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Uganda: The Musical- What KONY2012 is Really About

Jam Stunna

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Link to original post: [drupal=5096]Uganda: The Musical- What KONY2012 is Really About[/drupal]



By now, everyone has heard of or seen the KONY2012 video that has been circulating with a vengeance. I'm not sure how many people have seen this though:

http://boingboing.net/2012/03/15/revealed-kony-2012s-siniste.html

Actually, let's just skip to the good part. And by good, I mean borderline insane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWACLKaOC08&feature=player_embedded#!

Yeah, that's Jason Russell, the same guy from the KONY2012 video and the founder of Invisible Children, using the plight of children as a launching platform for his ill-advised foray into musicals. It seems totally disconnected from the cause it's supposed to support, and indeed from reality in general. But in fact, this is actually the perfect example of what KONY2012 is all about.

It's frustrating that I even need to say this, but let me just go ahead and get it out of the way. Yes, I am against children being turned into soldiers. No, I do not support the KONY2012 campaign. The two positions are not mututally exclusive, but enough people equate the positions that it's necessary to make the distinction (you haven't watched KONY2012? What, do you LIKE children being forced to murder their parents?!) Aside from the documented falsehoods of the video, the masturbatory tone or the thinly veiled fishing for money through such ridiculousness as "action kits" (ostensibly to fund more song-and-dance routines, apparently), there's one major problem I have with KONY2012. It's not designed to actually save children or as a call to action. Instead, it's an incredibly savvy fundraising tool that achieves its end not by raising awareness, but by stroking the ego of the viewers.

The premise is this, after all: by watching a 30-minute video about Joseph Kony, you're making a difference. YOU'RE RAISING AWARENESS. We all know how important that is! Sarcasm aside, KONY2012 offers viewers the perfect way to feel good about themselves. They get to become part of a cause which (as a poster on Jezebel put it so well) demands nothing of them. It doesn't ask them to change their lifestyle or go to a rally. All they have to do is share the video, which has the added bonus of, thanks to social media, demonstrating to everyone they know how much of a humanitarian they are. "Look! I care about child soldiers in Africa! See, I watched this video and then posted it on my Facebook to prove it! DON'T YOU CARE?"

Jason Russell's musical number was not about suffering children, it was about his desire to do a musical, and suffering children provided the platform for that. Similarly, KONY2012 isn't about Joseph Kony, it's about us, the viewer, and how we think about ourselves. There are any number of causes to care about or contribute to, but this is the one that's both easy and public. Imagine for a moment that all of the people who viewed the KONY2012 video volunteered somewhere in their community for a day, or gave blood, or donated a clothing item to the Salvation Army, or gave to the Red Cross, or even picked up a piece of litter as they walked down the street. Imagine 80 million people doing those things, just once! But all of those actually require effort, and more importantly, all of your friends and family won't know what a great person you are. You could post on your Facebook about doing those things, but you'll either get ignored or called out for being a braggart. Yet somehow posting KONY2012 with pithy commentary like "Be informed" gets a pass, because everone wants to prove how much they care about an issue that, while terrible, has absolutely no bearing on their own lives or the lives of anyone they know.

Lastly, what is the endgame of raising awareness? Aside from swelling the coffers of Invisible Children, what does awareness accomplish? Sure, if Jooseph Kony walks down your street you now know what he looks like and can initiate a totally awesome citizen's arrest, but that seems highly unlikely. No one who watched this video is going to pick up a rifle and go hunt down Kony personally. So what's the deal. Does Joseph Kony give a damn about what people thousands of miles know about him? This is a guy that uses children in his army. He does not care what you or your mom or your roommate think about him. The position about awareness I hear articulated most often is that, by raising awareness in the American (and more generally the Western) public, pressure will build on politicians to take action against him, usually military in nature. This is mindboggling to me, as if we don't have several clear examples of Western military acttions not going according to plan.

