What I really cant understand about US is why it fvcks its own people. It is by far the richest country in the world.
Fvcking others in understandble (I am not saying it is good); it is their problem. They have to revolt against theirs corrupt leaders.
A country purpose should be enhance life quality of its citzens
Exactly and also because giving us better quality of life takes slightly from their extravagant, unnecessary amount of wealth. And they just cant have 1% of their fortune that even their childrens childrens childrens children could ever possibly spend be given to their worker cogs.
That, and keeping us living pay check to pay check, being forced to work every moment just to stay alive while also constantly being stressed which also makes you wiped out, and having so little downtime that were just absolutely *exhausted* when were enjoying it keeps us subdued bc were too tired just trying to make it day to day. Im only 24 and Im fucking exhausted *constantly*. I dont even have the energy to go hang out with friends for the day, let alone go out and protest and fight like I used to.
Because late stage capitalism subsumes nationalism. Concepts like national sovereignty and loyalty conflict with class and property relations at a certain point, so they are discarded where they are not useful as a bulwark to protect capital or tool used to expand capital.
There’s a difference between nationalism of the oppressed and nationalism of the bourgeoisie but yeah I should’ve specified I’m talking about western bourgeois nationalism.
It drives me nuts how many people get this backwards. Capitalism is why nationalism, authoritarianism, fascism, and hyper religious theocratic forces thrive here, not the other way around.
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."' -LBG
It seems to me that human societies (as a group) have a hard on for status/hierarchy/supremacy over others. Which probably means that most people find being equal to others unsatisfying. Or at least, less satisfying than having some status over others.
It's maybe easier to imagine it like a game. There's one player winning over everyone with 100 points, and maybe the rest of the players have 10 points each. What would be more satisfying? Somehow getting the 100 point player down to 99 points? Or getting all the 10 point players down to 9 while keeping all 10 of your own points?
Elevating one's status by reducing the status of others is something most people find enjoyable in one way or another. It's basically an easy way to "win" from the perspective of competition.
You can see people vying over status and superiority over others in a thousand and one ways. I don't think it's something that's going away anytime soon.
thr comes from a misunderstanding of history and the role of states. states have never been about helping ppl. since the beginning they were about securing resources and power for the elite.
That's the point though. The ruling class is fulfilling the logic they grew up in. If you spend your entire life never fearing homelessness, food scarcity, debt, etc. and your social circle is the exact same, how can they relate to us? It'd be more surprising if Bezos or Musk became raging socialists. Plus when they're several degrees removed by funded political puppets, legions of cop class traitors, and more they only understand the situation when the proletariat demands it.
What's crazy is none of this was planned by a round table of capitalists. It just morphed its way into existence after stumbling for centuries.
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> What I really cant understand about US is why it fvcks its own people. It is by far the richest country in the world.
The lives of [average Britons under Queen Victoria wasn't that great, either.](https://www.shmoop.com/christmas-carol/stave-1-full-text-5.html) A ruler who is too popular amongst their people is a threat to the key supporters. If you can get people to do what you say without using the traditional power structure their jobs are threatened.
So it makes sense to give them just enough not to starve while rewarding your lackeys. That way the small acts of violence you commit against them - speed cameras, for example - hurt enough to keep them in line.
It is apparently quite easy to rewrite history with propaganda: [Poll in France: Which country contributed the most to the defeat of Germany in 1945?](https://external-preview.redd.it/t66aNJ1SvqTPFfBIE70CDNOjpbqpcO1xtB7ewH1ZTVM.jpg?auto=webp&s=1b5869f96b20253b407cee7c2fe633030129b685)
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Season 1: Civil Rights are bad actually because leaders bad, and we won't address these issues after this season because non-benders got an Obama of their own and that's good enough.
Season 2: Colonialism and Religious Zealotry are bad. Abusive relationships are funny if it's happening to a guy tho, lol.
Season 3: Anarchism is just the Joker from the Dark Knight. Please do not look any further into this topic. Unfortunately, this also has the best action in the entire series.
