their Chairman or "Great Leader", not because Mao was in complete control of them. I don't think that anyone could control all of the Red Guards, at some point they became like an anarchic or disorganized mob. They even had clashes with the People's Liberation Army and with the police.
I guess you are right, everyone began to use the chaos to achieve their own goals.
It's funny as soon as he died, his wife immediately got punished despite her great power, in theory.
I often wonder if there is a split second of realization at the end, when there is an instant of knowledge that there isn't any eternal reward on the other side of the door, just non-existence.
I often wonder if there is a split second of realization at the end, when there is an instant of knowledge that there isn't any eternal reward on the other side of the door, just non-existence.
I often wonder if there is a split second of realization at the end, when there is an instant of knowledge that there isn't any eternal reward on the other side of the door, just non-existence.
Assuming that non-existence is all that awaits, probably not. You can't really comprehend non-existence. If you're aware, then you still exist.
I often wonder if there is a split second of realization at the end, when there is an instant of knowledge that there isn't any eternal reward on the other side of the door, just non-existence.
Assuming that non-existence is all that awaits, probably not. You can't really comprehend non-existence. If you're aware, then you still exist.
Well said, not to turn this into too much of a philosophy thread, but it's akin to realizing what it was like before you were born or conceived. Also have to imagine that, as various parts of the body shut down, you're unlikely to possess the capacity for understanding even prior to the true final moment.
If you were to ask any American, they'd likely tell you ISIS and the Taliban are basically synonymous. When, in fact, this explosion was set off by ISIS to make the Taliban look bad. And this the situation some people (including nearly ALL of cable news) want to dedicate MORE troops to indefinitely. The only thing we can bring to Afghanistan is more death.
Mind you, no one is even offering a reason or rational/mission for staying at this point. Just that we must do so to save face. Right now, people like Ben Sasse want to send in more troops to retake Kabul and Bagram Air Force Base. For what purpose?? The government collapsed. The military collapsed. Is there even a cursory reasoning for doing so?? Senator Chris Murphy mentioned today on Twitter it took him years to realize just how much DC runs on perpetual war. This is what happens when that apple cart is upended.
Well said, not to turn this into too much of a philosophy thread, but it's akin to realizing what it was like before you were born or conceived. Also have to imagine that, as various parts of the body shut down, you're unlikely to possess the capacity for understanding even prior to the true final moment.
I'd also compare it to deep sleep, when you're sleeping but not dreaming. It's like there's a Nothingness. There's not even a "you" in that situation. In a certain way, it's like we experience death every day, every time that we sleep without dreaming.
I often wonder if there is a split second of realization at the end, when there is an instant of knowledge that there isn't any eternal reward on the other side of the door, just non-existence.
Assuming that non-existence is all that awaits, probably not. You can't really comprehend non-existence. If you're aware, then you still exist.
Well said, not to turn this into too much of a philosophy thread, but it's akin to realizing what it was like before you were born or conceived. Also have to imagine that, as various parts of the body shut down, you're unlikely to possess the capacity for understanding even prior to the true final moment.
The thought of non-existence is terrifying to me simply because I cannot comprehend it. Its not really scary in and of itself, but its unknowable. That's true Lovecraftian Horror right there. The Neverending Story was secretly the most accurate representation of cosmic horror all along.
The thought of non-existence is terrifying to me simply because I cannot comprehend it. Its not really scary in and of itself, but its unknowable. That's true Lovecraftian Horror right there. The Neverending Story was secretly the most accurate representation of cosmic horror all along.
But in a way, you do pass into non-existence every day, during dreamless sleep. To me the really crazy thing is the opposite: that there's a reality, or a Universe. There could have been Nothingness. Why are there things?
I often wonder if there is a split second of realization at the end, when there is an instant of knowledge that there isn't any eternal reward on the other side of the door, just non-existence.
Assuming that non-existence is all that awaits, probably not. You can't really comprehend non-existence. If you're aware, then you still exist.
Well said, not to turn this into too much of a philosophy thread, but it's akin to realizing what it was like before you were born or conceived. Also have to imagine that, as various parts of the body shut down, you're unlikely to possess the capacity for understanding even prior to the true final moment.
The thought of non-existence is terrifying to me simply because I cannot comprehend it. Its not really scary in and of itself, but its unknowable. That's true Lovecraftian Horror right there. The Neverending Story was secretly the most accurate representation of cosmic horror all along.
It definitely is. It's even worse when you don't really believe in the various alternatives religion offers.
