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Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

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Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#101

Post by Alupis »

rorroe53 wrote: post #86
Alupis wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of Iranians alive today that were around before the current Iranian government. Iranian youth are also much more "aware" of global politics than any generation before them... I think it's difficult for most Iranians to not be aware of their government's decisions and actions around the globe... Besides - what alternative would you propose? Just pretend everything is ok and business as usual? Bomb the…

I would suggest creating sanctions that hurt those in power, meaning mainly old bearded men who probably don't play Minecraft. Ordinary people have no power to change anything over there, they get shot if they try.

> I would suggest creating sanctions that hurt those in power

People in power remain in power by keeping the population under control. If the population is indifferent to consequences of the power-class' decisions, then everything can keep rolling along as-is. When the population is impacted negatively by the power-class' decisions - then civil unrest happens. With enough of that, the power-class loses power...

This[1] video does a decent job of highlighting the careful balancing act that's required to remain in power... it also highlights the difficulties of changing the status-quo even for a benevolent dictator that desires to remain a dictator - ie. they have to appease all of the powers-that-be under them.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#102

Post by dang »

Johnssmithss wrote: post #60
swarnie wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Is one system provably better than all others and therefore must dominate? I personally find the idea of an Oligarchical Republic to be a bit batty nuggets... Do i get to trade? Am i up against the wall in your world?

If you are against democracy then yes you may be up against the wall. Tough luck.

Please don't use HN primarily for political or ideological battle. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

The combination of shallow + inflammatory on divisive topics is guaranteed to make HN discussion worse, at least for its intended purpose, which is curious conversation.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#103

Post by brabel »

rorroe53 wrote: post #81
mikestew wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not all about preventing the creation of nuclear weapons. It's also about making sure the common person in $SANCTIONED_COUNTRY feels the pain. User UncleEntity says it better than I could in a comment that is buried a few levels: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40158797

Iran is one of those dictatorships where the majority of the population already dislikes (or plain hates) the government, as we have seen in many demonstrations that have been extinguished through use of extreme violence by the regime. Making life more difficult for ordinary Iranians isn't going to change anything as long as the army and revolutionary guard stay loyal to the criminals in power.

> Iran is one of those dictatorships where the majority of the population already dislikes (or plain hates) the government...

Right, just like the people of Afghanistan must have hated so much the Taliban, with their cruel and tyrannic grip on power... just waiting for a saviour like the Americans to bring them up to the modern age...

Well, we all know that's a load of bullshit now. The very moment the Americans left, without resistance of any kind, the Taliban is back. This happens again and again, in country after country, but people still seem to forget (or not even be aware of anything happening) and think everyone in the world wants to be like them, and when those in faraway places are not behaving like themselves it must be because they're being forcibly coerced by some maleficent dictator or some other imaginary villain.

Things are not black and white. Sure, some people in Iran would love a more West-friendly regime, but almost certainly, most would be horrified if their government suddenly started implementing laws to guarantee freedom of speech, legalize abort, separate state and religion, allow same-sex marriage and sex change operations, and a whole lot of stuff that's only preached by the West and is not at all accepted as good by most of the other cultures in the world... can't people just accept that not everyone thinks the same or want to be the same as themselves?? That goes against the Western's own modern values of being accepting of differences and not trying to submit other cultures to our own values and believes.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#104

Post by brabel »

Symbiote wrote: post #62
ImHereToVote wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I applaud sanctions because this time Iran simply went too far. It is completely unprecedented that Iran bombed the consulate if Israel. This is an incredibly reckless escalation of violence.

It was Israel that bombed the Iranian consulate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_bombing_of_the_Iranian...

I believe you have missed the joke.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#105

Post by bigstrat2003 »

upget_tiding wrote: post #100
crowcroft wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you expand on this, my understanding was that Israel held relatively free and fair elections.

The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip which Israel has controlled since 1967 are not allowed to vote in these elections.