For me, KONY2012 has been a fascinating exposure of the way in which we love to look into the mirror and admire ourselves. That's basically what Youtube and Facebook are in the first place, electronic mirrors. Invisible Children took advantage of that, and for about two weeks flourished not because of the strength of their cause, but because of what people wanted to believe about themselves. They wanted to look into that mirror and see someone noble, caring and involved. Thinking that watching a video on Youtube will change someone's life is just as narcissistic as thinking a musical is even remotely the right way to present your message. But then, it's not really about the message, is it?
 

Jim Morrison

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Not gonna lie, I joined in the Kony stuff and shared it.

The question that boggles me is, why not?

Also being narcissistic is in our nature (or is it just me...?). Feeling good about ourselves shouldn't be looked down upon and pretending to care about something so you feel validated, what's wrong with this? You are not hurting anyone.
 

Jam Stunna

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Sure, you're not hurting anyone by pretending to care, but you're not helping anyone either. That's a problem because it reduces the suffering of real people to a tool to jerk ourselves off. Narcissism itself is a negative quality; narcissism validated by pretending to care about the suffering of others is pretty immoral.

Also, if you're able to justify excessive self-love simply by pretending to care, that sounds like a problem as well, albeit a personal one.
 

Dre89

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Jam's right though, I hate when people talk about doing charitable acts to feel good about themselves. That's incredibly self-centred.

You should never go to bed after a day of charitable deeds feeling good about yourself. You should go to bed upset at how much more work there is to do.
 

john!

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but do you guys really think that people would do as many altruistic actions if there wasn't a personal benefit to them as well (the "warm fuzzy feeling" that you get)?

the self-love that comes with altruistic actions can be a good thing (and it likely arose from evolutionary processes).
 

Chronodiver Lokii

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I'd rather see people putting forth more effort into actually doing something for these children

My grade school and high school had ties to different ministries that worked with women and children affected by the LoR. Those Kony people were turning a terrible thing into a publicity stunt while amazing people were taking the time and effort to go help others that they never met personally

If people really want to help, find groups that personally go and help those affected.

:phone:
 

Firus

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The "warm fuzzy feeling" isn't the problem. It's the source of it, the fact that people are getting the "warm fuzzy feeling" from enlarging their e-peen. There's nothing wrong with feeling somewhat good about doing something good for someone else. On the other hand, it's utterly ridiculous to feel good about showing off how good of a person you are by sharing crap on social networking sites.

It's basically equivalent to somebody displaying some award. For the sake of argument, we'll just say it's a shiny, decorated, fancy ribbon from winning some sort of film festival contest. You can feel good for participating in the contest, sharing your creativity in the form of a film, giving enjoyment to other people through your films. Or you could feel good for displaying your ribbon everywhere you go, feeling good because you're sharing the idea of this film festival and you may inspire some people to consider joining in and sharing their creativity.

It's a loose metaphor, but hopefully you catch my drift. Putting crap out on Facebook under the pretense of it doing much of anything and then feeling good about it is ridiculous. If you really care about a cause, then write letters to your congressmen, raise money, do something to actually support it. If you don't care enough to actually dedicate any time or effort to contributing to it, then fine; don't pretend that you care.

What pisses me off the most about campaigns like this is they go out to make anyone who doesn't participate feel bad about themselves. For example, I got invited to some KONY event at my college. (Apparently, this event is for sharing flyers all over the city, to raise yet more awareness.) I look like a "bad" person if I refuse the invitation and neglect to attend, because apparently I "don't care" about children being turned into soldiers, but I don't see what this is going to accomplish. Plus, the chances that the person who invited me cares about this cause any more than just naturally feeling bad for other humans are slim to none.

Stuff like this is just one of many reasons I hate social networking sites. I'm so tired of obnoxious teenagers pretending that they're doing something by spamming up everyone's newsfeed with this junk. I'm glad somebody else is speaking out against this KONY thing and about the narcissistic use of social networking sites in general.
 

