forestboomer
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User ID: 783
Alright a little war gaming here. Suppose Hamas launched these attacks in order to provoke Israel into invading Gaza. Having stockpiled weapons received from Iran including ATGM and S2A missles, has chosen Gaza as their battlefield, the middle eastern Stalingrad. The IDF goes into Gaza and takes a real beating, close urban warfare diminishing Israeli technological advantage.
With the IDF being bogged down in Gaza Hezbollah attacks from the north, or Israel makes some preemptive strikes, in any case Iran gets involved, mines the straight of Hormuz. US joins the fray and gets dragged in, China sees its opportunity and launches its invasion of Taiwan. Oil skyrockets and the US enters a hard recession. US/NATO weapon stockpiles and strategic oil reserve depleted, makes for a rough start to WW3.
What do you think happens domestically (in the US) and globally? I don't think there is enough political unity nor appetite for the US population to enter into another war. Will any other countries enter the conflict? IMO this would not end well for US hegemony.
In the short term it is going to be hilarious to see the Republicans be hypocrites, against Ukraine aid but fervently for Israeli aid and support.
Edit: Also curious what the mottizens think on how these current events, and the aforementioned hypotheticals, will affect the US 2024 election.
forestboomer
1yr ago
I'm not so optimistic. Israel will likely get a free pass on savagery in popular opinion while all other countries continue to be gentled into submission.
forestboomer
1yr ago
The most important thing for Israel is that it moves toward firing squads and summary execution of perhaps 10,000-30,000 fighting age men in Gaza, as well as the entire political leadership, mercilessly but quickly and professionally. But then again, I’m a Zionist.
While I appreciate this candor and show of true colors from a Zionist, it's incredibly unsettling to hear the casual avocation of genocide. I can't see this happening in this day and age though, not with cameras in every persons pocket and social media. I would hope that if Israel would do something like this, it would spark it's neighbors and Muslims around the world into a great Jihad.
forestboomer
1yr ago
I don't really understand why you feel the need to argue something I didn't even bring up. I'm not a "neo-nazi", merely trying to understand the time and motivations of the men that fought there, especially the eastern front.
My point, which I should have spent more time on, was that communists committed atrocities in these areas before the nazi's showed up. So it stands to reason that some men in the Waffen-SS, volunteered for retribution or to fight against a fear of spread throughout Europe. Which IMO is a valid reason.
To answer:
"Justifying" their fight against Nazis? The nazis attacked the allies and countless neutral countries first, that's all the justification needed to fight.
Yes justifying, as in the common narrative of the western soldier going off to fight the Nazi's but ended up just fighting normal German people. This was in response to sun's comment.
I don't appreciate your emotional appeal in your argument, and nowhere did I defend Hitler, his strategies, or motivations. I'm not a Nazi, however I also don't think the narrative that is so common in regards to WW2 is 100% correct. In order to find out the truth I read first hand accounts and other history in order to form my own opinion. I'm also not an expert on the subject and freely admit that. Sorry to trigger you I guess.
forestboomer
1yr ago
I'm not going to get dragged into a justification debate on WW2. You will clearly stick to the usual normie narrative so it's not worth the reddit style back and forth.
Fair enough. Almost every memoir has some romanticism about it, however its no reason to discredit the book. As with everything, one should read with a critical eye and draw their own conclusions. Also, not sure why it matters if he was unsympathetic to Nazi Germany or not, many even in the Waffen-SS were not.
forestboomer
1yr ago
You could turn this same argument around on every western ally justifying their fight against Nazi's. Don't forget the soviet forces had political commissars in their units.
forestboomer
1yr ago
So I've been reading and listening to a lot of WWII memoirs, specifically of Germans on the eastern front. I want to find out for myself the motivations of these men, dispel the myths and western propaganda of WWII, and find any parallels to our modern times. Many of these memoirs are written by soldiers of a Waffen-SS division. What I have picked up from reading these memoirs, is that the reasons these men joined the Waffen-SS are diverse and not as dubious as our western propaganda and the myth of the just war would have you believe. The Waffen-SS were elite units composed of volunteers, whereas I imagine the Wermacht were comprised of mostly conscripts.
Based on the accounts I have read, many of the men joined the Waffen-SS out of pure hatred for the communists and concerned the growth of communism would swallow European culture and religion. The time they spent in the Ukraine often talked of the local populace's hatred of the communists and the atrocities that were committed against them by the bolsheviks. The more fanatical SS that one usually thinks of were termed the Allgemeine SS and were often thought of poorly by the soldiers of the Waffen-SS.
