naraburns nihil supernum
1yr ago
(text post)
13762 thread views
Israel-Gaza Megathread #3
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.
It’s more of an investment in security. You can get much farther in a world where everyone knows that messing with you is a death sentence than one in which that isn’t true. If we want a good trade deal for minerals in South America, the ability to say “do it or we coup you and put in someone who will” means you get a better deal than you would if your can’t do that.
Likewise having a military strong enough to invade or bomb the crap out of most countries on earth means that you can assure yourself of reasonably safe shipping lanes. No country on earth is going to mess with the US Navy, and they’re much more likely to use their resources to curb pirates attacking US or Atlantic aligned merchant shipping. It means that aligning with the Atlantic powers provides safety and defying them is dangerous.
All of those things allow global trade to flourish and benefits us in better trade and more open markets and so on. It even benefits us insofar as it deters others from trying to start wars where we’d have to use our military might. That’s also why nukes ultimately are such a boon for peace. Nobody wants the weapon used on their country so any country under the nuclear umbrella of either the USA or Russia can be sure they won’t have to fight wars.
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’s more of an investment in security. You can get much farther in a world where everyone knows that messing with you is a death sentence than one in which that isn’t true. If we want a good trade deal for minerals in South America, the ability to say “do it or we coup you and put in someone who will” means you get a better deal than you would if your can’t do that.
Likewise having a military strong enough to invade or bomb the crap out of most countries on earth means that you can assure yourself of reasonably safe shipping lanes. No country on earth is going to mess with the US Navy, and they’re much more likely to use their resources to curb pirates attacking US or Atlantic aligned merchant shipping. It means that aligning with the Atlantic powers provides safety and defying them is dangerous.
All of those things allow global trade to flourish and benefits us in better trade and more open markets and so on. It even benefits us insofar as it deters others from trying to start wars where we’d have to use our military might. That’s also why nukes ultimately are such a boon for peace. Nobody wants the weapon used on their country so any country under the nuclear umbrella of either the USA or Russia can be sure they won’t have to fight wars.
More options
Context Copy link