Teran

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I remember when we voted for charities in school and I voted for one that actually DID stuff other than throw money and food at "those poor Africans aww"

They dug wells that pumped a continued supply of clean fresh water stuff like that.

You know, lasting work that goes a way to provide greater OVERALL development.

The real problem is that people feel good just blindly throwing money at that kid on the screen with marasmus and thinking they've actually made an impact.
 

Browny

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gotta disagree man

These guys have been doing work LONG before they released this video. They did it without asking for fame or money. As they stated multiple times, this is purely an experiment. We all know how social media now has the power to overthrow dictatorships from within, so why cant we down-scale its success and attempt to force change, from the outside for matters just as important? For Libya and Tunisia they actually had the power to force change, granted libya needed some major international support but the point is gross human rights violations would go on forever, because no external power can do anything.

However when it comes to KONY, what power do the victims have? They have no social media. They are utterly hopeless, they are denied the power that allowed the Arab Uprisings to occur. So KONY 2012 switches it up by forcing a social media storm around the issue trying to suffocate it, instead of imploding it from within.

I dont care about those who are stupid enough to think that they are making a legitimate difference in Uganda. However what harm is there in taking part in this experiment? What possible bad outcome can occur, for a few minutes of our time which would probably be spent posting useless ****ing **** on facebook anyway.

Back to the original point, these IC guys can do whatever they want as they have done the hard work and they are trialing a new approach. I agree those action packs are total garbage and its a shameless cash grab for them, but they have done the work. they continue to do the work. If they use the money raised to fund their own pointless fun, that means nothing if their experiment is successful. What it really comes down to though; is people who donate to them, do it because it makes them feel good. Even if the money is squandered, they are happy to donate a little bit and be able to say that they actually ARE doing something, as oppose to the thousands of idiots who merely repost the video. Consider any donation that they have received, as reimbursement for the years of work they have done in uganda which you can bet your life, was for less wage than you would even consider working for in your own country for similar work.
 

Browny

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hah, that video brings something to mind...

If you showed a propoganda-style showing the benefits of certain 'communist' ways of thinking, such as introducing free healthcare in USA, to almost all western countries, they would be very supportive of it. show the exact same video to some americans and they will deem it highly insulting and get downright mad over it.

Nothing of course, is indicative of whether people getting mad is justified or just plain ********, but a few random ugandans not liking the kony video changes nothing to me. Youre always going to find people who dont want help because they would rather suffer and be 'right', then be 'wrong' and be helped.
 

Lord Chair

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Completely ignoring the fact that the Ugandans are in no way being helped by the whole campaign.

Kony 2012 is one big act of vengeance by third parties on behalf of people who have to strife towards a better future. It contributes to nothing even if it succeeds and it's pretentious in its supposed impact.
 

Browny

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Once again, assuming that the one and only point of this, is to help Uganda. Its irrelevant where the child soldiers are from, but they need to be helped, not the country they were merely born in. that wont let them escape the living hell. My point about them being helped is not talking about today. its all about the future. if Kony is killed, there will still be warlords abducting kids in Uganda in his place. its a process, over time the idea is that they will be helped in the sense that their grandkids can sleep at night, not scared of any noise they ever hear outside for fear of their life.

If this experiment works and Kony is killed as a result, consider it as a precedent or a catalyst even, as a warning to other like-minded individuals. Kony is one of many warlords who do the same **** in Africa.

Again; go back to the Arab Spring. For decades many of their leaders were all the same totalitarian dictators who would kill any government protestors and the world just ignored them (until oil was involved). But now their leaders know that thanks to social media, they need to change the way they act NOW because it is inevitable that they will be overthrown. they can either reform nicely, or stick to their ways and die in most deplorable ways such as gadaffi.

If the result of this video is that unstoppable international support puts a bullet through his head, it might stop future wannabe Kony's from doing the same thing. Youll never eradicate it in one generation but if the world condemns it enough and the UN agrees, things might just change.