The Neverending Story was far more terrifying than any horror movie of the '80s. Ask any person my age what their most traumatic movie moment was as a child, and if they've seen this film, it is almost always Artax drowning in the swamp.
The thought of non-existence is terrifying to me simply because I cannot comprehend it. Its not really scary in and of itself, but its unknowable. That's true Lovecraftian Horror right there. The Neverending Story was secretly the most accurate representation of cosmic horror all along.
But in a way, you do pass into non-existence every day, during dreamless sleep. To me the really crazy thing is the opposite: that there's a reality, or a Universe. There could have been Nothingness. Why are there things?
You still dream (unless heavily drugged) every night. You just don't remember them. You're still breathing, and your body is aware of it enough to wake you up when you stop.
US Central Command head Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie said the Taliban and US do share a "common purpose" in the Afghanistan evacuation mission.
When asked if he trusts the Taliban or if the group allowed the Kabul airport attack to happen, here's how he responded:
"As to whether they let it happen, I don't know. I don't think there's anything to convince me that they let it happen. As to whether or not I trust them ... that's a word I use very carefully. You've heard me say before, 'it's not what they say; it's what they do.' They have a practical reason for wanting us to get out of here by the 31st of August. They want to reclaim the airfield. We want to get out by that day, too, if it's possible to do so. So we share a common purpose. As long as we keep that common purpose alive, they've been useful to work with. They've cut some of our security concerns down and they've been useful to work with going forward," McKenzie said.
"Now long-term, I don't know what that's going to be. I will tell you this: Any time you build a noncombatant evacuation plan like this and you bring in forces, you expect to be attacked. We thought this would happen sooner or later. It's tragic that happened today. It's tragic there is this much loss of life. We are prepared to continue the mission. ... I think we can continue to conduct our mission even while we're receiving attacks like this," he said.
I think this was well said. They saw this attack coming, but were powerless to stop it. America needs to turn away from the ‘eye for eye’ retribution. Biden does not need to respond to this ISIS attack as some pundits are suggesting he has to do. That’s what ISIS wants.
All he needs to do is continue to get people out of the country as soon as possible. If he does anything else, these 12 service members died for nothing.
US Central Command head Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie said the Taliban and US do share a "common purpose" in the Afghanistan evacuation mission.
When asked if he trusts the Taliban or if the group allowed the Kabul airport attack to happen, here's how he responded:
"As to whether they let it happen, I don't know. I don't think there's anything to convince me that they let it happen. As to whether or not I trust them ... that's a word I use very carefully. You've heard me say before, 'it's not what they say; it's what they do.' They have a practical reason for wanting us to get out of here by the 31st of August. They want to reclaim the airfield. We want to get out by that day, too, if it's possible to do so. So we share a common purpose. As long as we keep that common purpose alive, they've been useful to work with. They've cut some of our security concerns down and they've been useful to work with going forward," McKenzie said.
"Now long-term, I don't know what that's going to be. I will tell you this: Any time you build a noncombatant evacuation plan like this and you bring in forces, you expect to be attacked. We thought this would happen sooner or later. It's tragic that happened today. It's tragic there is this much loss of life. We are prepared to continue the mission. ... I think we can continue to conduct our mission even while we're receiving attacks like this," he said.
I think this was well said. They saw this attack coming, but were powerless to stop it. America needs to turn away from the ‘eye for eye’ retribution. Biden does not need to respond to this ISIS attack as some pundits are suggesting he has to do. That’s what ISIS wants.
All he needs to do is continue to get people out of the country as soon as possible. If he does anything else, these 12 service members died for nothing.
The only thing a "proportional response" does at this point is get more people killed, including way more than the 12 that died today. There is no argument being made in support of this that doesn't boil down to "we're doing it for revenge". Which is exactly how we ended up there in the first place. The media's pro-war bias is stunningly obvious, even 20 years later. This is a pretty good example of what TV news was like in 2002-2003, except it was 10x worse. Many of the same people arguing the same bullshit.
What still gets me, after all these years, is that many Americans feel the entire globe is our playground, and our troops are off limits everywhere as if there are no consequences to occupying other countries, we can can conduct drone strikes on weddings and say "oops, sorry about that" and keep whistling down the road.
This isn't Call of Duty, this stuff isn't managed by a wireless Xbox controller and Bluetooth headset. This is what war is. And since the media is finally paying attention (after quite literally ignoring the situation for a decade and a half), people are shocked to see the tragedy of it thrown in their faces. It's not that this hasn't been a near daily occurrence for two decades. It's that you were either ignorant to that reality or choose to look the other way.
