naraburns nihil supernum
1yr ago
(text post)
30264 thread views
Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
This is a refreshed megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
IGI-111
God was a dream of good government.
1yr ago·Edited 1yr ago
It strikes me that neither side of this conflict seems in any reasonable state of mind to adjudicate it.
Were we in saner times, a great power would just take the whole territory and administrate it to solve this problem. One should want for the British, but then again they created this mess in the first place.
Still better them than eternal massacre for nonsense such as "self-determination" and rights "to exist".
It strikes me that neither side of this conflict seems in any reasonable state of mind to adjudicate it.
I thought that moral equivalence went out of style with the fall of the USSR,.
Claiming that the two sides are equal is still a position, and this position can be wrong. It especially can be wrong if the actual facts don't match up with your ability to describe both sides with the same words.
IGI-111
God was a dream of good government.
Jiro 1yr ago
Both sides have provably broken their word and murdered innocents. Regardless of who is more at fault, neither are responsible enough to enact good government. Or it would have materialized by now.
In that way at least, they are both sufficiently incompetent or untrustworthy to solve their problem. A competent third party wouldn't have this problem.
I've honestly wondered if it wouldn't be an improvement if the US just annexed all of the territory just so everyone could put their differences aside for long enough.
This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a
court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to
optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.
The weekly Culture War threads host the most
controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are
appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy;
if in doubt, post!
Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts.
You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.
Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
New post guidelines
If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts
such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a
submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).
Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or
significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
It strikes me that neither side of this conflict seems in any reasonable state of mind to adjudicate it.
Were we in saner times, a great power would just take the whole territory and administrate it to solve this problem. One should want for the British, but then again they created this mess in the first place.
Still better them than eternal massacre for nonsense such as "self-determination" and rights "to exist".
I thought that moral equivalence went out of style with the fall of the USSR,.
Claiming that the two sides are equal is still a position, and this position can be wrong. It especially can be wrong if the actual facts don't match up with your ability to describe both sides with the same words.
Both sides have provably broken their word and murdered innocents. Regardless of who is more at fault, neither are responsible enough to enact good government. Or it would have materialized by now.
In that way at least, they are both sufficiently incompetent or untrustworthy to solve their problem. A competent third party wouldn't have this problem.
You can't "enact good government" in the way you seem to mean when faced by someone who wants you dead.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
I've honestly wondered if it wouldn't be an improvement if the US just annexed all of the territory just so everyone could put their differences aside for long enough.
How do you predict the US would handle Gaza within its borders?
About the same way it handled the Comanche.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link