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Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

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31–40 of 131 posts

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#31

No, because I voted for Trump. Europe gets to take responsibility for the wars they start and escalate now. Not my problem.

So you are ok with if nobody will come to help you when your life is in danger because your life is not anyone else's problem.

NATO as it exists today is a welfare program where US taxpayers subsidize the defense budgets of European countries so they can afford lavish social benefits programs for their citizens while the US drowns in both personal and federal debt. You were never going to come help us, and the exploitative relationship between our countries is now over. Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#32

No, because I voted for Trump. Europe gets to take responsibility for the wars they start and escalate now. Not my problem.

Are you counting russia as part of Eurasia here? Because to me it's looking more like becoming part of Eastasia instead.

Russia was always the weird case of a country with a cruel, Asian steppe mentality (early in the days of the Dutchy of Moscow, they were conquered and thoroughly subjugated by the Mongols, the Mongol mark of cruelty and disdain for human life is still there in XXI century) that is also Christian. The Christianity has confused Western leaders throught the ages, who thought Russia is like any other European country, and can be reasoned with.

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#33

The thing is, I no longer trust any news source. They all exist to serve their agenda, while rarely providing the real picture. So there is no way for me, as a regular citizen, to truly know what happens in the world or a particular regional conflict. So while I do worry that there might be a bigger war, I also realize that the picture painted by the news, or the "promises" that different country leaders make, are me…

As a strong emotion, creating fear is an effective means to an end, but rarely/never an ultimate goal. If you really want to understand what's going on, don't stop at "they just want to scare me".

As far as the news are concerned, they just want viewers / advertising customers / money in most cases.

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#34
post #23

100%, our leaders are playing with fire at this point. Their reasoning is also not rational. If you cannot use diplomacy with Putin because he is crazy, then why do you expect Putin to back down when you try to escalate to deescalate?

Escalation is using force, not diplomacy. Force is something that Putin understands very well.

Again, I see no reason why Putin would back down. Instead it reinforces his worldview that the West is the enemy and not interested in any kind of fair balance of power. As for who understands diplomacy, one wonders if the US/EU understand diplomacy. China seems to have no problem dealing with Russia. Somehow the US/EU with their combined might cannot manage it.

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#37

No, because I voted for Trump. Europe gets to take responsibility for the wars they start and escalate now. Not my problem.

I think Trump has the best chance of ending the war, but I don't think America and the CIA gets to dodge responsibility for helping to start it.

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#38
post #37

No, because I voted for Trump. Europe gets to take responsibility for the wars they start and escalate now. Not my problem.

I think Trump has the best chance of ending the war, but I don't think America and the CIA gets to dodge responsibility for helping to start it.

Fair point, although the way things are currently shaping up with his administration, I'm expecting there to be some serious consequences for the spooks that orchestrated all of this.

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#39

The thing is, I no longer trust any news source. They all exist to serve their agenda, while rarely providing the real picture. So there is no way for me, as a regular citizen, to truly know what happens in the world or a particular regional conflict. So while I do worry that there might be a bigger war, I also realize that the picture painted by the news, or the "promises" that different country leaders make, are me…

Yes there is. For example there is war in Ukraine and in Gaza and you can find more information on those digging deeper. Not trusting any news source and never combining news to "unbias" them is same thinking that leads to " maybe they are lying to us and the earth is flat". There is always a solution.

Right. "Nothing is true anyway" is how the truth is buried in Russia with a sophisticated media control operation, and look at the consequences. There is a truth, and it's neither particularly hidden nor extraordinary in most cases.

Re: Ask HN: Aren't you afraid of a possible world conflict?

#40
We are in the middle of multiple world conflicts, through regional proxies. People are experiencing the consequences of those conflicts, even dying. They are afraid of the continuing effects. Others are scared of possible future conflicts. Your question was probably meant for a specific group of people. When you say "we", who is that? If you mean something that affects the U.K., like the setting of Threads, then it's just a matter of distance and scale. Most people in the U.K. aren't exposed to a direct threat of kinetic conflict, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world is not in physical danger of some kind.

To answer your question directly though, I think we have multiple generations that have grown up believing that anything they see on the internet is not actually real or is happening to somebody else. That includes war. The idea of a global conflict is just a Netflix plot or something, not anything that could actually happen. Few people have met a combat veteran or war refugee, but lots of people have played Call of Duty. That's their reference point. It's just not real.

Consider this, even with all the condemnation of Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, the sanctions, the shipment of arms. We are still using Soyuz spacecraft launched from Russia to go to the space station. We still share resources for all of that, including lots of money. That means there is a limit to the outrage, when it comes to economic and structural needs.

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