Uganda is pretty much a bystander to this whole thing. It was NEVER to 'save uganda' or any crap like that, it was to send a message to warlords that no, you cant continue doing this. You might not have cared in the past when other countries turned a blind eye, but times are changing and your days are numbered.

---

Seriously some of the replies in this thread are so off-track. Stop talking about Uganda. The aim of this mission is to kill Kony and free his child soldiers/slaves. THEN try and argue that this propoganda is misguided and doesnt help them at all. No **** the 'free' ugandans arent 100% for it, but why dont you actually ask the subjects of the video, the child soldiers/slaves what they think about it, and see if this is a waste of time/money. You might as well bloody ask Egyptians what they think about the video than asking Ugandans, its the same irrelevance.

'contributes to nothing'
Just wow man. Do you even think?
 

Jam Stunna

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I'm having a hard time understanding your point, Browny.

If they use the money raised to fund their own pointless fun, that means nothing if their experiment is successful. What it really comes down to though; is people who donate to them, do it because it makes them feel good. Even if the money is squandered, they are happy to donate a little bit and be able to say that they actually ARE doing something, as oppose to the thousands of idiots who merely repost the video.
If the money is being used to fund "pointless fun," then that's not charity, it's fraud. I don't think most people are happy being defrauded.

Nothing of course, is indicative of whether people getting mad is justified or just plain ********, but a few random ugandans not liking the kony video changes nothing to me. Youre always going to find people who dont want help because they would rather suffer and be 'right', then be 'wrong' and be helped.
Assuming for the moment that this is true, are we supposed to help these people against their will? I don't know if the people in this video are representative of the larger population of Uganda or not, but if they are, how does this help them?

Uganda is pretty much a bystander to this whole thing. It was NEVER to 'save uganda' or any crap like that, it was to send a message to warlords that no, you cant continue doing this. You might not have cared in the past when other countries turned a blind eye, but times are changing and your days are numbered.
The video itself is what puts the focus so squarely on Uganda, despite the fact that many people have pointed out that Kony hasn't been in Uganda in years. As to putting a bullet in Kony's head, I think this article does a good job of discussing the problem of increased militarization of that part of Africa to "get Kony:"

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/03/201231284336601364.html

However when it comes to KONY, what power do the victims have? They have no social media. They are utterly hopeless, they are denied the power that allowed the Arab Uprisings to occur. So KONY 2012 switches it up by forcing a social media storm around the issue trying to suffocate it, instead of imploding it from within.
This sentiment comes up a few times in your post, about how hopeless these people are and that its our job to save them. The following articles from The Atlantic do a much better job of attacking that idea than I can:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-soft-bigotry-of-kony-2012/254194/

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/

The first one is shorter, but the second one is much more interesting.
 

Browny

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I'm having a hard time understanding your point, Browny.
Me too

If the money is being used to fund "pointless fun," then that's not charity, it's fraud. I don't think most people are happy being defrauded.
This is where 'ignorance is bliss' comes in to play. If you donate money to a charity thinking it is 100% going to the targets, then youre an idiot. Administration costs will always exist and executives will get wages EXTREMELY disproportionate to their qualifications, skill and all around decent human being status. Sure there may be some charities which are as good as financially possible, but trying to determine which are and arent is a pointless exercise. Whether is 10, 40 or 70% that goes to the cause, youll probably never know. Leave that to the police to audit.

I attack this stronger, because really, its clear that IC are out for commercial gain with their ultimate pretentiousness action packs, tshirts and that sort of garbage. I have 0 sympathy for people who get mad coz they donated to a group like this, but most of it went to their musical. Because at any rate; money was never the issue. it was all about awareness. Money wont kill kony, awareness and forcing governments to act will. So basically, dont get mad about money being wasted on this cause. You can donate $1 or $10,000, it will kill kony just as much (ie; nothing). Remembering that 'success' of this entire campaign is konys death via international support, not simply building radio towers. thats an entirely different issue.

