815
war, war never rules (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 day ago by TotallynotJessica to c/onehundredninetysix
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[-] RamenJunkie@midwest.social 1 points 8 minutes ago

Violence literally just creates more violence.

Like this stupid pointless fucking Iraq war. Even if dumbfuck somehow "wins", which its clear will never happen, do they not realize all the destruction done by the US is just going to create yet another ISIS/Al Queda/whatever style terrorist organization as retatiation?

Then it'll be "oh boy, gotta kill more brown people in the desert!"

Wash, rinse, repeat...

[-] Beehaw_Girl@beehaw.org 4 points 2 hours ago

He's not wrong, but oops I joined the army at age 18 because DAMN these sweet military benefits are taking care of me for LIFE.

[-] frigge@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 hours ago

you mean like PTSD?

[-] core 9 points 3 hours ago

itt: people justifying why their institution of mass murder is actually good

[-] snoons@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 hour ago

To protect from that other persons institution of mass murder. OBV.

[-] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 43 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

I mean self-defense is not bad. US is just not defending itself from anyone.

[-] RamenJunkie@midwest.social 1 points 8 minutes ago

Self-defense from a self inflicted problem though?

[-] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 4 points 14 hours ago

If only we had countless examples from history of people successfully defending themselves without a military...

[-] Khaliso@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

That only works for internal resistance I believe? Like, Ukrainians can't defend against the Kremlin with a sitting strike

However, we definitely need more sitting strikes nowadays. We've grown complacent in exchange for small pleasantries

[-] RamenJunkie@midwest.social 1 points 7 minutes ago

We have only grown complacent because they have everyone starved on the edge of poverty and no one can afford to risk it.

[-] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 2 points 13 minutes ago

Sure. Let yourself become "internal" and then assassinate and terror-bomb and sabotage them. I wasn't suggesting pacifism, I was suggesting not outsourcing your "self-defense" to a state.

Militaries can never give you self-defense, they can only give self-defense to themselves, more specifically military high command. Or the military-industrial complex if you're feeling fancy. You are a source of taxes, morale, and manpower.

One thing to remember is that the alternative to a military is being able to spend all the money and resources and labor and life that was going to the military on other projects. Even spending it all on self-defense if need be.

[-] regdog@lemmy.world 7 points 4 hours ago
[-] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 1 points 33 minutes ago

Haiti's independence war, the October revolution, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Irish independence movement, the French revolution, India's independence guerillas, Indonesia's independence guerillas, women's rights movements (including suffragette terrorism), the Black Panthers, Christians in the Roman empire, Al Qaeda fighting off NATO, ...

I'm not suggesting pacifism, I'm suggesting decentralized violence that isn't at the command of a state.

[-] HrabiaVulpes@europe.pub 33 points 20 hours ago

When I was young people around me told me that the further west on the map country is, the wealthiest and more free people live there without any conflict bothering them. With USA (the west-most country on map) as a shiny utopia with everyone peacefully living there being rich and free.

When I was a teen and my country joined EU I saw countless young adults emigrate west, seeking wealth and freedom beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Terrorists and oppressive regimes waged war in the eastern lands.

When I am an adult, the supposed peacekeeper of the world is waging wars to protect pedophiles. Former empire where sun never sets is trying to outlaw being young and sell their citizens data to highest bidder. And EU is bi-yearly trying to pass universal invigilation act.

I feel like my moral compass never really changed, it's just the world around me that changed beyond recognition. I worry how it will be when I get old, if I even get to live to old age.

Hang in there, buddy, it's rough but we are all in this together.

[-] gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org 8 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

US quality of life is going down because labor market has lower demand. it used to be: economic growth -> high demand for labor -> high wages -> quality of life.

the only thing that it has to do with being "west" was that new land -> lots of stuff to do -> growth -> high wages -> quality of life. once the land is settled, that stops.

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[-] chunes@lemmy.world 72 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Joining a military that aggresses other nations? Yeah, spot on. Joining a military to defend your line on the ground against people you see as fellow earthlings? Still a fair take. Joining a military to defend against people who want you dead because of how you were born? That's where this starts to unravel. That kind of stuff sadly exists in this world.

[-] salvaria 34 points 22 hours ago

What's even more wild is to ask a religious leader for a religion that says "don't kill people" about how killing people in a war isn't a sin. I was only a child when I saw one of my peers ask a priest this. The mental gymnastics the priest was trying to pull was blatantly obvious to me, even as a kid.

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[-] Kaligalis@lemmy.world 11 points 19 hours ago

You don't get it - there are lots of natural resources there!

[-] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 38 points 1 day ago

I was once asked why I joined the military and my answer was 'l needed money'. This seemed to shock my companion who was astounded that I was willing to potentially kill people over money. My response was that it was a far better reason than for imaginary friends or the colour of their skin.

[-] MBM@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

On some level I have more sympathy for someone who at least believes they're doing the right thing

[-] khaleer@sopuli.xyz 7 points 18 hours ago

Honestly I always had more respect for mercenaries for not spreading bullshit about imagined values and just admitting why they joined lol

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[-] 87Six@lemmy.zip 15 points 20 hours ago

The police are made to oppress your own citizens while the military is made to oppress foreign citizens

[-] regdog@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

I smell an incoming quote from "Battlestar Galactica"

[-] Mistiygirl@lemmy.zip 3 points 11 hours ago

And if you're smart, you can even use the military to oppress your own citizens!

[-] prole 40 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

So many absurd things that I was told "you'll understand/agree when you're older" that turned out to just be boomer copium.

No, I don't hate taxes (the opposite). No, I'm not more conservative (the opposite).

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[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 93 points 1 day ago

What about defensive wars, though? Occupations are often quite brutal, as well.

[-] TotallynotJessica 57 points 1 day ago

Even when a war is necessary to prevent a worse outcome, it is still bad

[-] edible_funk@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago

Pacifism is so logically inconsistent.

[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 72 points 1 day ago

Well yeah, but if that's the only kind of war that a military is planning on fighting, IMO it's a bit much to call it "evil".

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[-] jaschop@awful.systems 65 points 1 day ago

I'm not gonna fault an american for an opinion like that, but if you're involved with european leftists who are too busy virtue signalling to adopt any pragmatic defense policy positions, you get a real appreciation for the nuance.

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[-] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 41 points 1 day ago

As someone pointed out, this is understandable if you're from the USA.

Otherwise, I see it like this:

  • Every country has an army.

  • Their own, or the one of another country.

The baseline is that going to war is bad, having a defensive army is absolutely not (and will prevent deaths as russia won't dare attack you).

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this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2026
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