what will the world’s democracies do with this newfound unity?
Probably make each others’ disgustingly wealthy people even more disgustingly wealthy. Business as usual in our neoliberal era.
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I don’t doubt that there is not going to be any meaningful change there, but I really hope this at least manages to take some wind from the sails of Putin-admirers and related bigots like the TERFs.
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They’ll get as much support from NATO and member countries as Ukraine has. Sucks to not be in the club.
I really hope Finland never joins Nato. We are already too tangled to American war crimes. Of course we are getting a massive pro-nato propaganda push in Finland.
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Not surprising, but expedited membership might not be a bad idea, in the near term. I don’t know how hard it is to leave later but I don’t think it’s impossible.
Whether ‘expedited’ membership could be accomplished before Putin takes a shine to your lands or not, I’m not sure. But the invasion of Ukraine is a shining example of what it means to not be in the club.
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If nato’s war criminals (Clinton, Blair, Bush, Erdoğan, Obama, Trump etc.) were in Hague serving prison sentences then maybe but they aren’t so strong no to nato.
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No angels in NATO, granted. But it exists, primarily, to counter Russia. Well, the old USSR but, ya know…
In normal times, I’d agree; stay away. But these are not normal times, and you folks have a powerful, belligerent neighbour. If you need help you gotta be in the club.
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No. Letting Poland and Hungary be in the EU horrible enough. As is this shit:
I have extremist view on war crimes and crimes against humanity as in zero tolerance.
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Depressing that that is considered “extremist”…
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Sadly, you don’t have to worry about war crimes trials unless you are on the losing side. It is interesting how incredibly quickly the world situation has changed. Had Trump succeeded it dismantling NATO as he was certainly attempting to do, this whole situation would be playing out very differently. As far as being on the side of angels, if you are dealing with human beings as we are currently constituted, that is just not an option. Usually, it’s a question of less shitty, and currently, NATO is pretty clearly less shitty.
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Seems to me.
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As it was he did an enormous amount of damage. It says something about the extreme level of aggression on the part of his idol (and indirect patron) that the member states got past his sabotage and rallied to help Ukraine so quickly, decisively and carefully.
As soon as any institution grows to an outsized scale, self-preservation becomes a key (and often unspoken) priority. It still has the potential to do good, but anyone who challenges its existence or it’s stakeholders is going to be crushed by it. In the case of NATO, I’m glad Putin is being steamrolled by it.
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I don’t know, wealth doesn’t seem to be a requirement to be an asshole, nor does power. Just that the wealthy and powerful can be more effective and far reaching in their assholery. I didn’t used to be this cynical, but i have come to the conclusion that for Homo sapiens, “asshole” is the default setting, and we only avoid it by consious effort. For most, the effort is not that much, but damn if there aren’t a hell of a lot who can’t even manage that.
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While I agree that they’re not requirements, I have seen too many cases where extreme wealth or power or celebrity turn otherwise normal people into arseholes.
I can’t agree with the “default setting”, though. I’ve seen enough genuine and often spontaneous altruism and kindness from people that I can’t buy into the neoliberal contention (which I definitely know is not where you’re coming from) that everyone is a selfish jerk always looking to get one up on everyone else.
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Have you lived amidst other cultures much? (Not just visited.)
I think what you’re saying is more true of people in the hyper-individualized US than in some other places, where people look out for each other and think and act in more collective terms.
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Ah, but does wealth and fame turn them into assholes, or were they already assholes, but once famous, could no longer fly under the radar? Keanu Reeves, Dave Grohl and Tom Hanks seem like they have retained their humanity in the face of wealth and fame. I’m just not willing to buyninto “They’re only assholes because they are powerful and rich.”
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