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War in Europe

Journal by turgid

I'm worried, What happened to the lessons of the last century? I had a grandmother who lived through both world wars and lived to own and use a smartphone.

Much important history has faded from living memory. We mock, harass and intimidate our historians and philosophers.

We for get the optimism and courage of our parents' generation who stood up for civil rights, equality and social justice. We look the other way as hard-won rights are eroded. We sit idly by while we let tyrants exploit us and dismantle our democratic structures and rob us of our sustenance.

At times like these I turn to popular music for inspiration and wisdom. I would like to share one particular retrospectively enthusiastic piece I've recently discovered from more optimistic times and I'd like to think it hasn't been in vain quite yet. We are still the human race.

It's by Montrose (also a Scottish town) and is called Space Station #5 and goes like this:

Start, with the sun
And move on out
The future's in the skies above
The heavens unfold
And a new star is born
Space and time makin' love

Now, I'm sure that's the sort of thing Homer Simpson had on his 8 track in his car back in the day.

I don't care. It's much better than war.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:41PM (5 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:41PM (#1221941) Journal
    Sounds like an utter waste of time. First, Debord is Marxist. Sorry, it might have meant something in 1850, but now that's just self-signalling that you're utterly ignorant - the world moved on. Second, sounds like bike shed material. Debord doesn't know a thing about modern society (and its important features like automation and the market economy), but he does know about "spectacles". So let's talk about spectacles.

    And third, there's some interesting weasel language in the second link complaining about Soros and his alleged support of Euromaidan protests. An example that leaps out at me:

    Many of the participants in Kiev’s “EuroMaidan” demonstrations were members of Soros-funded NGOs and/or were trained by the same NGOs in the many workshops and conferences sponsored by Soros’ International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), and his various Open Society institutes and foundations. The IRF, founded and funded by Soros, boasts that it has given “more than any other donor organization” to “democratic transformation” of Ukraine.

    How many is "many"? Is it 10 or 10 million? That haziness infects the entire piece. And I find it interesting how this is supposed to damn the Euromaidan protests rather than burnish Soros's legacy! We've seen what an utter shit Putin became after his boy, President Yanukovych got kicked out by Euromaidan. Sounds like Soros and the Koch brothers made the right call.

    Sorry, I'm not going to hand wring because there are Soros/Koch brother cooties on the Euromaidan or speak vacuously of "the game".

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @01:04AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @01:04AM (#1221979)

    So let's talk about spectacles.

    Would you like a new pair of shoes? [justinmcguirk.com]

    speak vacuously of "the game".

    Have your shadow government in place, dominate the media, sow civil unrest (do you like shoes?), incur maximum costs to the state and provoke an election crisis. And variations thereof. [wikipedia.org] Do you think NED, NSAID and OSF invest in countries out of the goodness of their hearts?

    * Also why they still target Trump. With more media support, he would have turned the typical final stage of the game plan against the cartel in 2020.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 16 2022, @03:47AM (3 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 16 2022, @03:47AM (#1222032) Journal
      Thank you for demonstrating my point. That's an impressive amount of vacuousness, terrible application of Marxist thought to looting, spitting out obscure acronyms (one or two which is wrong), and vague intimations of cartel and self-interest. So what does that have to do with the mess in the Ukraine?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @04:31PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @04:31PM (#1222198)

        So what does that have to do with the mess in the Ukraine?

        I explained how color revolutions work. Do you doubt it [consortiumnews.com] or why the establishment was upset when Trump cut funding. [newsweek.com] My interjection was specifically in response to your claim...

        the kind of turnout that the Euromaidan protests saw at the end.

        Ever seen interviews with protesters at mass protests who can't explain exactly what the protest is even about? Beatlemania!

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 16 2022, @05:38PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 16 2022, @05:38PM (#1222227) Journal

          I explained how color revolutions work. Do you doubt it or why the establishment was upset when Trump cut funding.

          And I ignored that because it was and remains irrelevant and yes, I sure do doubt it. Your first link merely notes that Russia shut down a bunch of US-supported organizations - no evidence given that would support their use in your alleged "colour revolutions". Similarly, so what if someone complains because Trump cut funding. Every dollar spent by the US government has a vocal constituent/recipient. Someone would have complained no matter what he cut.

          Ever seen interviews with protesters at mass protests who can't explain exactly what the protest is even about? Beatlemania!

          In other words, you concede this point. I see, for example, an absence of Euromaidan protester interviews that might theoretically support your flimsy argument!

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday February 19 2022, @01:13PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 19 2022, @01:13PM (#1223115) Journal

          Ever seen interviews with protesters at mass protests who can't explain exactly what the protest is even about? Beatlemania!

          Also, anti-democracy rears its ugly head. Why not just put me in charge so that those poor, clueless protesters never need make/face any hard decisions ever again? I'll make Russia/Ukraine happy and productive! In fact, they'll be so happy and productive, they'll be glowing. So let's call this mighty new nation, SureGlow. We shall have a long, long half-life of happiness! (TM)