Season 4: Fascism is bad, but it's like totally reasonable because these evil unga bunga bandits getting othered by Kuvira will never get any resolution or development. Also, the TRUE victims of Fascism are rich industrialists, artists, and "good" cops. Kuvira kind of has a point if you think about it, and according to Toph the Buddhist Middle Path is actually political centrism and capitalism.
You don't remember Bolin dating that North Water Tribe girl that treated him like her personal slave and controlled everything he did and then tried to murder him when he spent time with another woman? (This was all comedy relief)
Also, twins helped their theocratic dictator father neither destroy the entire world...but we'll leave them in charge of the Northern Water Tribe, their the good guys now, promise.
If I'm remembering correctly, the creators pretty much fucked off after Season 1, which was all they really wanted to do. But then Nickelodeon ordered more seasons.
Also, Dave Filoni was a major part of TLA Season 1 which established the setting. Then George Lucas poached him for The Clone Wars. Given TCW is full of leftist themes, it's likely that Dave Filoni was the major leftist influence of TLA that Korra was completely without.
Kind of ironic how the writers for ATLA criticized imperialism in the first series, then turned around and defended the very obviously fascist and imperialist Kuvira in LOK.
They probably mean the general attitude of "oh their goals were good it's just the methods were extreme".
The also let the capitalist who sold weapons to both sides off the hook entirely. Like not even slightly acknowledged, they embrace him right back in, it was really funny.
Did they actually say Kuvira’s intent was good? I recall Su at the end just pretty much being like “Yeah no just fuck you, though.”
I do agree on Asami’s dad though, but whatever he’s dead I guess
I think they're talking about the Water Tribe guy that started a civil war so he could sell weapons to both sides, but Asami and her father were both war profiteers as well.
Their leader lied to them and was using their rage at their oppression to fulfill his own, unrelated goals, therefore they were wrong and their ideaology will never be brought up again.
The entire rest of the series I was wondering where the Equalists went. Like, none of their issues were addressed and nonbenders are still an abused underclass. There has to be somebody out there still championing their message, right?
You'd think they'd come up again with Zaheir, but nope. Apparently, they wanted a societal upheaval, but not enough to join with the anarchist who actively killed the symbol of their oppression.
Also the part about the Harmony Restoration Movement was weird. It was about decolonizing Fire Nation colonies but then they changed their mind because Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom peoples "intermarried," and so a new nation was needed.
I think it was supposed to justify the US as a state continuing to exist on stolen land. But the implications are messed up. For one, it means other nations don't allow race mixing? That race equals nation?
Secondly, who tf is going to pretend that the Fire Nation, the US, Spain, Japan, or any imperializer peacefully just "intermarried" with local populations, especially when the conquests are still only decades in past memory? Much, much darker things definitely occurred to create a Fire Nation and mixed population on Earth Kingdom lands.
It's both. A "You've become the very thing you swore to destroy" allegory. The same reason why George Lucas combined America and Nazi Germany to make the Galactic Empire. (Or rather, those Nazi Germany influences represent all the Nazis America recruited.....)
They just invented all the direct cultural references in the architecture, geography, and culture of the fire nation, including the government structure. It is unquestionably an allusion to WW2 Japan.
I was endlessly frustrated by that. Korra is so dumb politics-wise despite being supposedly for an older audience than ATLA. They made a bunch of strawman and dropped all serious criticism of imperialism in favor of "oh their goals were good it's just the *methods* were extreme".
I had a weird dream. Thought it seemed appropriate here. That like, I was giving a speech about removal of rights in America recently and then at like x time the speech switched to anocment of a select bunch states rebellion against the United States for a communist government.
You're on a subreddit for people that advocate for radical change. We don't limit ourselves to thinking that the only possible future is one that looks exactly like the present. The world can change.
Legitimately, do you think the U.S. has the best interests of Ukraine in mind? Have you forgotten all of American imperial history or is that history too inconvenient for your savior complex.
Found the imperialist apologist.
Also, if your country didn't spent so much in army/war things you would have free healthcare and education. Or, maybe, your goverment could fund and help throught aid organizations, like the white helmets (from Argentina), sending doctors and rescatists/rescuers instead of bullets and CIA training for far right state troops (nazis like Azov).
