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Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

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Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#531

Post by ajuc »

grafmax wrote: post #502
ajuc wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When alcoholic husband beats his wife so they put him in prison and the wife starves - is it the fault of the people who put the husband in prison? Or the fault of the husband for beating his wife and the fault of the wife for staying in that relationship? I get it - it's hard. But you cannot expect the whole world to enable your alcoholic husband/militaristic dictator.

That presumes some kind of just system imprisoning the husband. In fact the US pursues its power and wealth, supporting dictatorships and undermining democracies to the degree it believes doings so benefits its special interests and geopolitical calculus. Even to the point instituting famine against children in horrific genocide which is happening today. Yet US hegemony is collapsing. It is simply running out of the…

Russia invades Ukraine.

The West puts Russia in economic prison.

Russians suffer.

US is only a part of the system. Even if you remove US from the picture - EU alone would continue to sanction Russia.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#532

Post by snickerdoodle14 »

huhtenberg wrote: post #343
bambax wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where you get confused is with the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship.

Pray tell how people in the US can control specifics of its foreign policy.

The US is closer to a dictatorship than a democracy. Certainly now.

In properly democratic countries you would have more than 2 parties, with more than 2 viewpoints. You pick one that aligns with you, and they actually have a chance at winning.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#533

Post by MYEUHD »

MrJohz wrote: post #353
drstewart wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it interesting? I thought the common people aren't responsible for the actions of their government?

The common people are responsible for the actions of their government in a democracy, are they not? The issue is that Iran isn't a democracy, it's a theocratic dictatorship — the people are explicitly not able to be responsible for the actions of their government.

The US is a democracy.

The common people are responsible for the actions of their government in a democracy.

The US killed 400+ Million people in the past two centuries.

Therefore I hate all Americans.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#534

Post by Xelbair »

School-Cotton wrote: post #519
Xelbair wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

blame English language on lack of distinction between plural(referring to 'your society' in this case) and singular you. I don't think that's a hard concept to grasp.

No, this has nothing to do with English grammar. I understand that you are using "you" in the plural, here. What I reject is the premise that "Americans" is an identifiable group that is collectively responsible for any particular thing, extending to people who never supported or voted for that thing. This is a philosophical disagreement, not an issue of language.

In democratic system(please spare me "we're republic not a democracy" adage that every American spewes) every citizen votes, and shares responsibility in decision making process.

You can become politically active and try to convince others if you don't like current status quo, inaction is also a choice.

Unless you think US isn't a democratic country but authoritarian one(either oligarchy, technocracy or whatever - does not matter) then it is definitely not a philosophical disagreement, but lack of responsibility and wishful thinking.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#535

Post by 542354234235 »

Xelbair wrote: post #355
FrozenSynapse wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think sanctions on Russia are not working?

Honestly, their effect is diminished. After speaking with Russians living in there, day to day life hasn't been affected that much, after initial shock. Trying to use sanctions against another major power isn't guaranteed to work as they can take the hit and pivot to internal industry(which happened), or trading with other major powers that do not sanction them(China). Or some countries get around sanctions - like bu…

Russia has had to sell oil at a steep discount, which has cut into their revenue significantly. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been frozen/seized that can't be used to fund the war effort. Modern war is not just "beans and bullets”, and Russia pays upwards of 10 times the price for key components it needs for missiles, aviation, UAVs, tanks, artillery, air defense, etc. as well as quality manufacturing equipment needed.

Russian industry is operating at only 81% capacity, largely due to labor shortages, which make sense considering that about 1% of its labor force join the military every other month. Russia is losing tank barrels, artillery barrels, and infantry fighting vehicles more than 10 times faster than it can manufacture new ones. It will likely never be able to obtain a third rotary forge, required for barrel manufacture, to expand its capacity. It has almost entirely cannibalized its old, defunct Soviet era stock. They are being kept afloat by China, NK, and Iran, but with a much-reduced capacity, and often much lower quality. For example, Russia relies on China for 70-80% of its microchips, but China is dumping defective microchips on them with a 40% failure rate.

