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Zeusthecat

I Had A Random Thought...

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700 army bases in 40 countries for rapid deployment of freedom.

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Look at all the freedom these guys are spreading...

 

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I thought this was a screenshot from Just Cause for a second. Then I got sad.

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Wasn't the ostensible reason they got into the Spanish-American War and the Philippines to bring 'freedom'? I mean, as well as the actual reasons, securing cheap land and ensuring their ships had places to restock supplies.

 

I mean, it's an old trick. No empire in the history of empires has ever expanded its territory out of the stated intent just to have more territory. Even the Nazis had lebensraum as a fig leaf for their wars of aggression. Meanwhile, the Romans annexed some tribes and forced the others to pay tribute or dismantle themselves out of an interest in "order" and "peace." The Romans were very proud of bringing peace. I know a bit less about the Chinese, but the Zhou, Han, and Tang all framed meddling in the affairs of the less mighty as "bringing civilization." In general, a quick survey of historical empires reveals that almost all of them had a single ideal or set of ideals that they valued, which accordingly made them the embodiment of that ideal because they were the most powerful and cared about that ideal, hence every action an empire of "freedom" takes is about freedom because how could they not?

 

Ugh, it just bothers me for people to buy so completely into America's propaganda. I don't believe in the Pax Americana or anything, but jeez, it's one of the most obvious historical patterns out there and American exceptionalism is right at the core of it, not the reason it doesn't apply here.

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u8qv6f6.png

 

Thank god we brought freedom to all those native Americans while we weren't expanding our territory. 

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Thank god we brought freedom to all those native Americans while we weren't expanding our territory. 

 

Hey! Remember when we opposed the partitioning of China because of Spanish-American War had kept us from getting a toehold along with the rest of the West? Remember when we supported brutal regimes around the world, with our soldiers' lives and with theirs, in order to win a propaganda war, not just with another hostile superpower, but with ourselves? I love how many textbooks I've read that claim that the United States just "fell into" its possessions in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Yeah, and Rome occupied the Illyrian coast to stop piracy in the Adriatic. Accidents happen, right?

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This all reminded me of my post about the Star Wars prequels:

 

Another interesting thing was how occasionally the Sith would talk about bringing peace and order to the galaxy as if that was truly their goal

 

Man, George Lucas is clever.

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Man, George Lucas is clever.

 

Whoa. Let's not start saying things we don't mean.

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Hey! Remember when we opposed the partitioning of China because of Spanish-American War had kept us from getting a toehold along with the rest of the West? Remember when we supported brutal regimes around the world, with our soldiers' lives and with theirs, in order to win a propaganda war, not just with another hostile superpower, but with ourselves? I love how many textbooks I've read that claim that the United States just "fell into" its possessions in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Yeah, and Rome occupied the Illyrian coast to stop piracy in the Adriatic. Accidents happen, right?

 

Oh wow, that wasn't just a tweet, it was an excerpt from a speech he gave on foreign policy.  At least it turns out that he has a lot more clarity about what American freedom (business) means than that tweet expressed.

 

 

Russia, China, Iran, or any other nation that attempts to block global commerce will know to expect a response from my administration. Gone will be the days of debating where a ship is flagged or whether it is our place to criticize territorial expansionism. In this century, businesses must have the freedom to operate around the world with confidence.

 

The third pillar of my doctrine is moral clarity regarding America’s core values.

 

We must recognize that our nation is a global leader not just because it has superior arms, but because it has superior aims. America is the first power in history motivated by a desire to expand freedom rather than its own territory.

 

In recent years, the ideals that have long formed the backbone of American foreign policy — a passionate defense of human rights, the strong support of democratic principles, and the protection of the sovereignty of our allies — have been replaced by, at best, caution, and at worst, outright willingness to betray those values for the expediency of negotiations with repressive regimes.

 

This is not only morally wrong; it is contrary to our interests. Because wherever freedom and human rights spread, partners for our nation are born. But whenever our foreign policy comes unhinged from its moral purpose, it weakens global stability and forms cracks in our national resolve.

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Yuh-huh. Like, okay, America was founded on principles, but it's largely not been particularly good at living up to them. The 'recent years' Rubio's referring to is erasure of the long, long history of America compromising its ideals, and I think that erasure is far more interesting as a topic than all the things Rubio 'forgot'. That doesn't happen in a vacuum.

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I love how he's all about Freedom and Principles but in the middle of that thing he says how important it is that we permanently extend the bulk data collection part of the Patriot Act. What a chump.

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Stupid double posts.

 

George Lucas never double-posts.

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Yuh-huh. Like, okay, America was founded on principles, but it's largely not been particularly good at living up to them. The 'recent years' Rubio's referring to is erasure of the long, long history of America compromising its ideals, and I think that erasure is far more interesting as a topic than all the things Rubio 'forgot'. That doesn't happen in a vacuum.

 

As though America was the first nation/state/empire founded on "principles."

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This is from a children's 'learning to read' book my daughter brought home from school.

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The book is only twelve pages. How does something like that go to print? This kind of stuff really bothers the hell out of me.

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Apart from Pterodactyl being spelled wrong I'm not sure what the problem is.

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Apart from Pterodactyl being spelled wrong I'm not sure what the problem is.

 

Well that is a bit of a concern in a learning book but I don't know why both pages have been put here.

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When I was at universal studios I got a key ring with a pterodactyl and 'wave of pterror' on it. The best.

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Ergh. That of sort of thing really winds me up.

Edit. Seriously. 12 pages. Designed as a teaching aid. It's shameful. It depresses me when this is ignored or brushed aside. It's failing at the most fundamental level and it's been sent out and deemed 'good enough'. Bah.

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Um her name is Perodactyl. That doesn't mean the way to spell the dinosaur's name is supposed to be 'perodactyl.' In fact if I had been born with the name "Pterodactyl" I might change it to "Perodactyl" just to avoid confusion, especially if I spent a lot of time having children read my name.

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Ergh. That of sort of thing really winds me up.

Yeah, me to.

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