Hard disagree. I'm a union worker yet have no healthcare or education benefits because I live in a Republican state that believes in right-to-work legislation.
This comment reeks of "fuck you, got mine"
That’s why western countries backed a coup against the Ukraine government in 2014? Cause they cared so much about the sovereignty of Ukraine. What a fucking joke, go beat your war drums elsewhere.
The same US that threatened to withhold Ukrainian military aid for dirt on the last president's political rivals? ...Didn't he get impeached for that corruption?
It's almost like both are bad.
Zuko then died tragically in a 'friendly fire' incident.
Suicide by 4 bullets in the back of the head
What I really cant understand about US is why it fvcks its own people. It is by far the richest country in the world. Fvcking others in understandble (I am not saying it is good); it is their problem. They have to revolt against theirs corrupt leaders. A country purpose should be enhance life quality of its citzens
Because the proletariat have more in common with proletariat of other nations than with the ruling class of their own.
Exactly and also because giving us better quality of life takes slightly from their extravagant, unnecessary amount of wealth. And they just cant have 1% of their fortune that even their childrens childrens childrens children could ever possibly spend be given to their worker cogs. That, and keeping us living pay check to pay check, being forced to work every moment just to stay alive while also constantly being stressed which also makes you wiped out, and having so little downtime that were just absolutely *exhausted* when were enjoying it keeps us subdued bc were too tired just trying to make it day to day. Im only 24 and Im fucking exhausted *constantly*. I dont even have the energy to go hang out with friends for the day, let alone go out and protest and fight like I used to.
Because late stage capitalism subsumes nationalism. Concepts like national sovereignty and loyalty conflict with class and property relations at a certain point, so they are discarded where they are not useful as a bulwark to protect capital or tool used to expand capital.
Nationalism is just a way to sugarcoat capitalism to the lower classes and trick them into a sense of solidarity with their rulers.
When it first arose it in the 18th century it was a legitimate organizing ideology.
There’s a difference between nationalism of the oppressed and nationalism of the bourgeoisie but yeah I should’ve specified I’m talking about western bourgeois nationalism.
It drives me nuts how many people get this backwards. Capitalism is why nationalism, authoritarianism, fascism, and hyper religious theocratic forces thrive here, not the other way around.
yeah but then the corporate overlords wouldn't get that extra billion dollars every year
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."' -LBG It seems to me that human societies (as a group) have a hard on for status/hierarchy/supremacy over others. Which probably means that most people find being equal to others unsatisfying. Or at least, less satisfying than having some status over others. It's maybe easier to imagine it like a game. There's one player winning over everyone with 100 points, and maybe the rest of the players have 10 points each. What would be more satisfying? Somehow getting the 100 point player down to 99 points? Or getting all the 10 point players down to 9 while keeping all 10 of your own points? Elevating one's status by reducing the status of others is something most people find enjoyable in one way or another. It's basically an easy way to "win" from the perspective of competition. You can see people vying over status and superiority over others in a thousand and one ways. I don't think it's something that's going away anytime soon.
So when do WE revolt against our corrupt leaders?
I'm free whenever my godess. Let's do it!
This weekend is good for me!
Can we do it before the end of the month? Rent's gonna be due and my finances don't look healthy 🥲
thr comes from a misunderstanding of history and the role of states. states have never been about helping ppl. since the beginning they were about securing resources and power for the elite.
Because why profit a little when you can profit a lot
That's the point though. The ruling class is fulfilling the logic they grew up in. If you spend your entire life never fearing homelessness, food scarcity, debt, etc. and your social circle is the exact same, how can they relate to us? It'd be more surprising if Bezos or Musk became raging socialists. Plus when they're several degrees removed by funded political puppets, legions of cop class traitors, and more they only understand the situation when the proletariat demands it. What's crazy is none of this was planned by a round table of capitalists. It just morphed its way into existence after stumbling for centuries.