The GOP calls for the entire Administration to resign are really something. Are people aware of what happened in Lebanon under Saint Ronnie?? Somalia under Clinton?? I could have sworn a really bad thing happened under W. in September of 2001 that tons of people were warning about that entire summer. Not one call for resignation in either case.
You still dream (unless heavily drugged) every night. You just don't remember them. You're still breathing, and your body is aware of it enough to wake you up when you stop.
Sure, but there's a difference between REM sleep and deep sleep, in the former there are dreams, in the latter there isn't. It's true that I still exist even when I'm in deep sleep, and it's true that I'm still breathing, etc. But I'm not in a conscious state, there's no first-person perspective in dreamless sleep.
A thought on a response to those bombings - what if it's the Taliban that responds? Have some law enforcement put in a serious effort to arrest the bombers and/or their more local backers. It is, after all, an attack that hit civilians in their own territory, and the Taliban wants to be seen as a legitimate government...
A thought on a response to those bombings - what if it's the Taliban that responds? Have some law enforcement put in a serious effort to arrest the bombers and/or their more local backers. It is, after all, an attack that hit civilians in their own territory, and the Taliban wants to be seen as a legitimate government...
I am pretty sure the suicide bombers are dead and can't be arrested.
As for the their backers, Afghanistan has been in a civil war for the last two decades that isn't/wasn't two sided. I am pretty sure the Taliban will respond after August 31 to the attack and the fighting will continue long after the US leaves.
You still dream (unless heavily drugged) every night. You just don't remember them. You're still breathing, and your body is aware of it enough to wake you up when you stop.
Sure, but there's a difference between REM sleep and deep sleep, in the former there are dreams, in the latter there isn't. It's true that I still exist even when I'm in deep sleep, and it's true that I'm still breathing, etc. But I'm not in a conscious state, there's no first-person perspective in dreamless sleep.
I don't think that's right. But I also don't feel like looking it up right now. So I'll have to give you the nod in good faith.
Comments
This is very instructive, to be honest. It shows how the GOP base leads Trump as much as he leads them. Trump was someone who basically threw the idea of taking responsibility for anything in the trash can, and it opened up the pathway for average citizens to act the same way, and do so with pride. But it's also true that a selfish leader was elected by, what we can now clearly see, is an obscenely selfish portion of the American electorate. When these people talk about "freedom", what they are actually talking about is "convenience". But they have to dress it up in grandiose terms to make themselves not come off as entitled brats.
You can't put the genie back in the bottle. Once Frankenstein's monster is out of the lab, not even the creator can control what it does anymore. That's the whole point of the story. The Republican Party has been building this creature for decades. An amalgamation of gun nuts, religious zealots, hardcore racists, and Lyndon Larouche-style conspiracy theorists, and tossing them in the pot with wealthy people who don't like to pay taxes.
The belief system around COVID-19 has now taken on a life of it's own. One of the main excuses you will hear from people is that it doesn't have full FDA approval, only emergency. If you think people trotting this excuse out will all of a sudden change their mind when it DOES get full approval (very soon, according to reports), I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. In fact, the moment stories about the full approval possibly happening this week started appearing in social media, the anti-vaxx crowd, as predicted IMMEDIATELY moved the goalposts to "it's politically motivated" "it's rushed" and alot of talk about "control groups" which is a term they heard a couple months ago and they think saying it makes them sound smart.
The point is, when they give reasons for their stance, they aren't operating in good faith. They are saying whatever is convenient to trot out in the moment. When "no full FDA approval" falls through, their media consumption sources will have a new one ready to go within an hour. These are people who, deep down, know how wrong they are, but are simply too invested in the bullshit to admit it. It's a massive psychological sunk cost fallacy. They'd literally rather save face on this than live. A ventilator is preferable to humiliation.
This idea of capitalist or foreign forces corrupting individuals is not unique to the Chinese government, it's actually quite common among the left in other parts of the world. But it's sociologically and psicologically untenable, and I say that as a left-winger. The simple fact is that the majority of human beings are not so easily influenced. True, you can influence someone in some trivial ways. But when it comes to core beliefs, these are extremely difficult to change, no matter how much influence you have. Try to convince a Christian to abandon Christianity, or try to convince an atheist that he should start believing in God. You won't be able to easily change the beliefs of those two people. Suppose that a certain individual, let's call him "Bob", is a Christian. Bob won't turn into an atheist simply because someone tells him that God doesn't exist. What's likely to happen is that Bob doesn't give a damn. You can confront him with piles upon piles of facts that contradict everything that the Bible says. And Bob will deny some of those facts, and he will re-interpret others according to his beliefs. So, for example, he will tell you that the Big Bang probably occurred just as science says, but he'll add to this that the Big Bang was created by God. And he'll say something along those lines for every piece of evidence that you can marshall against him.
