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The Fighter

nytimes.com

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Re: The Fighter

#61

Post by lawpoop »

sigzero wrote: post #49
sjg007 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is the President who declares war... one guy for better or worse.

No, in the United States, Congress declares war (a bunch of guys).

Since the War Powers Act, it's basically been the president who makes war. Congressional declarations are a formality. Many of the events that we think of as wars are "military actions"-- Korean "War", Vietnam "War", First Iraq "war", second Iraq "war", Afghanistan "war", Kosovo, Libya, etc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_war_by_the_Unit...

Re: The Fighter

#62

Post by jungletek »

bootload wrote: post #30
wyager wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems like a strange conclusion to reach. Humanity is per-capita less violent than ever, despite probably the highest per-capita small arms density in history. My suspicion is that the techniques available for individuals to kill each other has little impact on their proclivity to kill each other. Of course, that says nothing about the impact of increasingly effective large-scale weapons (nuclear/biological/chem…

"Humanity is per-capita ^less violent^ than ever," Relative, like standing at the side of the road instead of in it. One reason I never talk about stuff like this is ppl who intellectualise rather than show any understanding of emotional response.

When you're discussing facts and figures, emotional responses are irrelevant, if not distracting.

Re: The Fighter

#63

Post by ryanmarsh »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #60
ryanmarsh wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We take care of our own as best we can, and people fall through the cracks This statement disgusts me. I struggled immensely transitioning from combat to civilian life. Nobody helped until years later I got lucky and someone referred me to a preacher who was also a therapist. The VA threw pills at myself and my brothers. Some of them are dead now. Some took their own lives on purpose, others on accident living dang…

What exactly is "Disgusting" about it? Notice the as best we can... I'm speaking specifically about your teammates and CoC. I'm not talking about the VA, VSOs and the rest - we know their failures but I have to acknowledge that they are massively beneficial if you take advantage of them. No one disputes that there are major challenges to coming back to society from war, especially with TBI or otherwise. So nobody is…

I think people should think of war as something that breaks people, something that has an immense cost. Frankly more combat vets come back with issues than don't.

Re: The Fighter

#64

Post by holyOrIonsBelt »

dumb-saint wrote: post #44
james-watson wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, because average Americans control US geopolitical strategy.

So you gave up on democracy?

First: The U.S. is a republic.

Second: Your idealism is compelling, yet you overstate the facilities available to the common citizen.

Third: Pointing the finger at 'Americans' and saying 'Why don't you quit fighting so much?' only serves to feed the narrative that Americans are war-hungry.

Case in point: there is not a single military battle being fought on American soil. We, the 'war hungry' Americans, only commit to actionable defense of foreign states whose sovereignty is threatened by whatever forces are objectively creating a threat. We do so because we stand on the principle that it is better to stand up for the weak than it is to kowtow to dictators or totalitarian states. Now, we do this in a manner that is selective because geopolitics isn't a black and white decision matrix, and we have to pick battles that that we not only think we can win, but that won't serve to exacerbate the problems of totalitarianism and despotic rule.

Re: The Fighter

#65

Post by accountface »

wyager wrote: post #59
accountface wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The major ongoing conflicts within The Middle East, Africa, and South America are as brutal as they are because of small arms and associated trade... specifically the communism-driven over-abundance of AK-47s

Why do you think they are any more brutal with AK-47s than they would be without small arms? We don't have a control group, but let's try to construct some comparisons. All of the regions you mention have a long and storied history of brutal conquest and warfare that predate the invention of small arms. This is evidence against small arms being a causal factor. The vast majority of the regime-caused deaths of the las…

I'm talking about an entire book that provides a strong argument. Want me to read it to you? Maybe I should paste the entire contents here, would that be easier for you?

Re: The Fighter

#66

Post by wyager »

accountface wrote: post #65
wyager wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think they are any more brutal with AK-47s than they would be without small arms? We don't have a control group, but let's try to construct some comparisons. All of the regions you mention have a long and storied history of brutal conquest and warfare that predate the invention of small arms. This is evidence against small arms being a causal factor. The vast majority of the regime-caused deaths of the las…

I'm talking about an entire book that provides a strong argument. Want me to read it to you? Maybe I should paste the entire contents here, would that be easier for you?

Feel free to summarize. I've gone ahead and summarized some hard evidence, whereas you've just restated your opinion a couple times.

Re: The Fighter

#67

Post by accountface »

wyager wrote: post #66
accountface wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm talking about an entire book that provides a strong argument. Want me to read it to you? Maybe I should paste the entire contents here, would that be easier for you?

Feel free to summarize. I've gone ahead and summarized some hard evidence, whereas you've just restated your opinion a couple times.

Read a book
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