A country doesn't become a dictatorship simply because not everyone is allowed to vote in elections. The US used to require land ownership to vote, then women weren't able to vote, and even now felons can't vote (at least in some states). None of those things meant that the US was or is a dictatorship.

I'm not saying "everything is just fine over in Israel". But the original context was about not trading with dictatorships, which Israel is not.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#106

Post by edanm »

olliej wrote: post #96
crowcroft wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you expand on this, my understanding was that Israel held relatively free and fair elections.

Yes, just like apartheid SA had free and fair elections. Palestinians have no rights in their homeland, Israel invaded it and every time they take more land they simply claim the original occupants aren’t part of the country their home is/was in.

There's a lot to say about Israel, but what you said isn't true.

Israel didn't "invade" the land. Jews moved into the land legally, and then the rulers of the land at the time gave it to the UN to recommend what to do with it, given that there were two peoples there. The UN recommended splitting it into two parts, one for each people (the Arabs and the Jews). The Jews agreed to this plan, the Arabs didn't. The Jews then declared independence, and other Arab countries launched a war on Israel, urging the current Arab inhabitants of that land to flee, and return when the land is taken away from the Jews.

Some of the original Arab inhabitants fled (there are massive debates on whether they fled because of the urging of the Arab leaders, or out of fear). When Israel won the war, these original inhabitants were unable to return.

Other Arab inhabitants of that land stayed, and they and their descendants are now Israeli citizens, that have full rights and can vote just like any other citizen (Arab Israelis make up 20% of Israel).

So: > Palestinians have no rights in their homeland,

Not true. 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinians.

> Israel invaded [their homeland]

No, Israel didn't exist, and the Jews who came to Palestine weren't "invading" anything, they arrived legally for the most part (and many were turned away, even during the Holocaust, and ended up dying).

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#107

Post by Johnssmithss »

dang wrote: post #102
Johnssmithss wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are against democracy then yes you may be up against the wall. Tough luck.

Please don't use HN primarily for political or ideological battle. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html . The combination of shallow + inflammatory on divisive topics is guaranteed to make HN discussion worse, at least for its intended purpose, which is curious conversation.

Alright. Actually I don't use HN primarily for that. Have been posting here for years and rarely go into politic discussions. I get your point though.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#108

Post by philippejara »

Spivak wrote: post #79
cutemonster wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people (in Iran) have been trying, but the dictators killed hundreds of people and put an end to that, for now at least. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahsa_Amini_protests > otherwise the populace can just ignore their government's foreign policy decisions It's a murderous regime. It's not a government that you can write letters to and vote away.

Which is why I'm surprised the response is "sanctions" and not topple the government and install western democracy. It's what the countries imposing the sanctions want to happen anyway. There's so much historical precedent for this working. If a consortium of Western militaries show up and say "join us fighting against your government or when we win you'll be killed/exiled as a traitor" the population will flip immed…

What historical precedent? Just in the last 3 decades you had afghanistan, iraq, libya and (ongoing) syria in the middle east alone showing how horrific the consequences of this type of meddling are.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#109

Post by bigstrat2003 »

londons_explore wrote: post #18

> The Minecraft reddit moderators didn't even show my post, and downvoted it too. Real "inclusive" of you, guys. Inclusivity is selective... Always has been, always will be.

"Inclusive" really just means "we are going to make sure to include people we have no problem with". As Scott Alexander eloquently put it in his essay "I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outrgroup", this is because people's actual outgroup isn't the ones they are being "inclusive" to. Human nature hasn't changed, sadly.

Re: Today Microsoft Banned My Country Iran from Minecraft

#110

Post by nashashmi »

cutemonster wrote: post #95
nashashmi wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dont think we have a policy of sanctioning dictatorships. Dictators in Saudi Arabia too. And Iran is not a dictatorship. (Surprised?)

It's a dictatorship. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Leader_of_Iran

That's not a dictatorship. It's a leader without powers to make laws. The leader makes decrees. And the leader is selected by a small council. It is akin to the monarchy in Britain.
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