So, it is no surprise that many Ukranians such as Mr. Hunka volunteered to serve in a Waffen-SS division as a matter of revenge against the bolshevik hordes. This hardly makes him a nazi as is the common narrative and its hilarious to see this backfire on Canada. Many if not most of these brave heroes died and its sad to see them slandered after the fact, when they were right to fear, and fight against communism.
Relevant Books
The Eastern Front: Memoirs of a Waffen-SS Volunteer
Für Volk and Führer: The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler One of my favorites and actually has a really good audiobook on Audible, which as you can imagine is hit or miss on these memoirs.
The Forgotten Soldier This one is unique as the author was a young poor french kid who joined the army under Vichy France because of little opportunity when he came of age, then found himself a part of the Großdeutschland division. Also had a real good audiobook on audible.
forestboomer
1yr ago
To echo @CertainlyWorse, I restarted my creativity and writing by reading less web articles and the like and reading physical books as well as listening to audio books as I do chores, stuff around the house, etc. This has helped me to regain my inner monologue and motivated me to write more as well as be a better writer whether on here, in the 20 motte drafts on my laptop, and my work emails. I try as often as I can to lay in bed an hour before bedtime and read during that time, unwinding and unplugging.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Yeah that's my experience as well. We have a larger home but the noises are distracting if I have to focus. I manage but maybe not that well.
forestboomer
1yr ago
I agree with all your points. I traveled for work a lot before I settled down so I got that out of my system early fortunately. I thankfully had the foresight to know how much I would have to rely on my parents or my wives parents for childcare help and I moved equidistant between the two families. However as you have highlighted its important to be very close. Both of our families live about an hour away and while its manageable for them to come over (or vice-versa) every now and then, it becomes burdensome for any sustained period. It's only about an hour so maybe I am just being picky but I feel like that's right on the border of convenience for distance.
+1 on the young family commune though. We live mostly by retired boomers and the only young couple around so it would be nice to have others close by. My wife has been reaching out actually to other moms she buys used toys and clothes from on facebook marketplace for play dates so I am hopeful we can have other young family friends soon. We're also joining the catholic church so we're trying.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Look into a Mother's Helper
That's not a bad idea I'll recommend it to my wife.
I am unfamiliar with the Au Pair business relationship however I imagine I cannot easily afford it, or would want to stretch my budget like that. Nonetheless it would be a non-starter in our home to have another female staying in the house. We tried that combination with my MIL and it was the only way I could see WFH + quality child-rearing working out and I wish we could have that again, but alas we have depleted our free childcare resources. I'm about to get a new job with a 25% travel req and a modest raise so maybe I can afford some sort of part-time nanny soon.
Anyways its good to see mothers on here and we enjoyed your other posts on this thread :)
forestboomer
1yr ago
My wife and I really enjoyed this post, after the wives club post I've finally explained this "online forum" I talk about sometimes. Anyways, it hit close to home.
I have always remained cognizant of how necessary it is to have breaks from watching a child all day and not getting to a point of frustration or annoyance with the task. I try to make sure I give my wife as much breaks as I can and try not to be selfish. Saying that I wish I could afford a nanny or something on a part-time basis.
Something that many of us with a working class background lean on is the support of family when it comes to balancing work, life, and childcare. We tried for awhile to have my MIL watch our son during the day. This worked for awhile until unfortunately she had a heart attack. My MIL is doing better now however caring for a now 18 month old during the day is off the table. My mother unfortunately has schizophrenia so it was always off the table to lean on her for childcare.
My BIL and his wife just had their second child. He is in the space force of all places and lives halfway across the country without any close family support and it sounds like a nightmare. His wife stays at home and their oldest child is autistic as we are learning. I'm happy to raise a family close to home because I cannot imagine not having any support, even for a few hours, especially with an autistic child.
A related thought I've often pondered since the WFH revolution is the broader effects it will have in child rearing. At first I largely thought that it would be a huge positive to young families at a time when its most needed. WFH allows a family to spend more time with their kids and potentially balance work and childcare, the best of both worlds. My wife and I tried to do this at first juggling work commitments and coordinating shifts, but eventually it became unsustainable and my wife decided to quit to care for our son, freeing me from time constraints and leaving me our families champion career wise. So maybe WFH is not the silver bullet I thought it would be to raising a family and both parents maintaining a career.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Nate was, of course, a LIBERAL (spits, makes sign of the cross)
I laughed thanks.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Can the UAW Rise Again?