People usually have core beliefs, and these are extremely difficult to change.
I would argue Chinese don't think about belief that much. It's all about "us" and "enemies". I'm not saying the "Chinese don't have a religion so they lack belief" cliche, but we are so used to claim to believe in something we don't care.
If you ask a Chinese they would say they believe in communism, but ask them about HK, Taiwan, Tibet, women, even laborers' rights, what you'll get is pure imperialism. (I mean, communism at least looks ok on paper before Lenin) In our minds we are still peasants of an ancient empire, not civilians, and communism is nothing more than a way to mark enemies. No wonder the "foreign force" theory works well.
Why people believe this? Because it's exactly how they could be "corrupted" themselves.
To be fair, this stereotype about Chinese people still exists in other countries. I argued about this with a colleague of mine once, I was surprised that an educated person believed in this stereotype. At one point I said to him: "You know that Chinese people today aren't living like they used to live during the Han dynasty, right? They wear t-shirts and jeans, and they use computers and cell phones just as much as you do."
I don't think communism exists economically in China today, to be honest. The government might be communist, but the economy certainly isn't. It has some aspects of it, like state-owned enterprises. But there's also private companies in China as well, even if they're not the main ones.
Now especially young people blame everything bad on life on evil capitalists. Why developed countries have better working conditions? Because communists existed. Why Chinese have to work longer without proper payment? Because capitalists abducted the country. They almost forget which claims to be the communism country. By ancient I mean "we" think very differently. For example let's say some people from Scotland don't want to be part of the UK, will a Englishman view them as sinful, treacherous and evil? They might think they're crazy, that's all. But if a Chinese says Taiwan should be independent, it will be "defiling the holy unity of our sacred nation". It's way beyond a political statement.
That sounds kind of like what the Red Guards thought about "capitalist roaders" inside the Communist party of China, and of the "four olds" in general, during the Cultural Revolution.
That's another thing that Europeans tend to interpret in a distorted way, even among the left. For example, some people compare the Cultural Revolution to the insurgency in France during the May of 68, even though both events are not structurally similar. But Maoism was a huge deal in France back then, copies of the Red Book circulated among intellectuals. And even to this day, they speak of "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution", even though this full name sounds rather pompous in Chinese. Furthermore, I've read some works by Chinese authors that say there's nothing to romantize about the Cultural Revolution, it was "ten years of madness", as the title of Feng Jicai's book says.
Yeah the Cultural Revolution is basically the repeated story of an old emperor got paranoid and wanted to eliminate everyone who doesn't lick his anus. As the craziness spread it became an excuse to punish whomever you don't like, your teacher, your father etc. Now only who were the perpetrators don't hate that period.
I always feel bad when European and American intellectuals romanticize this kind of things. The worst of it is that even if they really came here, they would be welcomed as revered guests, rather than suffer like actual Chinese people.
It's funny as soon as he died, his wife immediately got punished despite her great power, in theory.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-some-white-evangelical-republicans-are-so-opposed-to-the-covid-19-vaccine/
I often wonder if there is a split second of realization at the end, when there is an instant of knowledge that there isn't any eternal reward on the other side of the door, just non-existence.
We'll all find out eventually...
Assuming that non-existence is all that awaits, probably not. You can't really comprehend non-existence. If you're aware, then you still exist.
Well said, not to turn this into too much of a philosophy thread, but it's akin to realizing what it was like before you were born or conceived. Also have to imagine that, as various parts of the body shut down, you're unlikely to possess the capacity for understanding even prior to the true final moment.
Heartbreaking. Can't get out soon enough.
If you were to ask any American, they'd likely tell you ISIS and the Taliban are basically synonymous. When, in fact, this explosion was set off by ISIS to make the Taliban look bad. And this the situation some people (including nearly ALL of cable news) want to dedicate MORE troops to indefinitely. The only thing we can bring to Afghanistan is more death.
Mind you, no one is even offering a reason or rational/mission for staying at this point. Just that we must do so to save face. Right now, people like Ben Sasse want to send in more troops to retake Kabul and Bagram Air Force Base. For what purpose?? The government collapsed. The military collapsed. Is there even a cursory reasoning for doing so?? Senator Chris Murphy mentioned today on Twitter it took him years to realize just how much DC runs on perpetual war. This is what happens when that apple cart is upended.