The admins are very easily startled, so don't use language that could be interpreted as inciting violence. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DankLeft) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> What I really cant understand about US is why it fvcks its own people. It is by far the richest country in the world. The lives of [average Britons under Queen Victoria wasn't that great, either.](https://www.shmoop.com/christmas-carol/stave-1-full-text-5.html) A ruler who is too popular amongst their people is a threat to the key supporters. If you can get people to do what you say without using the traditional power structure their jobs are threatened. So it makes sense to give them just enough not to starve while rewarding your lackeys. That way the small acts of violence you commit against them - speed cameras, for example - hurt enough to keep them in line.
“But we killed the Nazis!!1!”
And then hired them for our space programs!
It is apparently quite easy to rewrite history with propaganda: [Poll in France: Which country contributed the most to the defeat of Germany in 1945?](https://external-preview.redd.it/t66aNJ1SvqTPFfBIE70CDNOjpbqpcO1xtB7ewH1ZTVM.jpg?auto=webp&s=1b5869f96b20253b407cee7c2fe633030129b685)
**Do not participate in linked threads** Commenting or voting in linked subs is against reddit site-wide rules and users who violate this rule will be banned. **** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DankLeft) if you have any questions or concerns.*
the US just didn’t want the extra competition in imperial conquest
You should totally cross post this to r/leftistatla! They’re a smaller sub and could use the cross post hahah
Meanwhile Korra writers are like: “anarchists bad tho”
Season 1: Civil Rights are bad actually because leaders bad, and we won't address these issues after this season because non-benders got an Obama of their own and that's good enough. Season 2: Colonialism and Religious Zealotry are bad. Abusive relationships are funny if it's happening to a guy tho, lol. Season 3: Anarchism is just the Joker from the Dark Knight. Please do not look any further into this topic. Unfortunately, this also has the best action in the entire series. Season 4: Fascism is bad, but it's like totally reasonable because these evil unga bunga bandits getting othered by Kuvira will never get any resolution or development. Also, the TRUE victims of Fascism are rich industrialists, artists, and "good" cops. Kuvira kind of has a point if you think about it, and according to Toph the Buddhist Middle Path is actually political centrism and capitalism.
Abusive relationship? I don’t remember that from LoK
You don't remember Bolin dating that North Water Tribe girl that treated him like her personal slave and controlled everything he did and then tried to murder him when he spent time with another woman? (This was all comedy relief) Also, twins helped their theocratic dictator father neither destroy the entire world...but we'll leave them in charge of the Northern Water Tribe, their the good guys now, promise.
https://hard-drive.net/avatar-creators-not-sure-how-many-more-critically-acclaimed-series-it-will-take-for-americans-to-realize-theyre-the-fire-nation/
this is spot on
I'll never get how the last airbender understood colonialism sooo well but the same creators somehow made Korra, a far dumber show politically.
If I'm remembering correctly, the creators pretty much fucked off after Season 1, which was all they really wanted to do. But then Nickelodeon ordered more seasons. Also, Dave Filoni was a major part of TLA Season 1 which established the setting. Then George Lucas poached him for The Clone Wars. Given TCW is full of leftist themes, it's likely that Dave Filoni was the major leftist influence of TLA that Korra was completely without.
Kind of ironic how the writers for ATLA criticized imperialism in the first series, then turned around and defended the very obviously fascist and imperialist Kuvira in LOK.
Kuvira the villain…?
They probably mean the general attitude of "oh their goals were good it's just the methods were extreme". The also let the capitalist who sold weapons to both sides off the hook entirely. Like not even slightly acknowledged, they embrace him right back in, it was really funny.
Did they actually say Kuvira’s intent was good? I recall Su at the end just pretty much being like “Yeah no just fuck you, though.” I do agree on Asami’s dad though, but whatever he’s dead I guess
I think they're talking about the Water Tribe guy that started a civil war so he could sell weapons to both sides, but Asami and her father were both war profiteers as well.
Kuvira was given loads more sympathy and understanding where she was coming from then the equalists.
Yeah that’s fair; the way the equalists were handled was extremely unbased
Their leader lied to them and was using their rage at their oppression to fulfill his own, unrelated goals, therefore they were wrong and their ideaology will never be brought up again.
The entire rest of the series I was wondering where the Equalists went. Like, none of their issues were addressed and nonbenders are still an abused underclass. There has to be somebody out there still championing their message, right?
