I can only apologise for my fellow countrymen. They're pricks, especially a group of lads or the typical Gammon family unit, and it's why I try to holiday in places with as few of them as possible.
I'm not sure whether the version of this I saw previously was the original and this post was cropped, or if this post is the original and the other text was added later. But I much prefer the context here:
Ahh see this I can get behind, reminds me of the Soviet anti alcohol poster that's become a meme too
Good original intent, less good modern applications
The dawn of nationalism was definitely the mistake of the previous age I think. Peoples should be able to self govern autonomously, but not under a guise of "the nation" which inherently forms an out group to be excluded.
I like the Arabic/American way to do it, "You wanna be one of us? Well then you're already half way there!"
I speak very little Arabic but my teacher has told me that I already know enough to get the long list cousin's welcome among most L1 speakers lol.
What if instead of taking it as saying all things are symmetrical we take it to mean that we have a tendency to consider outsiders to be "savage" or simply "other" even when the evidence doesn't support that? Then this shitpost would be more like a warning against xenophobia.
You chose an interpretation you didn't like just so you could dismiss it. And you don't think your goal in doing so is to feel intellectually superior? You're another.
One side thinks the answer is "do fascism", so I think it may be fair to conclude that one of the proposed answers is at least wrong in every situation.
One faction has a messiah fixation, thumps a Bible they've never even read (they just let some pastor tell them what's in it), obsesses over guns and other peoples' private (by which I mean sexual) lives and reproductive organs. They've been told and so believe that Sodom and Gomorrah was about the sex, but it was about righteousness and hospitality - and these are two things that they themselves lack completely.
There is a real problem, a real danger, because it fits historical patterns we've seen before - the so-called "ideas" that they spout with the language that they use - and they end up mindlessly, senselessly bringing EVERYBODY down with them.
They are a menace to all of us. Including themselves, but they don't see it. And neither does the "both sides" argument, a lazy excuse for not acknowledging that the proverbial emperor has no clothes.
no, you're just so lost in years of political memes that you can't understand a simple point anymore. this isn't about fuckin Russia or fascism or the election. it's about demonizing and polarizing our equals. and you've clearly eaten that fuckin bait in one bite, you're experiencing so much cognitive disonancia that you can't even see beyond your own petty politics and just worry that OMG SOMEONE ISNT CALLING THE THING I DONT LIKE A BAD THING ITS BAD BAD BAD CMON thats this entire fucking thread and the entire political landscape around here, no I'm not okay and none of you are. I'm so fucking sick of internet politics and everyone's fucking unnuanced cliches and worthless calls to arms
That's a pretty easy opinion to have when that "difference of opinions" isn't over your right to live and be considered a full human with full and equitable human rights.
This sounds more like you're lashing out because someone NCed you after getting tired of your peacekeeper complex moving you to try and shut them up whenever they were getting into it with the weird uncle at Thanksgiving because "you're the reasonable one come on please just take the high road here!"
Because it isn't always true? Sometimes you government just has regular levels of suck while the other government is really awful. I am confident that the South Korean government has room for improvement I am not willing to put them on the same level as North Korea. Plus you can look at migration flows. There is a reason why some countries have people willing to risk death to get into and other countries people are trying to get out of.
I feel like the artist originally wanted to make this primarily medieval themed. But then realisied "Oh yeah, news and stuff are a thing." And then just added laptops and antennas.
Not European, but there's Voice of America: Russian, which was originally headed by Richard Carlson from 1986 to 1991. You might not recognize Dick, but his son Tucker is also a fixture in the media business.
"Hmm here's a situation I arbitrarily picked out where this message doesn't apply, therefore the message is useless to all situations. And anyone who says otherwise is supporting the bad guys of my arbitrary situation" - literally all of you
Our objective news - is really just a mess of different slants, some being propaganda, that are not censured even when their content approaches slander due to heavy political bias.
Our combating disinformation - is largely unexisting to the point that several large social media providers have abolished or acted against the control they had for doing so and that their CEOs shamelessly meet with presidential candidates with ties to them.
Our glorious leader - is hardly accepted as a glorious leader and the portion of the society that does also tend to have absolutely no qualms about becoming more authoritarian by their own admission.
Our great religion - is criticized within the country and an increasing number of people are becoming atheists.
Our noble populace - Our heroic adventures - Ok, who is writing this meme? Who thinks their society thinks this way? Half the other populace disagrees with the other half, even going so far as to be described as hate, and any mythos of heroic is easily dismissed the moment it becomes convenient to do so not to mention the amount of criticism armed forces get.
This is whataboutism 101. Not all sides are completely black and white, but not all sides are equally grey.
Except that at least nationalists can be criticized in mine, creating such a mess in a first place. In theirs, if not explicit social censorship, there's clear persecution of the barest opposition.
The whole point is that the two nations are the same, but some of the population doesn't see it that way. Of course our news is filled with propaganda, that's what this meme is saying. Of course our troops are carrying out the whims of a despot. But blind nationalism paints these as the right and true path.
It's worth pointing out that the two opposing countries / nations / city states in this cartoon would have to have similar governments with similar charters, and similar selection processes for their representatives.
It is lunacy to say things like "Obummer was a dictator!" when he was selected twice by people voting, and then peaceably left the office after his two terms completely in line with the Constitution.
Now can you say the same thing about, for instance, Putin?
It's important to follow the laws of the land, otherwise there is damage to the system. Legal framework, electoral framework, political framework. So when answering your question about Putin, the electoral rules and legalities of Russia's system must be examined. Were they violated?
That is also a question on the US national agenda for Trump. It is important to consider his case in context of the system. And to compare his real estate dealings to others who deal in real estate. What was the severity and nature of the alleged crime? Are these kinds of behaviors common in the American political class?
There is a reason the Geneva Convention (and the Hague protocols before it) prohibit assassination. That reason is that the Glorious Leader and the Wicked Despot have more in common with each other than they do with us peons. Don't anyone get too excited during our "war" (population reduction, economic stimulus package, domestic troubles distraction). Invest in defense contractors, the elite will keep them fed.
Remember the average dude in China, Iran, Russia, etc is no more interested in dying to aggrandize his rich owners than you are.
Remember the average dude in China, Iran, Russia, etc is no more interested in dying to aggrandize his rich owners than you are.
True, and you also have to remember that many of them have it ingrained in their culture to hate enough to kill gays, other religious people, races, etc.
Despite how much people love to say one culture isn't better than any other... There absolutely are if you're looking through a lens of equality. Particularly if you've grown up in a more westernized nation where non-perfect progress has been made on those points.
Let's just hope the west doesn't continue turning into Yallqaeda and all the lost Fascists suddenly earn a Herman Cain award.