I would like to give a brief overview and submit for discussion this article and the broader questions it raises. The article's premise is whether the UAW can recover from its multi decade decline from globalization, concessions during the automotive bankruptcies, and corruption; given the recent election of new leadership within the UAW.
The article starts with detailing some of the corruption issues in the UAW highlighting UAW members thoughts and opinions. Including an interesting tidbit from a member so disillusioned from the corruption that:
The loss of union pride was so devastating that he briefly saw a therapist to help him grieve.
Apparently the UAW elections for years have used a delegation system to elect their leaders with a particular caucus - The Administration Caucus - maintaining control and crushing dissent for decades within the UAW. Recently after a large corruption scandal that landed twelve UAW officials in prison, a federal monitor was appointed in which the UAW held a referendum for direct elections which passed.
After the subsequent direct election a new president and seven other board seats were elected from a new caucus - Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) - with the party slogan, “No Corruption. No Concessions. No Tiers.” The board has six other seats belonging to the Administration Caucus and one other seat filled by an independent leaving the UAWD with a slight advantedge. After winning the election, the new UAW president Shawn Fain is quoted as saying:
“We’re here to come together to prepare ourselves for the war against our only one and only true enemy: multibillion-dollar corporations and employers who refuse to give our members their fair share,” said Fain from the stage.
The Administration Caucus is presented in the article as managing the unions decline, being closer to the automotive companies than the members, and rife with blatant corruption. From the article:
As in other unions, concessionary bargaining and a shrinking membership went hand in hand with corruption, as UAW leaders, closer with management than with their rank-and-file members, managed the decline of their industry. The agreements left workers in an ever-worse position even as the leadership enriched themselves, securing resources for their personal fiefdoms and select allies in the union. The details of such corruption are almost cartoonish: a federal investigation found that senior officials had embezzled millions, spending it on, among other luxuries, golf outings and extended stays at a Palm Springs villa. According to the New York Times, union officials acquired enough “golf bags, sunglasses, shirts and ‘fashion shorts’” on these trips that they used a semitruck to ship the items home to Michigan.
The article then goes on to highlight the various issues the recently elected officials are going to face. Namely:
Reversing bankruptcy concessions
The UAW made concessions with the automakers during the GFC and subsequent bankruptcies that faced Chrysler and GM. The concessions gave up Cost-of-living allowances (COLA) and introduced the tiered and temporary system - basically new workers get less pay and benefits and pre-existing workers get to keep what they had.
Bringing EV plants under UAW contract
Something I did not realize, the new EV production plants don't fall under UAW control.
Further agenda items of the new UAWD leadership include:
... pushing for thirty-hour workweeks, building cross-border solidarity with workers abroad, expanding health care coverage to include reproductive care, and gaining the right to strike an employer nationally over plant closures.
In summary the rest of the article goes on to talk about the grad students - which are apparently members - working with the UAW to strategize. Then the article talks about the history of the UAW and its advancement of civil rights. These topics to me aren't what was more interesting to me however I'm sure there's some great CW fodder in there which I encourage you to read.
My answer to the authors premise - can the UAW rise again? - no not by a long shot. The concept of a union, much less the UAW, is dead on arrival in a globalized world. Furthermore, it seems to me that the UAW have been useful pawns by the political class in their own destruction.
It always bothered me how union members always seemed to vote at the direction of their union - unbothered by it, as if they have no free will. The politicians their UAW has supported went on to push globalism and now EV manufacture, which require fewer workers and is outside of the UAW contract.
As far as the issues are concerned I don't see the auto manufacturers allowing EV plants into the UAW agreement. Right now with the UAW out of the picture for EVs, it provides a path for the auto manufacturers to become independent of the UAW. I can see the auto companies giving back some of the concessions in order to keep the UAW out of the EV manufacture as a compromise but thats a minor victory to a longer war.
As for the future of the UAW, I see the automotive companies slowly phasing them out and politicians continuing to use them for virtue signaling until they are no longer useful. While the workers may have finally regained control of their union, it seems like too little, too late.
forestboomer
1yr ago
I agree, especially with another top level comment above challenging SS and his revisionism. I envy SS's endurance however it's seeming like an attempt to gang up and exhaust the discussion. Likely there are many Jewish users of this forum.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Perhaps it's worth reasking Amadan's question, for which I have not seen the more openly antisemitic members give an answer to:
You may see a threat in the number of Jews in Hollywood and banking, but like @SecureSignals, when asked point-blank what you think "we" should do about it, or alternatively, what you think Jews should do to stop being so offensively Jewish, you are conspicuously silent. Do you want mass conversions? Expulsions and forced deportations to Israel? Industry quotas? I'd really like to see y'all quit waffling and spell out your agenda.
