No really. Did you hear that we're actually the bad guy? That our countries engaged in centuries of colonialism? That we have deeply racist histories? That our intelligence agencies undermined governments? That we killed civilians in various military actions we've been in over the years? That we're actually the bad guys?
You know, I think there comes a time in every young progressive's life when they kinda realize that...America isn't all it's cracked up to be. That we have a pretty messed up history. And that actions today aren't as pure as we wish they were. All countries want to imagine that we are the good guys, but sometimes we have to wonder if we're the baddies.
And if you're on the left, these revelations kind of represent a significant milestone in your moral and political development. You kinda lose that childlike innocence that your side is always good and moral and pure and start understanding that a lot of our decisions are done for self interested reasons and are actually kind of crappy.
I know when I was young I kind of realized that yeah, iraq and afghanistan were a mistake. And george bush didn't invade for good reasons, especially with iraq. And that these invasions killed thousands of people and kind of represented a turning point for many of us where we saw America as good and noble to kinda understanding that yeah, we kinda suck sometimes.
And the same goes with Israel right now. Many of us kinda realized that hey, Israel is bad. They were founded by colonizers, they displaced the people who lived there, and they established an ethnostate/apartheid state that basically systematically discriminates the palestinian population there. And we crap on Sharon, and we crap on Netanyahu, and we feel sympathy for the palestinians.
And then we gotta deal with the opposition. The ones who are like mindlessly America first, who thinks anyone who doesnt agree with them is a godless commie who hates America. And everything with them is rah rah america and if you dont agree you're a traitor and a communist.
Well....for a while you're like yeah yeah yeah, communism, sure. It's not the 1980s any more, grandpa. No one actually HATES america, we're just critical of it and want us to stop doing stupid things.
But then...somewhere along the way...we end up either being consumed by that rhetoric and actually becoming that godless commie who hates the US...or we moderate, grow out of that phase, and realize that America is actually a force for good in the world, or actually a lesser evil.
And I would argue what ultimately decides that decides the difference between liberal and leftist on this matter, and I'm a liberal, and not a leftist.
Whatever flaws America has, look around you. WHo is the alternative, if not America? Maybe the EU, they have similar values as us. But Russia? China? In Israel, who is the alternative? Hamas?
And then all hell breaks loose. In 2022, Russia just full stop invaded Ukraine. There was no legitimate justification, they literally used Hitler Sudetenland logic to justify it, and committed barbaric and inhumane acts on the populace there. There was little rhyme or reason to it all, just...cruelty. Unadulterated cruelty.
And the same is true with the Israel thing. Hamas are not a group I can sympathize with. They are full stop terrorists, and their behavior is literally barbaric. Taking hostages, killing them, and driving their bodies through the streets, bravo.
We tend to like to humanize our enemies sometimes. To understand that their actions are actually rational, and that maybe US and western actions are why they act the way they do. I feel like in modern times we've moved away from narratives of "good and evil" and toward an approach to morality where everything is shades of grey. Villains can't just exist and be evil, they need an origin story, and some are even darned easy to sympathize with.
But then, as I get older, and I watch these events unfold, I kinda feel like, yeah, maybe there is actual evil in the world. And yeah, maybe this is what it looks like. For as much as us westerners like to crap on ourselves, often we do so from our own ethical systems. We have established moralities, and standards, and things like human rights, and we lament not treating others the way that we would want to be treated. And that's why I feel like leftists start being critical of America. I hate to say the line, but it's like some say, "strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times, hard times create strong men." We come to these moral discussions with an extreme amount of privilege, we grow up in some of the most prosperous times that have ever existed, and while yes, there are issues with that, sometimes we kind of let our own moralities get the better of us when we start sympathizing with those we really should see as enemies...and yeah, maybe we should see them as enemies.
I look at actions like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Hamas's actions and I'm reminded that evil exists. TRUE evil. I don't like to define people as evil very often. Because I too recognize that morality is grey, and that despite disagreeing on the nuances of morality, we all want the same thing.
But then I kinda realize that perhaps this kind of rationality, this sense of moral progress, and having morality aiming toward the betterment of the human condition, is merely a western social construct. And maybe the rest of the world really doesn't give a crap.
How else do you explain how Russia acts, how Hamas acts, and how China would act if not deterred by the US? The rest of the world doesn't give a crap. Morality is truly subjective to some degree. There are no objective moral standards but those we create. And those that we create are by definition largely not objective. As a former athiest I considered this liberating, coming from the repressive christian perspective, but at the same time, sometimes I find this horrifying, looking at the great acts of cruelty our species is capable of committing toward each other.
The actions of Hamas are horrible and barbaric. They are the actions not of rational, moral people, but of beasts. ANd their morality is regressive, and is that of beasts.
The same can be said of Russia.
And while China hasn't committed anything horrifying in the immediate past, let's not forget they too are an authoritarian state that would commit great harm on their fellow humans. And their country has a legacy of bloodshed going back to the 1940s.
There are no good guys in the world. And despite whatever problems we have with our own morals, as Americans, as westerners, just remind yourselves that the only reason you can truly judge america and thw west as evil, is through the moral legacy of the west's moral values and codes. It was us who created human rights. It was us who decided that people deserve better. We established systems that civilized humans, and we are witnessing another world, one that is not civilized. And yes, I know I use the words of the colonizers, but ya know what? Tough crap. There are those who are rationally enlightened, and whose morality is based in enlightenment, and those whose morality is primitive, regressive, and is the logic of animals and beasts. Russia and Hamas are in the latter category. ANd I have little to not sympathy for their position knowing the great harm they cause to the world through their at best flawed and at worst absent logic.
Honestly, I've come to realize that the west really isn't that bad. Sometimes we fail, yes, but we fail our own high, civilized standards. Without those standards, life is cheap. And that's how the rest of the world plays. They think nothing of murdering and torturing those who are not in their tribe. And that is the epitome of evil. At least the west tries not to kill civilians and the like. Sometimes we fail, because warfare is messy. But at least we try. When we fail, we do so by our own high standards.
As for internet leftists who define their entire view by America and the west being bad to the point that they literally DEFEND Russia and Hamas? GROW UP. Some people just make their entire perspective about hating the west to the point that they just bash it for everything. Get over yourselves, and your own self righteousness. You're not the good guys playing defense for Russia or Hamas. You're defending terrorist states with no moral compass and applying insane double standards that should never be applied. You hate our side for moral imperfections, while giving a complete pass to the far worse sins and war crimes committed by the other. And it's sickening.
Again, your entire perspective reeks of privilege. You arguably grew up in the west, you live in the west, you benefit from the west, your entire moral compass, even if you're a leftist, comes from the west, and the rest of the world just doesn't give a fudge, including whatever communistic states you simp for. Seriously tankies, get over yourselves already.
I fully admit my side isn't perfect. i think that's an important aspect of maturity. But this America bad crap is JUVENILE and shows to me that some of you got some serious growing up to do. Yes, America is "bad" in the sense that we sometimes fail our own moral standards and whitewash our history. No country is perfect. But we ARE, in fact the lesser evil. And the sooner we all get on the same page about that, the better.
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