Assuming for the moment that this is true, are we supposed to help these people against their will? I don't know if the people in this video are representative of the larger population of Uganda or not, but if they are, how does this help them?
Yes. Its no secret that many people dont know whats good for them. People that you and I may deem smart, can see no further than 24 hours into their future and are incapable of making correct decisions that will affect them later in life because they are too stubborn in their archaic ways, 'rebellious' or just plain dumb. Thats not being pretentious i know im quite like that with my stubbornness and suffering because of it. When you live in a veritable hell-hole like they do, fearful of their life every single day, disfigured and families ripped apart more consistantly than the sun setting, I dont believe they are in an objective enough position to determine what they really need. Just like in Libya, how much more proof do you need that there are countless people out there who literally have never experienced freedom, but only when a true chance is exposed, they will fight for their life to have it. Have ugandans really ever had this chance? They cant stop these warlords, theyve been at it forever. Rebel alone, and you die. rebel with friends (ala social media) and **** gets done.

The video itself is what puts the focus so squarely on Uganda, despite the fact that many people have pointed out that Kony hasn't been in Uganda in years. As to putting a bullet in Kony's head, I think this article does a good job of discussing the problem of increased militarization of that part of Africa to "get Kony:"

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/03/201231284336601364.html
And thats a flaw in their original video, its possible to make mistakes. At no time while watching that did I think this is ugandas problem. Theres probably 30 other african countries dealing with people just as barbaric and evil as kony. He just happens to have originally came from uganda.

This sentiment comes up a few times in your post, about how hopeless these people are and that its our job to save them. The following articles from The Atlantic do a much better job of attacking that idea than I can:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-soft-bigotry-of-kony-2012/254194/

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/

The first one is shorter, but the second one is much more interesting.
Libya

Libya

Libya

Its even an african country! Now tell me that 'they didnt need our help'. If you arent aware, they would have all been slaughtered with ease if it wasnt for NATO's ability to utterly destroy their military capability.

The argument against white knights means little to me.

Jeez, why dont those articles write about how Somalia should have solved their own problems in the 90's and that they didnt need UN support.

Sounds good in theory but in reality, they are in **** so deep, its caved in on top of them.

Sorry I know it sounds condescending and pretentious but I honestly believe that they NEED international help. They dont know whats good for them and at the absolute worst possible scenario, they are given a chance for freedom. again, just like libya. the nato intervention wasnt perfect and led to severe government instability with a real likelihood of another dictatorship emerging, but at least they were given a chance.
 

Jam Stunna

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Yes. Its no secret that many people dont know whats good for them. People that you and I may deem smart, can see no further than 24 hours into their future and are incapable of making correct decisions that will affect them later in life because they are too stubborn in their archaic ways, 'rebellious' or just plain dumb. Thats not being pretentious i know im quite like that with my stubbornness and suffering because of it. When you live in a veritable hell-hole like they do, fearful of their life every single day, disfigured and families ripped apart more consistantly than the sun setting, I dont believe they are in an objective enough position to determine what they really need. Just like in Libya, how much more proof do you need that there are countless people out there who literally have never experienced freedom, but only when a true chance is exposed, they will fight for their life to have it. Have ugandans really ever had this chance? They cant stop these warlords, theyve been at it forever. Rebel alone, and you die. rebel with friends (ala social media) and **** gets done.
There's really not much I can argue if you truly believe that these people are incapable of helping themselves, other than the fact that this same line of reasoning has been used to justify any number of atrocities in recent human history.

EDIT- Also, the U.N. actions in Somalia have done basically nothing to improve the situation there
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17516440
 

Falconv1.0

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Browny, your ability to just say **** that flies in the face of logic, facts, and just general human decency at times is baffling.

Also I kinda hate your avatar so there's that.
 

Browny

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w/e

All my opinions stem from what happened in Libya.

