Are we the baddies?

You forgot the important part

"And they're proud of it"

It's crazy how military families are so into being in the military, out how proud they are of being Marines, etc. They're literally doing the governments dirty work.

The question is: why would they be proud of being marines?

I mean, marines are the cannon fodder in every alien invasion movie, so, with that knowledge, that military branch is composed of useless moving targets.
- Propaganda. Lots and lots and lots of propaganda.
  
  Propaganda about being the first line to get sacrificed in every alien invasion? Lol
  
  I don't know if you've lived in rural America, but I have, and the fast track to quasi-celebrity status out there is to join the Marines or get KIAd. Americans have been heavily propagandized about making the great and noble sacrifice to "defend the country".
  
  I live in south americA
  
  Yeah, the US, particularly rural US, has been propagandized an absolutely ridiculous amount. Being seen to sacrifice or die for the empire is seen as a glorious thing both in and for your community.
- Self sacrifice for family/church/country is a big part of their hero's journey narrative.
Very true.

So...sure we are the baddies, but it's OK because America?

Enlightened 40Kism, we know we are the bad guys, cause there are no good guys, just worse villians.
- What is 40Kism?
  
  In Warhammer 40K, the Imperium of Man are awful, but they're the 'good guys' because they're human, any every other species is even more awful and would wipe humanity out given the chance
  
  That is what new players/readers are told, sure.
  
  Tau wouldn't and doesn't exterminate. On the other hand they may or may not brainwash their populace.
- Tau?
  
  Space Dawi
  
  Most of the independent human systems doing just fine without the Imperium tyvm
  
  Eldar
  
  Some Necrons, maaaaybe. It's hard to tell with them sometimes.
  
  Hrud mostly seem to just want to be left alone.
  
  A lot of aliens just chilling
  
  Fun Fact: the Imperium doesn't actually span most of the galaxy. Nor do they really "control" the area around their systems.
  
  Because of how FTL works in 40k, some areas just aren't accessible to them. There's a full on insectoid empire called the Q'orl near Terra that they didn't have access to or know about until the Warp currents shifted.
  
  And apparently their technology is even enough to be a potential threat... And the Imperium learned this when they immediately tried to kill them, obviously
  
  Ah yes you can join our 'Greater Good' if you volunteer to be our slaves and castrate yourself. Also if you change your mind and try to leave we'll kill you.
  
  But less bad than the imperium, no?
More like "we are the baddies, but the incredibly wealthy own the country and they want war, and none of us have to balls to start lopping off heads"
- incredibly wealthy own the country
  
  I wish people just said "the capitalist class"...
  
  Makes it more obvious what the problem is and What Is To Be Done (working class revolution and overthrow).
Yes, that is the justification most Americans use; western chauvinism tells them that no matter how bad they are, the other places are worse. How many times on Lemmy do you see people say "America bad, but China or Russia or Iran would be worse (therefore we're justified in facilitating massive bloodshed)?"
- I've seen the former part of that sentiment on here, but I haven't seen anyone use it as justification to go to war
  
  It's used to justify bombing Yemen, support the genocide in Palestine, escalating the proxy war against Russia, and starting one against China.
  
  You can get a social democrat to acknowledge that every conflict America has supported since WWII has made make the world worse, and they'll still insist that this time, it's different.
  
  And half of lemmy are worse than that.
  
  ...escalating the proxy war against Russia...
  
  So, comrade, how much of Ukraine should surrender for about 6 years of "peace" with Russia?
  
  I for one wouldn't have used unrest as a chance to do a coup. But if I did, I wouldn't have planned who to install in what positions over an unsecure line.
  
  And so, Ukraine would have stayed a democracy that is more economically aligned with Russia, and Russia wouldn't have invaded.
  
  I for one, wouldn't have spent 40 years trying to overthrow a proletarian democracy, eventually succeeding in sponsoring a coup.
  
  So Ukraine and Russia wouldn't be right wing nationalist nations and would instead be part of a progressive federation.
  
  The path where America is not in control and making the decisions for the rest of the world doesn’t even enter the liberalist mind. The inability to imagine an alternative world order is heavily ingrained and maintained by fear of “the other.”
  
  The portions of Ukraine that Western Ukraine was shelling before the invasion.
  
  The lines have hardly moved in a year, despite thousands more dead and millions more displaced. Every bomb we send is a bad day for someone, statistically mostly civilians. To send more bombs is to sacrifice more people, for the same geopolitical outcome.
No, not okay. The monkey puppet reaction.

We are not shocked to learn we are the bad guys. I never said it’s okay, I just disagree with the reaction meme to indicate we didn’t know it.

Not sure where you pulled “it’s okay because America” from my statement but no need to jump to conclusions and put words in peoples mouth.
- He pulled it from nowhere because tankies are incapable of nuance, especially if you hold an even mildly dissenting opinion. You're either with them or against them, there is no in-between. It's ironic how much they share in common with actual fascists.

I think we're more like the Alliance from Firefly.

Most people are just trying to go about their day-to-day, and the war and major imperialism was done a long time ago. Now there are a few in the government who keep doing evil shit, but for the most part it's a big useless bureaucracy.

the war and major imperialism was done a long time ago.

This is literally a myth that papers over their current warmongering and imperialism
- That people don't know about because it isn't covered in the media unless you actively look for that info. So it might as well have happened a long time ago

Most people you know seem a lot more aware than the average American in my experience

I thought the Empire in Star Wars was supposed to be Third Reich Germany. They literally both have "stormtroopers."

Originally i would agree but i am referencing how things are today as that’s what the meme is referencing.

If you asked Americans today if they are the rebels or the empire the folks I know concede that we are the empire. We are the ones going into other peoples home towns with military occupation.
- Fair. I was mostly thinking about it from the perspective of what the writers had intended at the time.