zevenenergie wrote on 10/14/23 at 14:22:02:The Japanese were not massacred
The people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki don't disagree... because they can't. Like the residents of Gaza, they had no more influence over the Empire than the average Palestinian over Hamas, or American over the deployment of the US military. Truth and reductive recourse typically don't share the center of a Venn diagram- and history has a nasty habit of becoming little more than a bludgeon when flattened for a soap box.
Serowbot wrote on 10/14/23 at 06:56:18:I'm not sure the Israel situation breaks down to Right and Left so cleanly. I, for example am a big Israel supporter, as have all the recent Democrat Presidents including Biden
Leveraging of the us/them tribal mentality is the root of these problems- something we would should have learned long ago from this constructed tragedy. Problem is, the lever connects to basic aspects of our nature that many never attempt to recognize, let alone surpass. Fomenting hate is so... easy.
Serowbot wrote on 10/14/23 at 06:56:18:Thumper and Mavi have not commented.
This forum isn't a healthy, constructive space for me; I come here when society swings toward tribal excess at the expense of humanity, and I need a personification of those failures to use as pinata, beating until all the ugly bits are disgorged. Naturally, that contact is ultimately unsatisfying, being as reductive and destructive as the source of my disgust.
So, no- I will not expound at length here on origins of this conflict, prejudice, bigotry, or petty and profound partisanship, as doing so would be akin to practicing origami in the rain. Rather, on a personal level, Serow, I suggest your demonstrated humanity is too large to fit into the limitations of the "big Israel supporter" box you have adopted, and will require cognitive dissonance and parsing of values to remain confined to. Whether or not you'll find that position tenable will depend to what degree comfort of certainty and pride succeed in winning out over your other values.
Some folks here have surpassed my expectations- in a good way. There is also disappointment. Predictable disgust. Life is just... too short to spend it in this way- so I'll pluck the needle from my arm and leave the table again, having had my fill.
Later, all. Before all else, be kind.