The 'african solution to an african problem' clearly didnt work. It worked in Tunisia, but not in Libya. Without western support, all the rebels would have been killed easily. You need to consider these things entirely separately. Just because one intervention worked/didnt work, is no indication that another will.

All I see is two issues here.

1) People getting mad coz their money is wasted. If you spent $20 to buy some paper flyers and a tshirt with KONY on it, youre an idiot.
2) This wont work. Tell me more about how you predicted that multiple Arab dictatorships would be toppled within months of each other, after being stable for decades.

The above applies to somalia.

TBH I wonder how many people are opposed to all this, because of incredibly deep rooted ideals about taxpayer money should only ever be spent in helping your own country. God forbid 0.001% of your defence budget be spent on taking a chance and trying to help people, you really do need that 2334'th F-35 dont you. America would be ****ed if they only have 2333.

Get mad. Personally I cant comprehend why people are so against any idea to help these kids. Stop talking about ****ing uganda for one second, its about helping the kids. If armchair critics are so confident that this problem will fix itself and that you are perfectly content advocating that no one should try to help them, then good on you. Gotta love people saying 'this is the wrong approach' when they dont have a better idea

I see absolutely no harm in what IC are doing. Worst case scenario: idiots are parted with their money for no return. No matter, it would have gone to driving fines or something similar. Best case; some kids get their life back and people who dont want help, have their lifes completely unaffected by this whole thing.
 

Lord Chair

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2) This wont work. Tell me more about how you predicted that multiple Arab dictatorships would be toppled within months of each other, after being stable for decades.
Either your definition of 'stable' is completely ****ed up.

Or you simply have no idea.

Either way, your deductions are put in an extremely black and white way. Moreover: in a false way. Your view of the world is... wrong.

Or, again, you view coup after coup after civil war after civil war after colonization after war as 'politically stable'.

Or you actually think problems have been solved for good in *insert random Gulf/North-African state*.
 

Falconv1.0

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Yeeeeaaah Lord Chair pretty much hit that right on the nose.

The fact that your opinion "stems" from Libya is hilarious in the most godawful way possible, btw. Give them about a few months to a year to pull some more ridiculous **** so we can all go "oh well that sure wasn't worth it, now was it?"
 

Suntan Luigi

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Well you have to admit that the reasons we sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan were atrocious. We have accomplished very little and wasted lots of resources and time, not to mention killing who knows how many civilians and such. It's waste of time, but more importantly it's an injustice to those people. What if China sent troops into America to "help us out" per se? Who do we think we are to just go barging into other nations?

EDIT: Related to the OP, here's an article I stumbled upon: http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/kony-2012-state-propaganda-for-a-new-generation/

It was a good read, I recommend checking it out.
 

Teran

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Well you have to admit that the reasons we sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan were atrocious.
From a humanitarian point yes.

We have accomplished very little and wasted lots of resources and time
Securing all the oil from the north of Iraq. Having a foothold in Afghanistan (strategically well positioned considering it shares borders with Iran, Pakistan etc.. basically countries on the west's radar).

, not to mention killing who knows how many civilians and such. It's waste of time,
Conquest of an entire region is a waste of time?

but more importantly it's an injustice to those people.
Same story in every era, you should be glad you're part of the winning team. If you resent your government's actions so much you could always just leave the country.

What if China sent troops into America to "help us out" per se? Who do we think we are to just go barging into other nations?
Lol as if that's actually why the west is there. That's just the see through spin they use so the plebeian masses don't get all huffy.

All humanity aside, geopolitics is basically like playing Risk IRL.
 

Teran

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But how can we pipe all their goodies back home if we don't have big scary men with guns stationed there?
 

Teran

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That was exactly my point, it's morally wrong. We don't have the right to go and colonize and kill other peoples. Their lives are hellholes largely due to America.
THE HEELS USUALLY WIN BROTHERjackdude
 
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