Harsh measures are doomed to failure and morally repugnant, the Jews hold too much power and narrative. I think it's enough to simply redpill normies in safe settings like in your family, receptive trustworthy friends, etc. Point out areas of Jewish over-representation, tyranny, and cancellation when critiqued. Point out globo-homo propaganda in media and the Jewish writers, directors, actors, etc. Drop some holocaust revisionism facts, stuff like that. The culture needs to change and it needs to be okay to criticize Jews and maybe the needle can be moved to a more balanced position.
My wife was a rather clean slate politics wise when we met, which was something I subconsciously selected for. I could never quite get along with women with strong political or cultural opinions. Over the course of our relationship while watching TV and going out in the world around us, I would point out instances of Jewish hegemony and propaganda. Slowly she became J-woke, especially after her brother who is a career military guy also hinted at his J-wokeness. Together we have this private understanding, although there have been an instance or two when in joking with others she has hinted at my power level. I have a young son now so I am trying to figure out the best way to bring him to an understanding on the JQ, whilst not backfiring if he says something stupid in public and bringing down the Jewish hegemony on top my own head. So this anecdotal example seems to be working.
Looking at anti-semitism among African-Americans being talked about, the antics of Israel and their oppression of Palestinians becoming harder to ignore I think this subtle, private, red pilling is working - albeit not solely due to red pilling. Watching CNBC now I see ads to stop Jewish hate and maybe more articles 1, 2, 3 than normal on rising anti-semitism so maybe the wolves are realizing this too.
forestboomer
1yr ago
As usual for themotte a beautiful comment that captures my thoughts written far better than my own. Thank you!
forestboomer
1yr ago
I hate that Trump is once again a thing but lets not pretend that the system was worth saving before Trump. For myself, I voted for him in 2016 on the off chance that he delivered on some of his platform, then in 2020 because why not - let it burn. Not like there were any other choices for me besides not voting anyways. Honestly if he is the nominee, if I vote I will likely vote for him again. This system is a circus and I'll do my part to elect a clown it deserves.
I honestly don't even know where to go from here, since 2016 it's been validated time and again that the powers of the state and its zeitgeist are insurmountable and resistance is swiftly quelled through its institutions. I'll lay low, try to guide my child through the clown world, and hopefully stay out from under the eye of Sauron. In my fantasies Florida or some other red state becomes the first to secede and maybe in the new confederacy I can live a free man with a judicial system that defends personal liberty.
My only regret - which isn't in my control - was that the champion the right had was Trump, which is probably the champion we deserved.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Seems like these instances are just a correction, obviously people care about crime in their neighborhoods. A momentary victory of rationality in a lost war against woke ideology. These victories aren't really that big of a deal and I don't believe change the momentum at all.
forestboomer
1yr ago
I am extremely skeptical that any such conversation happened back at the Old Place, let alone that multiple "Blue Tribe" regulars expressed such a sentiment.
This seems like a comment intended to cause friction and adds little to the conversation, a similar transgression you felt the need to mod comment another user about. Seems like you want to be a bully and it really irks me.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Interesting... thanks for that I didn't know about any challenges along these lines.
forestboomer
1yr ago
I should have thought more before commenting to explain better why I think this will - or could - be interesting. As @desolation has pointed out and hit upon my way of thinking, red flag laws usually have some provisions for mental illnesses. As the definition of transgenderism as a mental illness falls into sides of the culture war I can see red states classifying transgenderism as a criteria for disarmament. Which if it happened would be hilarious to see the group that clamored for red flag laws later say "no, not like that!" Bonus points if it causes red flag laws to be brought in front of the supreme court.
forestboomer
1yr ago
Well now that we know it's a transgendered individual, it will be interesting to see how the culture war plays out with red flag laws. If mental illness is a red flag leading to disarmament this particular incident will be hard to explain away.
Maybe I should have said some republicans, as I'm pretty sure the majority do still support Ukraine funding. However it seems like some of the framing recently on the right around the Ukraine aid is that we can't afford it. I thought Gaetz has said that - correct me if I'm wrong - and I wonder if he will make a special exception for Israel.
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