And then those people go on to commit and abet pillaging and atrocities worldwide. You are defending killing people. There always is a choice, and the fact is that things can be changed for the better. A better world is possible.

That doesn’t change the fact you support all the above.

You’re evidently okay with the atrocities being committed. You excuse the inflicting of suffering and devastation on non Americans for a selfish benefitting of the soldiers committing and abetting them directly, and moreover to the benefit of scumbag elites who are incentivized to continue perpetrating acts of aggression, crimes, and atrocities, placing profits over people as always.

Smedley Butler’s conclusions apply to every American soldier.

Wild conclusion that I’m ignorant of the rightward shift just because I said Bush doesn’t sound like a lefty. Doesn’t help your case that he never was one in the first place.

How about trying to actually answer the question posed instead of further projection?

Every single one of them participate in or abet the acts of aggression, crimes, and atrocities carried out across the many conflicts the U.S. is participating and has participated in. As has been pointed out, they help facilitate the killing of civilians, many of which are impoverished.

The fact they’re joining for the benefits does not excuse them in any way.

The very last part of your last sentence is a confession.

Almost as if there are other jobs out there besides military. Or do those not count?

Also, the fact you think Bush sounds like a lefty further highlights your own sheer ignorance.

Nowhere have I denied it. Even by your own words, the growth during Soviet times improved the quality of life of Poles significantly beyond what they had prior, only halting during the 80s and 90s as the Warsaw Pact collectively entered recession and then endured shock therapy. Are you suggesting that entire period of socialist governance is the dark period or only the 80s and 90s?

Though there has been further growth, income inequality has hugely increased, and there’s the compromises in sovereignty the EU imposes on its member states. Poland is a vassal.

You’re welcome to examine the conditions of Poland prior to the second world war and compare that through the rest of the 20th century. But at this rate, you’ll most certainly dismiss it all as “Soviet Propaganda” as well.

In fact, here’s a snapshot of that industrial growth Poland experienced under socialist governance spanning the 60s through the mid to late 70s, as shown in the 1978 edition of the United Nations Statistical Yearbook.

Page 168 https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789210452977/read

But that’s Soviet Propaganda, right?

Oh, just like how said economy is producing four times the amount of ammunition that NATO is, according to the Secretary General himself?

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-nato-weapons-production-us-germany/33482927.html

You are willfully ignorant to the fact every crime, atrocity, and act of aggression was willingly committed and/or abetted by soldiers who enlisted on their own free will. This is what you support. It’s not a hard concept.

At last we see the ghoul’s true colors.

Really then?

Why don’t we check in with the dead Afghani and Iraqi civilians killed before and during US occupation?

Why don’t we check in with Serbia, still dealing with depleted uranium from US weapons?

Why don’t we check in with Vietnam, still dealing with Agent Orange and other fallout in the aftermath of their liberation after all this time?

How about over in Korea, where the US dropped more bombs there than during WW2?

Why don’t we see how things have fared in The Philippines after the US placed them under new management after seizing them from Spain in a war of aggression?

There are plenty more examples in the gaps between and further back in time. The only ghoul here is you.

Does the religious fervor that arose in the U.S. military when the Iran conflict began mean nothing to you?

Let’s not forget Smedley Butler’s conclusions on war the U.S. has waged as well. And then, the numerous war crimes that have gone unpunished. U.S. soldiers volunteered fully willingly and have committed them.

And then, evidently the bombing of boats in the Caribbean and the bombing of civilians in Iran means nothing to you either, those were carried out under orders that they did not question.

And the only way we saw this can be achieved for countries that border Russia is join the EU or NATO. Poland is now free, Czechia is now free, Romania is now free, Slovakia is now free, the Baltic states are now free, Hungary is now free (but we need to wait for next election to know if this will remain true).

They’re free alright, freely exploited by Western-backed capitalists and now are vassals.

You continue to demonstrate how you’ve fallen for imperialist propaganda. As has been explained above, the Donbas and its people have been under attack by the Ukrainian government and the AFU for more than a decade now. You are ignoring hard evidence of what really has happened since 2014. The notion that the fighting in the Donbas is only the result of Russian support is a delusion, and you seem also oblivious (likely willfully so) to the fact the Ukrainian government is openly fascist.

The solution for Ukraine that serves its populace the most is peace, sovereignty, and the right to determine their own future, which NATO and EU membership will not give them.

What would you characterize as authoritarian/authoritarianism?

Either way, it was seen and it was hit. Most certainly not helped by being in afterburner, looks like it was per the video.

As a better alternative to what I was using prior (Reddit and other stuff). Came to Lemmy.ml as it seemed like a good generalist option whose top categories include open source programs and technology, to which I’ve enjoyed reading further into.

Additionally, I didn’t know Lemmygrad exists, however I’m super glad it does. I regularly browse it, and through doing so, I’ve corrected several misconceptions I had held prior, gotten even more insights into history, put together a reading list to finally delve deeper (which I need to keep reminding myself to start), and I’ve renewed efforts to try to find a way to organize.

I use Fennec F-Droid with uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, and HTTPS Everywhere.

Though sometimes I’ve contemplated switching to the Guardian Project’s Firefox Klar