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PaperclipPerfector  7d ago (text post)   26016 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 30, 2024

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People just nod and smile about the whole thing, like "of course we spent $2.3 trillion and got nothing for it...It's kind of weird to me that there isn't more outrage about the whole thing.

I've personally been arguing for decades that 9-11 killed the United States and the $2.3 trillion (pretty sure that's a low-ball number, like we blew past that in 2005) was the price we paid for our own funeral. Every disaster after that -- 2008 collapse, various infrastructure disasters caused by natural events, Covid Authoritarianism, drug and homelessness crises, race and culture wars, political intransigence and overall cultural atomization, are downstream effects of the US obliterating its wealth, military and moral clarity on two unwinnable wars that didn't even relate to the initial injury. My outrage kicked off, in steering-wheel-pounding-earnestness, during Colin Powell's testimony to the UN security Council in 2003. It was the moment I knew we were completely screwed. By (NDAA) 2012 I had completely given up on any hope we'd ever revert to sanity.

As for why isn't there more outrage...well, the same reasons as always: people are mostly level-1 NPCs who can't remember (or don't know) history and are distracted by whatever the latest water-cooler-MSNBC/FOX outrage is. NPCs can't connect dots, they consume slop and regurgitate the opinions they've been handed. "We slit our own throat on the altar of 9-11" is not an opinion I see too much in the wild and not at all in mass media spaces.

I wonder how things would have gone if Dave Barry had been President and had just told 'a couple of guys named Victor' that "It would be such a shame if UBL were to fatally cut his throat while shaving."

I've personally been arguing for decades that 9-11 killed the United States and the $2.3 trillion (pretty sure that's a low-ball number, like we blew past that in 2005) was the price we paid for our own funeral.

Eh, you guys are fine. Not to downplay the damaging aftermath of the War on Terror, but from the perspective of someone living in a Europe, your problems are far more temporary.

I would use the word 'protracted.'

I've wondered for a while whether bin Laden realized the sheer magnitude of his own success. From what I can tell he didn't talk about it much.

Depends on what he considered a success. From his original letter to America, his goal was to get us to fuck off.

(5) We also advise you to pack your luggage and get out of our lands. We desire for your goodness, guidance, and righteousness, so do not force us to send you back as cargo in coffins.

(6) Sixthly, we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington.

Sixthly

I love it!

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