You'd think they'd come up again with Zaheir, but nope. Apparently, they wanted a societal upheaval, but not enough to join with the anarchist who actively killed the symbol of their oppression.
Also the part about the Harmony Restoration Movement was weird. It was about decolonizing Fire Nation colonies but then they changed their mind because Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom peoples "intermarried," and so a new nation was needed. I think it was supposed to justify the US as a state continuing to exist on stolen land. But the implications are messed up. For one, it means other nations don't allow race mixing? That race equals nation? Secondly, who tf is going to pretend that the Fire Nation, the US, Spain, Japan, or any imperializer peacefully just "intermarried" with local populations, especially when the conquests are still only decades in past memory? Much, much darker things definitely occurred to create a Fire Nation and mixed population on Earth Kingdom lands.
This is literally the point? Of the show? Like the Fire Nation was always a thinly veiled US allegory
Seemed more like an allegory for Imperial Japan
Empires gonna empire
It's both. A "You've become the very thing you swore to destroy" allegory. The same reason why George Lucas combined America and Nazi Germany to make the Galactic Empire. (Or rather, those Nazi Germany influences represent all the Nazis America recruited.....)
The Japanese didn't invent Imperialism. They didn't attempt to invade Korea until after they'd met the Dutch a good 40+ years earlier.
They just invented all the direct cultural references in the architecture, geography, and culture of the fire nation, including the government structure. It is unquestionably an allusion to WW2 Japan.
Indigenous people: "Are we a joke to you?"
Where did I say they invented imperialism? Lol
How so? After Korra, the creators don't seem like they would be that critical of the US
I was endlessly frustrated by that. Korra is so dumb politics-wise despite being supposedly for an older audience than ATLA. They made a bunch of strawman and dropped all serious criticism of imperialism in favor of "oh their goals were good it's just the *methods* were extreme".
It was a thinly vieled imperial Japan, actually. It was a "coincidence" that it also fit the US.
I always thought it was an analogy for imperial japan with the Earth kingdom being china, i think the Creators confirmed it as some point as well.
I had a weird dream. Thought it seemed appropriate here. That like, I was giving a speech about removal of rights in America recently and then at like x time the speech switched to anocment of a select bunch states rebellion against the United States for a communist government.
Thank you to Avatar for planting the seeds of my radicalization
4 real
Ah, the crossover I didn’t know I needed. ATLA and hating my country.
“But we killed the Nazis!!1!”
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just because there are no good countries doesn't mean its bad to hold countries to account.
Of course not but this isn't what the meme implied
You're on a subreddit for people that advocate for radical change. We don't limit ourselves to thinking that the only possible future is one that looks exactly like the present. The world can change.
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Speak for yourself, Im complaining about how much we spend on military!
Legitimately, do you think the U.S. has the best interests of Ukraine in mind? Have you forgotten all of American imperial history or is that history too inconvenient for your savior complex.
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Found the imperialist apologist. Also, if your country didn't spent so much in army/war things you would have free healthcare and education. Or, maybe, your goverment could fund and help throught aid organizations, like the white helmets (from Argentina), sending doctors and rescatists/rescuers instead of bullets and CIA training for far right state troops (nazis like Azov).
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Hard disagree. I'm a union worker yet have no healthcare or education benefits because I live in a Republican state that believes in right-to-work legislation. This comment reeks of "fuck you, got mine"
That’s why western countries backed a coup against the Ukraine government in 2014? Cause they cared so much about the sovereignty of Ukraine. What a fucking joke, go beat your war drums elsewhere.
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Well no one would ask for our help if we didn't spend trillions on the military and voulentarily designate ourselves as the world police
I agree wholeheartedly
iwassayingthat.jpg
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Well yeah but the US is currently giving aid the Saudi Government which is doing genocide in Yemen, so yeah maybe criticise the US. Edit: Ratio
The same US that threatened to withhold Ukrainian military aid for dirt on the last president's political rivals? ...Didn't he get impeached for that corruption? It's almost like both are bad.
Hey its me
And the fire lord is Woodrow Wilson, lol.
men I hate how the red lotus was portrayed in LOK lowkey routed for them,