I am recalling that just a few months ago most Americans couldn't give a shit about Ukraine or what the US had done there since 2014.
Everyone's rightfully and justifiably horrified by the outcome and onset of this war, but it seems that it's given to an irrational zealous degree akin to the initial bloodlust of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, where there is little serious investigation of the context and facts, and politics broke down the conflict to a very Manichaean view of the world and West vs its adversaries in the East.
Russia (especially under Putin) ,considered "guilty until proven innocent", appears to confirm liberal fears with this war confirms all the prejudices about the Russian state - whose qualities are now directed at its people - and now liberals appear to be yearning for Russia to collapse as a state through economic annihilation or a nuclear holocaust.
It's just baffling, because at least with Iraq, there was a context of 9/11 being recent in people's minds and collusion with media propaganda to convincingly brainwash Americans into choosing a scapegoat for a collective bloodlust. With this the political context of this conflict, which Americans have little to no personal stake in , the bloodlust comes off as incredibly selective.
My principal complaint is that this is a dangerous scenario to be courting with global planetary extinction with.
+70 years of anti-Soviet propaganda plus 4 years of Russia-gate primed the pump for this current moment
Manufacture consent once, shame on you. Manufacture consent twice, shame on... shame on... you can't fool me again!
If someone tried to show me propaganda I would simply say “no thanks.” Idk I’m just built different.
i mean how did you wind up here
we just all fried our brains with communoid propaganda instead, fortunately (it might just be the communoid propaganda) it seems to have imparted a more correct worldview
the only REAL way to become immune to propaganda is to become literally illiterate
The other day they were showing the reactionary Jack Ryan movies on TV and the bad guy is cartoonishly evil Russians in multiple of the movies. They've been priming this for years. Russia/China/Korea is the bad guy in every call of duty (and adjacent) video game.
Turns out it's not so difficult to turn latent anticommunism into anti Russian fanaticism as long as you make it seem like the first war between white people since Hitler and the president and news media embrace a Great Mad Man ethos for Putin that aligns with the absolute shit stain that is American historical education.
the first war between white people since Hitler
I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. Yugoslavia? Cuba? Greece? Poland and Hungary? The Basque?
Hitler didn't see Slavs as white. Whiteness is a social construct that shifts to whatever is the in-group and whatever is the out-group for the ruling class of imperialist colonizers.
Hitler didn’t see Slavs as white.
Wilson didn't consider Germans white.
Whiteness is a social construct
And societies change over time. But the Ukrainians weren't white during the Cold War. They weren't white during the various CIA Ops destabilizing the state. They won't be white once this war is over.
They might be "honorary white" to creeps that want to get mail-order brides in the future. :so-true:
That's my point. There have obviously been many, which many of us are aware of and angry about, but I think this really encapsulates the emotional affect that western media are pursuing.
Americans have little to no personal stake in
This seems counterintuitive, but only in a imaginary scenario in which Americans choose their foreign policy through public approval - instead, it's the MIC that decides on it's business interests first and then beats the public into support through the most effective propaganda machine every created.
And I think the racial component made it easier - having white, European victims really juiced the media's response. But really the main driver is the MIC looking to score some sweet sweet arms deals to make line go up, and the rest is the practiced playbook to ensure that the money transfers hands smoothly.
But really the main driver is the MIC looking to score some sweet sweet arms deals to make line go up
"We got record breaking quarterly arms sales to Germany."
"What did it cost you?"
"US Dollar Hegemony"
Crapitalism, folks.
Capitalists sowing: :porky-happy:
Capitalists reaping: :porky-scared-flipped:
amongst all the tonnes of other reasons people have mentioned, i wonder if the frustration of covid over the last two years isnt part of it as well, dealing with a faceless amorphous invisible enemy that youre powerless to really fight but which materially affects your life pretty substantially, and now suddenly having a nice well-defined baddie with a face and a country to let out all that frustrated rage onto and feel righteous about it
War is a spectacle. War is a distraction. War focuses the cruelty of imperialism outwards instead of inwards. Until it doesn't.
Americans are bloodthirsty because outside of the Civil War, they've never had to face a real conflict. Saying "Bomb them to hell" is a socially acceptable way to express all their petty frustrations without any real consequences. Russians are an acceptable threat for bloodlust because they're "white" (not everyone who lives in Russia is even ethnically Russian or white...) and Russia is an eternal threat for the Angloid Atlantic establishment (despotic hordes from the East!) despite the fact that Russians have generally had a pretty friendly view toward the US when Yankees weren't trying to pound them into dust.
Putin is gay and kisses Trump on the mouth.
Therefore, we must launch a new World War, one which will end all life on the planet.
There's been buildup for Russia being a supervillain since Trump won. "Russian Hacker" has been an accusation thrown at people for years now. I'm more surprised this didn't happen sooner.
