• @hark
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    81 month ago

    The US is the biggest source of imperialism in the world. We don’t have to always follow that up with “butwhatabout” to distract from that, which is what the US media machine does by running stories all the time to manufacture consent for its own imperialism.

    • @UmeU
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      91 month ago

      Someone had their Chomsky-o’s for breakfast this morning.

    • @splonglo
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      51 month ago

      I’d say that Russia is the biggest source of suffering caused by imperialism in the world right now ( just going by the death toll of the Ukraine war ) . Is saying that a ‘distraction’ from American imperialism?

      • @[email protected]
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        51 month ago

        Gaza absolutely dwarfs Ukraine in terms of suffering caused by imperialism.

        Honestly, this is why I increasingly believe that people who say things like the OP don’t actually believe American Imperialism is bad, they’re just doing whataboutism to defend it.

          • @[email protected]
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            128 days ago

            If you’re going to try to cite a claim, please don’t just drop the Wikipedia pages on the subjects. In fact, don’t cite Wikipedia at all.

            • @splonglo
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              028 days ago

              Complicated subjects like this have dozens of citations which often contradict eachother. The great thing about wikipedia is that it shows multiple sources and where they came from. This is a far higher standard of evidence than just cherry-picking one source that agrees with me and pretending that it’s definitive. Meanwhile the only thing you’ve cited is your imagination.

              • @[email protected]
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                128 days ago

                Yeah, but you don’t actually check any it the citations, nobody who cites Wikipedia does.

                You didn’t even say which part of the Wikipedia articles you were citing

    • @Valmond
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      31 month ago

      Whataboutusm is a russian invention and is 9 times out of ten usad to excuse russia agressions.

      • @hark
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        1 month ago

        Trying to change the subject was not invented by anyone in particular, but the US likes to slap that label onto everything that directs criticism at them. For example, the US has the highest prison population per capita but will preemptively scream about enemy countries imprisoning people with countless stories in the media. Calling out the hypocrisy is countered with accusations of “whataboutism” but that’s not whataboutism, it’s simply pointing out hypocrisy since it’s the same subject.

    • @bytheclouds
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      -11 month ago

      People that are being literally killed, tortured, displaced, bombed, denied their identity, starved, raped, genocided right now by China/Russia/North Korea, looking for any support, any help from anyone willing to give it

      A Leftist American: US is the biggest source of imperialism in the world and you’re not being oppressed by the US, so you’re not real. Have a good day. takes a privileged slurp from the huge cup of Starbucks and closes his Macbook

      • @hark
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        1 month ago

        Nice caricature, but it has nothing to do with my post. Pointing out that the US is the biggest source of imperialism doesn’t mean no one else is doing bad things, but thanks for proving my point. Fuck Starbucks and Apple, by the way.

        • @bytheclouds
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          1 month ago

          The whole point of the OP is that being against US imperialism doesn’t mean you have to be very purposefully silent about yhe atrocities committed by the US geopolitical rivals because they are US enemies therefore good.

          It’s a very prevalent thing about US lefties, if you’re not aware, I’m telling it to you, as a Ukrainian lefty myself. I agree, fuck Apple and Starbucks (never had one and heard from friends it’s shit). Also fuck Russia for killing a bunch of my friends and fuck those US “leftists” like Chomsky, who suck Russian dicks.

          • @hark
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            61 month ago

            One problem I see is that people feel like they have to work in absolutes or match their opinions 100% with everything within a group. How the grouping forms is not always clear, but apparently if one is associated with that grouping, they feel the need to defend everything in that grouping and attacking everything that isn’t.

            There is some discussion to be had in the role of the US using proxies to undermine global rivals, but that does not justify Russia invading Ukraine, nothing does. Absolutely, fuck Russia.

            • @bytheclouds
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              61 month ago

              Thank you.

              I just don’t like the pushback against this meme, when all it says is “Yes, US imperailism is bad, it doesn’t mean that Stalin did nothing wrong”, but for some reason people push back with “US imperialism is bad FULLSTOP, shut up about everything else”. Which is exactly how Nortb Korea-glorifying tankies behave. I may have lumped your comment in with those, sorry for that.