I assume it’s better than living in a South American country that just voted in someone left of center…

I don’t understand what makes a hierarchy communistic and what communism has to do with corporations.

Decades of red scare does weird things to a people

Communistic hierarchy? Wtf are you talking about?

Meanwhile, civilians in Gaza endure a deepening humanitarian catastrophe. Law and order has broken down across the coastal enclave as Hamas’s civil control over northern Gaza and large swathes of the south has been ended.

I don’t think the problem is Hamas failing to provide “law and order” but Israel’s ongoing genocide that is causing the “deepening humanitarian catastrophe”.

Or leave it: I think it’s improved this way: a terrible man, a mediocre painting, in context with the ongoing genocide he put into motion. It invites the viewer to wonder what kind of legacy the rich folk who paid for these paintings have.

It’s a form of protest. Protest against against Britains continued support for genocide and in this case even the root cause of the current situation. It’s great symbolism and nothing of value was lost.

The comments are full of people who value one shitty painting more than they value human life.

Terrorists is just code for Arabs attacking civilians. Non-arabs attacking Arab civilians, it’s called “the U.S. military” or “IDF”.

From Wikipedia:

Fearful of the potential impact the slave rebellion could have in the slave states, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson refused to recognize the new republic. The Southern politicians who were a powerful voting bloc in the American Congress prevented U.S. recognition for decades until they withdrew in 1861 to form the Confederacy.

Later:

Fearing possible foreign intervention, or the emergence of a new government led by the anti-American Haitian politician Rosalvo Bobo, President Woodrow Wilson sent U.S. Marines into Haiti in July 1915. The USS Washington, under Rear Admiral Caperton, arrived in Port-au-Prince in an attempt to restore order and protect U.S. interests. Within days, the Marines had taken control of the capital city and its banks and customs house. The Marines declared martial law and severely censored the press. Within weeks, a new pro-U.S. Haitian president, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave, was installed and a new constitution written that was favorable to the interests of the United States. The constitution (written by future US President Franklin D. Roosevelt) included a clause that allowed, for the first time, foreign ownership of land in Haiti, which was bitterly opposed by the Haitian legislature and citizenry.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti?wprov=sfti1
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uphold_Democracy?wprov=sfti1

The problem is that people point to the problems of the USSR and say it’s because of communism, but when the USA does similar things, it’s just them fucking up, not because they’re capitalist. It’s a double standard hinted at by OP.

The problem with the USSR was not that they were communist. I think that communism worked well for them, which magnified both their successes (beating nazis, reducing poverty, increasing literacy, getting to space, etc), but also magnified their mistakes (suppressing religion, art, etc).

Of course, every country worth it’s salt is putting out propaganda, interfering with elections, and more.

But what I don’t agree with is that every time someone exposes the dark side of the U.S. (like people voting for Trump, or democrats being caught doing something shitty again), the default is to blame an external evil instead of acknowledging your own mistakes.

You’re letting Trump get off easy by suggesting he’s being manipulated by someone else. He’s not an idiot, he knows exactly what he is doing.

But the bigger point is this: Assange did something that benefitted Putin. That doesn’t mean he is Putin’s agent. Americans are so obsessed with Russia, they see it everywhere, which is just not true.

I’m not saying Putin is a good guy, he obviously isn’t. I’m critiquing the fact that Americans can’t seem to take responsibility for their own fuckups.

For instance: Trump is horrible, and he might do evil things with Putin. But then democrats keep framing it as if he’s Putin’s puppet. As if he, an American, can’t just be evil on his own terms. Russians must be pulling the strings, causing every shitty thing.

Every US president is a war criminal.

The American obsession with Russians is a mental condition.

70 years of red scare propaganda really did a number on you guys.

especially considering HAMAS fighters a lot of times wear civilian clothing and don’t follow the laws of war

Sure, Hamas should paint giant targets on their backs and face the Israelis in an open field, mano-a-mano.

As long as Israel doesn’t recognize Palestine as an independent state, I don’t see why Palestinian freedom fighters, Hamas or otherwise, should behave like they’re the official army of an independent state.

I don’t know for sure, but looking back at the struggle of black people in the USA, I think the most likely way out is being forceful. Every victory was a struggle, either via direct violence or (often violent) protests. I would love to be wrong and see that love indeed conquers all, but I don’t know of any time that actually worked.

I don’t think you’re wrong per se, but I think you are applying your logic too equally. Yes, we all need to humanize each other more, but that ignores the uneven situation we find ourselves in. The colonizer or enslaver needs to stop the crime they are committing. Only then can the victims start their healing process and begin to humanize and forgive. This is a long process, but it needs to start with the crime being stopped. It’s hard to humanize the person that is enslaving or committing genocide against you while it’s still happening. It’s also hard to humanize your victims when you’re still committing crimes against them.

It’s easy from the privilege of safety to say that Israel has no choice but to keep Palestinians locked up in their open air prison, because you imagine that they might take revenge when they get out.

This is the exact argument that white people made to not free the enslaved people. The real solution is freedom for everyone, from the river to the sea.