Same as the 'grad SadArtemis🏳️⚧️
came here (mostly) for the emojis 
I know the spirit once existed (Bandung conference, etc)… and then tragically was lost across most of the world and even amongst many AES, as imperialism started moving to more covert means in most parts of the world. I guess my hope is that it returns, and with a vengeance that will never be forgotten (honestly, if humanity forgets again- we’re doomed, our species’ short generational memories will have doomed us).
On the one hand I get they want to make the zionists look strong, but on the other wouldn’t it lend itself to greater urgency and frothing rage if they met the Iranian narrative half-way
I think the answer is simple. Isntreal is a settler-state, and it is a settler-state which has not succeeded in eradicating the indigenous peoples to such an extent that they are the minority (when one considers the surrounding Arab and Muslim-majority states actually, rather the opposite).
They have to maintain the image of the “untouchable ubermensch.” Psychologically they have to, but also strategically; all they offer the local peoples is terrorism and genocide, so they must ensure that all the local peoples (who number more than them) fear them more than they hate them. This is also exactly the same as how colonial forces across the globe acted- with the promise of extreme and inordinate terrorism- to maintain their rule, and to create the circumstances where they could establish rule to begin with.
The other older settler-states have similar dynamics, but have had more time and space (through the successful and extensive genocides and conquests they engaged in- ie. through their successful lebensraum/Manifest Destiny) to settle into a more “lax” phase of settler-colonialism, where the genocides take a quieter, more low-key form of suppression. They all had the same foundational psychology however, and will all generally act in the same way Isntreal has if provoked. And of course, the examples of all the failed settler-states (Nazi Germany, French Algeria, “Rhodesia,” British Kenya, Apartheid South Africa, etc. and even the resurgent indigenism within parts of Latin America) show what happens if the settlers cannot succeed in genociding off the vast majority of the indigenous peoples of an entire geographic region.
Honestly hope we see these sorts of talking points across the global south in my lifetime. Everything the west has is projection, but the world would be infinitely better off if the global majority truly joined arms to defend actual freedom and the democracy and sovereignty of nations, from its greatest enemies (the imperialists)
Seeing Mexicans, Brazilians, and (presumably) Jordanians claiming this- I’m not surprised, as the US basically owns (or influences to such an extent it effectively owns) much of the mainstream “local” media around the world.
How is the mainstream sentiment, though? I know that much of Latin America deals with… considerable amounts of cracKKKerism/comprador-ism, but most countries are not generally as cursed as the imperial cores all the same. Hopefully this is severely weakening these media sources and the western influence on public opinion?
Feels good having these around now… go ahead, eat up, you deserve it
Crickets got done dirty, they’re just happy chirping bugs!
Crickets and butterflies deserve better too (S tier). Grasshoppers are right where they belong, though.
but the part about “unjust peace” resonates with me in some way.
I used it because it resonated with me as well (it’s a term described by MLK, lambasting “white moderates.”)
Personally you nailed it- everyone knows (for the right or wrong reasons- hell, nowadays most can recognize at least some of the right reasons) that the system is wholly unsustainable, and wholly unjustifiable. Anyone with the decency to recognize it (sadly this is less common) can recognize the sheer and utter horror of the system- something that has always been present, but which now has reached such intolerable levels once again not seen in a century. And people are sleepwalking, or even if they are aware, trying to look the other way, and it’s like living in an upside-down, bizzaro world.
So I can put on a face and do the individualist lifestyle dance to a point, but sometimes it feels like putting on a brave face for a kid. I know that would probably sound demeaning to people and places it applies to
Maybe it sounds demeaning. In truth (while I’m aware sometimes there are good reasons- maybe even “oftentimes” depending on context) it’s both accurate and deserved IMO. We’re doing the song-and-dance while modern-day Hitlers like Genocide Joe, Holocaust Harris, and the mean orange man (and the league of western fascists- equally irredeemable ghouls ranging from Macron to Trudeau or Scholz, etc) march us all to armageddon (and compared to what else is on the table, that may be an optimistic outcome- a quick death). And as you said, the default position- even if it’s not fascist, or even has some awareness and criticism of liberalism, is still just poisoned, biased, or will happily look the other way (for “peace,” after all) as all of the above trample over any notion of basic human decency.
While I agree entirely, a part of me wishes I didn’t.
Not all people are my “fellow” humans, at most they’re “humans” (and they are) but that’s the most I can give them. And here in the imperial core the bar is so low, and yet so many people fail to meet it. And I’m still kind (unless someone is a ghoul I’ll be kind unless given a reason not to be) but I feel nothing positive from it towards such people (not that that’s the point), rather I feel silenced, and it eats at me when I have to see the results of the “unjust peace” (not that what’s going on in the world or even within the cores can be remotely described as “peace”) and live in it, particularly with the Sinophobic sword of Damocles hanging over my head (ethnic Chinese myself), or with literal industrial genocide going on and the west goosestepping towards WW3 and open fascism.
I don’t have the emotional availability to deal with all the… microaggressions (that may not even necessarily mean anything or be intended), or the “western-isms” or just plain liberalism. I can be kind and will be (unless given proper reason not to be- it would be so much easier if it were just simple that way) but I only feel I lose something from it. Honestly I feel I need to just insulate myself within (or rather, from) this society and live, or get the hell out (which may be a necessity if things get bad enough).
Sounds depressing, but it’s more of a flip of a coin or something (and if politics and all the demagoguery landmines present in the current cultural context don’t get brought up it’s probably going to be fine). Sometimes there are decent people and I’m reminded of why I like people, other times I’m reminded of just why I’m so utterly repulsed, disgusted, and alienated with this society (even if perhaps my issue is more with the system and context than necessarily individuals who may or may not be so offensive- I can hold my ground if nothing else). Helps that I don’t speak too much with just anyone (and intend to become more selective yet, for my own mental health’s sake), I suppose.
Agreed, Iran doesn’t have a choice- much like Russia, also. And sooner or later (by the US’ own talking heads’ words, likely sooner) they will force the war they want with China also.
The rest of the world doesn’t have a choice, arguably (accurately IMO) they never did, but now it is more evident than ever before. I can only hope they meet every escalation from here on out with equal and greater force, and end the threat of the imperialists decisively when and if the time comes no matter what is required- even as someone living in the cores, IMO it has to happen or humanity is doomed, likely to extinction but also to many things far worse than it, such that when it comes it may well be a mercy.