I'd also compare it to deep sleep, when you're sleeping but not dreaming. It's like there's a Nothingness. There's not even a "you" in that situation. In a certain way, it's like we experience death every day, every time that we sleep without dreaming.
The thought of non-existence is terrifying to me simply because I cannot comprehend it. Its not really scary in and of itself, but its unknowable. That's true Lovecraftian Horror right there. The Neverending Story was secretly the most accurate representation of cosmic horror all along.
But in a way, you do pass into non-existence every day, during dreamless sleep. To me the really crazy thing is the opposite: that there's a reality, or a Universe. There could have been Nothingness. Why are there things?
It definitely is. It's even worse when you don't really believe in the various alternatives religion offers.
The Neverending Story was far more terrifying than any horror movie of the '80s. Ask any person my age what their most traumatic movie moment was as a child, and if they've seen this film, it is almost always Artax drowning in the swamp.
You still dream (unless heavily drugged) every night. You just don't remember them. You're still breathing, and your body is aware of it enough to wake you up when you stop.
US Central Command head Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie said the Taliban and US do share a "common purpose" in the Afghanistan evacuation mission.
When asked if he trusts the Taliban or if the group allowed the Kabul airport attack to happen, here's how he responded:
"As to whether they let it happen, I don't know. I don't think there's anything to convince me that they let it happen. As to whether or not I trust them ... that's a word I use very carefully. You've heard me say before, 'it's not what they say; it's what they do.' They have a practical reason for wanting us to get out of here by the 31st of August. They want to reclaim the airfield. We want to get out by that day, too, if it's possible to do so. So we share a common purpose. As long as we keep that common purpose alive, they've been useful to work with. They've cut some of our security concerns down and they've been useful to work with going forward," McKenzie said.
"Now long-term, I don't know what that's going to be. I will tell you this: Any time you build a noncombatant evacuation plan like this and you bring in forces, you expect to be attacked. We thought this would happen sooner or later. It's tragic that happened today. It's tragic there is this much loss of life. We are prepared to continue the mission. ... I think we can continue to conduct our mission even while we're receiving attacks like this," he said.
I think this was well said. They saw this attack coming, but were powerless to stop it. America needs to turn away from the ‘eye for eye’ retribution. Biden does not need to respond to this ISIS attack as some pundits are suggesting he has to do. That’s what ISIS wants.
All he needs to do is continue to get people out of the country as soon as possible. If he does anything else, these 12 service members died for nothing.
The only thing a "proportional response" does at this point is get more people killed, including way more than the 12 that died today. There is no argument being made in support of this that doesn't boil down to "we're doing it for revenge". Which is exactly how we ended up there in the first place. The media's pro-war bias is stunningly obvious, even 20 years later. This is a pretty good example of what TV news was like in 2002-2003, except it was 10x worse. Many of the same people arguing the same bullshit.
What still gets me, after all these years, is that many Americans feel the entire globe is our playground, and our troops are off limits everywhere as if there are no consequences to occupying other countries, we can can conduct drone strikes on weddings and say "oops, sorry about that" and keep whistling down the road.
This isn't Call of Duty, this stuff isn't managed by a wireless Xbox controller and Bluetooth headset. This is what war is. And since the media is finally paying attention (after quite literally ignoring the situation for a decade and a half), people are shocked to see the tragedy of it thrown in their faces. It's not that this hasn't been a near daily occurrence for two decades. It's that you were either ignorant to that reality or choose to look the other way.
The GOP calls for the entire Administration to resign are really something. Are people aware of what happened in Lebanon under Saint Ronnie?? Somalia under Clinton?? I could have sworn a really bad thing happened under W. in September of 2001 that tons of people were warning about that entire summer. Not one call for resignation in either case.
Sure, but there's a difference between REM sleep and deep sleep, in the former there are dreams, in the latter there isn't. It's true that I still exist even when I'm in deep sleep, and it's true that I'm still breathing, etc. But I'm not in a conscious state, there's no first-person perspective in dreamless sleep.
I am pretty sure the suicide bombers are dead and can't be arrested.
As for the their backers, Afghanistan has been in a civil war for the last two decades that isn't/wasn't two sided. I am pretty sure the Taliban will respond after August 31 to the attack and the fighting will continue long after the US leaves.
I don't think that's right. But I also don't feel like looking it up right now. So I'll have to give you the nod in good faith.