Sanctions have absolutely had significant, direct, measurable impacts on Russia’s ability to wage war and sustain war. As for regular people, it is hard to think it hasn't affected then, given that last year inflation was 9%, interest rates are 21%, and disposable income is down 20-30%. That feels like a lot of belt tightening.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/11/21/half-of-russias-ai... https://jamestown.org/program/russia-exhausts-soviet-era-arm... https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-where-are-russias-... https://archive.ph/c17pk https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/is-202... https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-sanctions-have-reshaped-ru... https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/comme... https://osintforukraine.com/publications/microchips https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/18/russia_china_semicond... https://www.economicsobservatory.com/what-is-the-current-sta...

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#537

Post by School-Cotton »

Xelbair wrote: post #534
School-Cotton wrote: post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this has nothing to do with English grammar. I understand that you are using "you" in the plural, here. What I reject is the premise that "Americans" is an identifiable group that is collectively responsible for any particular thing, extending to people who never supported or voted for that thing. This is a philosophical disagreement, not an issue of language.

In democratic system(please spare me "we're republic not a democracy" adage that every American spewes) every citizen votes, and shares responsibility in decision making process. You can become politically active and try to convince others if you don't like current status quo, inaction is also a choice. Unless you think US isn't a democratic country but authoritarian one(either oligarchy, technocracy or whatever - do…

> every citizen votes, and shares responsibility in decision making process

Why? I never consented to be a part of the system, don't agree with it, and in practice can do nothing to change it. Saying I'm responsible for it because I happened to be arbitrarily born with a particular citizenship is meaningless.

> In democratic system...

There is no reason why I, an unrelated individual, should have to ascribe to the ideals espoused by proponents of the system imposed on me without my consent.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#538

Post by userabchn »

daniel_iversen wrote: post #53

> By the way, did you know you could return 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons instead of 403 Forbidden when you're going to ban me next time? Had no idea, interesting!

The website of an American company returned a blank page to me. I thought that they must have made a mistake and that it would be fixed soon. Several days later it was still returning a blank page, so I sent them an email in case they didn't know. It turns out that they don't want to deal with the laws of other countries (EU's GDPR, etc.) and so simply return a blank page for anyone visiting from outside America. A "451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons" or some other type of explanation would have been less confusing than the blank page.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#539

Post by flyinglizard »

nahuel0x wrote: post #529
flyinglizard wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The notion that Israel was created by force is just not true. Jews were always a part of historical Palestine, and most of the land they inhabited was legally bought, by bodies like the JNF, up until the war of 1948. That war, started by the Arabs, came as a result of the League of Nations declaration of the formation of Israel. It's important to stress that there was never a Palestinian country, nor a cohesive Pales…

Tell that to the Palestinians families whose homes they owned for generations were stolen by Israel and their children are now murdered in the most horrible ways.

I'll tell them that opening the war on Israel and the Jews on 1948 was the wrong move and they unfortunately paid a hefty price. It was a choice, done at a community level: many Arabs chose to accept Israel and not attack it in 1948 and are now Israeli-Arabs (about 23% of the population). Nothing was stolen from them and they are amongst the most prosperous Arabs in the Middle East.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#540

Post by sporkxrocket »

username332211 wrote: post #504
coldtea wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with the justification that by making their citizens lives horrific, you encourage them to rise against their government. That's the PR justification. The real one is "to hurt the countries and make them do as we say" and "because we can".

[flagged]

This is an ultra simplistic take. Iran does not like the role the US has in propping up Israel, entirely rational and understandable. Israel may not be recognized by our government as a "sworn enemy" but it's done infinitely more damage to the US and US citizens than Iran has. The only reason they're not sanctioned is because one of the ways Israel attacks the US is through bribery (AIPAC) and blackmail (Epstein).
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