I believe you forgot to mention something important.
US does not impose sanctions on the only basis of "hey, we don't like them, let's ruin their lives".
In each case there is a reason, you know, like a blatant violations of human rights, mass rapes, ethnic cleansings, things like that.
If some country is bothered that other countries won't be continuing doing business with it because US sanctioned it then it is implied it intends to do something of the above. I really and sincerely hope its not "most" countries out there.
Consequently, it's not the US that "sends generations into poverty". Typically it's the ruling class who, being bored out of their minds due to their needs being met by their appropriation of national wealth, decide to do something normally unthinkable for "reasons". And let's not forget that people always have a choice of leaving or changing their government.
It is actually good that there is a power on the mudball that can if not coerce idiots to behave but at the very least impose so much pressure they cannot enjoy their lives as if they did nothing wrong, without military involvement.
> And let's not forget that people always have a choice of leaving or changing their government
Absolutely don't agree. People definitely don't typically have that power. In authoritarian nations not even motivated majorities might not be able to overthrow their government.
It's a quite rude thing to claim, implying that any time there's a cheating, lying, corrupt bastard leader around, it's because their people choose them.
I'd argue that in the last decades revolution has actually become increasingly difficult because law enforcement authorities benefit a lot from the improvements to surveillance and communication technology.
It's not rude at all. It's true. Those bastard leaders are there because their people refuse to do anything about it, and a large fraction of those people serve in the military and police forces to keep the bastard in power. The only way a "motivated majority" can be unable to overthrow their government is if a very sizeable, motivated minority holds a lot of military power somehow (which was arguably the case in Saddam's Iraq, where the Sunni minority oppressed the other two minority groups). Usually, this is not the case.
The people are almost always to blame for their authoritarian leadership. I'll give a pass to a few people, such as the Kurds in Saddam's Iraq who actively resisted his rule, but generally speaking the people are the ones ultimately to blame. It's quite rude to claim that people have no agency and somehow are magically forced to do the bidding of a geriatric leader.
I understand your perspective. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but just adding a few notes.
When it comes to certain historical events or experiences, there are nuances that can only be truly understood by those who have lived through them. This does not mean that those who haven't experienced a particular event or lived through a specific period of history are incapable of contributing to the discussion or forming valid opinions.
The world we live in is indeed far from black and white. It is filled with shades of gray, and acknowledging this complexity is essential when discussing matters of politics, power, and oppression. Recognizing the intricacies involved helps us avoid oversimplifications and enables us to delve into a more comprehensive analysis.
Opressive regimes throughout history have demonstrated their ability to manipulate people and gain and perpetuate power. It is a phenomenon worth studying and understanding. By examining historical examples, we can gain insights into the factors and mechanisms that contribute to the rise and longevity of oppressive regimes.
Revolutionary movements do exist, but they are often the result of a long process that builds up over time. Social, economic, and political factors intertwine in complex ways, eventually leading to significant changes.
>Opressive regimes throughout history have demonstrated their ability to manipulate people and gain and perpetuate power.
Of course, this is indeed true. We can see it in Russia today, with so many people believing the lies from the regime, and security forces working to suppress outside news or views. But this doesn't excuse those people IMO. Committing a horrible crime against a victim because someone else convinced you that the victim somehow deserved it does not excuse your crime. If you pull the trigger, ultimately you're responsible, not the guy urging you to do so. The Nuremberg trials put to rest, for once and for all, that "I was just following orders" is not a valid defense. If we want to progress as a species into a future with a more peaceful and enlightened society, then we must hold everyone accountable for their actions, regardless of how deceived they were.
I’ve missed some previous context, not at all excusing those who commit crimes and perpetuate opressive regimes.
They should be prosecuted and taken to trial.
I don't think you've missed any context, it's just the discussion continuing on a tangent I guess. Anyway, the question is: how do you prosecute the people who perpetuate oppressive regimes? Even when Nazi Germany fell, all the people responsible were not prosecuted; there were simply far too many. The top people were, of course, but low-level police or whoever were not. But all those people, collectively, are part of the problem, which is my point. It's not just a few jerks at the top, it's all the other people below them who enable them (especially the police or other security services). Should all the cops be rounded up and shoved into the gas chambers for their crimes of complicity? I don't think the court system can realistically prosecute that many people, and a few of them probably did try in some ways to resist.
There is no way in any shape or form that the same country the invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, steals OIL left, right and center, and supported more coups than anyone can be though of as caring for human rights.
> In each case there is a reason, you know, like a blatant violations of human rights, mass rapes, ethnic cleansings, things like that.
Some of those sanctions are for these reasons. Others are for geopolitical reasons.
Imagine China imposing sanctions on America for geopolitical reasons such that you are unable to buy food for your kids. This amount of power is never admired.
Linux desktop environments are the worst out there and I for one am eternally grateful I don't have to deal with this stuff every day. Between X11/Wayland debacle, conscious effort to prevent anything resembling backward compatibility AND proper software distribution on the platform and a myriad of minor infuriating issues in each major desktop environment I cannot fathom why people are even bothered to complain about stuff like ads.
And don't even get me started on non-user-facing issues. At this point I know enough about the innards of Linux I can barely tolerate it on my servers, and I swear I switch to BSD next time something like fsyncgate comes up. Although there are environments where I cannot opt out from Linux, sadly, so I guess I'll clench my teeth and try and bear with it.
Apple takes the sweet spot of unbearability between user-hostile Linux and consumer-hostile Windows. I mean, I used to run with Mac for several years, but I didn't buy into the "ecosystem" - and most of my user experience was to learn how to do basic stuff _differently_ for apparently no reason, user-hostile enough. Then consumer-hostility comes up - who in their right mind could even conceive notarization?
macOS is stable though, I'll give it that. But then I still don't trust Apple to do hardware besides iPhones.
If you want a stable, fast desktop on hardware of your choice where everything just works (tm) get Windows. Just uninstall what you don't need, install what you need, configure DNS or get a Pi-hole or something to get rid of ads, complain on feedback channels and call it a day.
While Windows is getting more and more consumer-hostile by the day we still don't have a viable alternative and it doesn't seem we will get one in my lifetime.
This is not my experience either personally, or with my 70yo father in law, or employees all running Linux distros. The experience is excellent apart from battery life. My son who games on Windows hates its constant random 100% CPU usage and compulsory reboots.
Last time I checked (stock Ubuntu circa 2018) I couldn't even select files in the file manager with mouse selection rectangle if the view mode was set to table-like, like "Details" in Windows Explorer. This was my last straw, actually. I mean, how hard could this be to implement? How could they ship it without something basic like that?
I am not sure about CPU usage, but I haven't experienced compulsory reboots on any of my two Windows PCs, both running Windows 10 Pro. I know reboots happen in the background from time to time because sometimes one of these wakes to a "blank slate" state, but hey, I can live with this.
US does not impose sanctions on the only basis of "hey, we don't like them, let's ruin their lives".
In each case there is a reason, you know, like a blatant violations of human rights, mass rapes, ethnic cleansings, things like that.
If some country is bothered that other countries won't be continuing doing business with it because US sanctioned it then it is implied it intends to do something of the above. I really and sincerely hope its not "most" countries out there.
Consequently, it's not the US that "sends generations into poverty". Typically it's the ruling class who, being bored out of their minds due to their needs being met by their appropriation of national wealth, decide to do something normally unthinkable for "reasons". And let's not forget that people always have a choice of leaving or changing their government.
It is actually good that there is a power on the mudball that can if not coerce idiots to behave but at the very least impose so much pressure they cannot enjoy their lives as if they did nothing wrong, without military involvement.