Originally Posted by
Minde
Some thoughts, in no particular order:
Everybody pull up your armchair to the fire; we’re going to trot out our epidemiology expertise. I mean, Middle East expertise.
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"What is even reality?!" to quote Birdie again. So much misinformation, from exaggerations to outright lies. Pres Biden said he saw pictures of beheaded babies, then shortly afterward the White House retracted it. But his words are published widely and the correction gets little-to-no attention. Then, of course, we have tons of outright "fake news" with falsely labeled videos, fabricated reports, etc. Furthermore, I can’t help but wonder what amount of AI-adjusted or -created content is circulating.
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This attack by Hamas is confusing to me. There are a number of why’s getting put forward, all of them with varying levels of plausibility (and I can see for certain groups they would all be genuine) but to me it comes across as… well, flashy. Like poking a bear.
There was obviously (to me) a LOT of thought and prep that went into this. To what end? From just a numbers perspective: ok, 1-1.5k Israelis (+ some indiscriminate other nationalities) killed. A very high percentage of the targets are civilians. On a practical level, that’s not going to destroy or even really hinder Israeli operations. However, this is HUGELY emotionally provocative.
It feels like a chess move. At the same time, I’m not inclined to think that global schemers are all that competent. I think people try to control global events and perhaps like to imagine themselves as doing so (looking at you, Putin, Trump, et. al). And sometimes they succeed, often enough that people think it’s possible. But to me this does feel like that sort of attempt to machinate some regional, if not global, shifts. Who all is involved in the (potential) string pulling / bear poking? What are they hoping will happen? How much are they leaving it to chance / a domino row falling, and how much are they planning/hoping to affect later? Things don’t always (usually?) go as planned, especially the more variables are involved.
Israel has been provoked. Now what? Why was that important to do?
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They say, "Sex sells." Well, more like, "Emotions sell." I see grifters of all sorts everywhere.
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Humans have been depraved since before we can remember. The fact that we can even decry it is good and a bit of an advancement imo. Have you heard of Vlad the Impaler? I wish I hadn’t.
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People, as groups or individuals, are not monolithically good or evil. People do kind things and cruel things. We can choose to push in the direction of kindness or in the direction of destruction. And, sometimes, it can be hard to tell the difference. Sometimes things can get so mixed up and jumbled that to put your hand anywhere is to put it on both. What I've started to learn, though, is that "impossible" usually means "too much effort." Which, if you're tired and/or your resources are limited, is reasonable. It doesn't mean it's actually the right way, but it has its own logic.
Doing the right/healthy/kind/non-destructive thing almost always requires more effort than we think it should. But the payoffs are (eventually) worth it, if not for the person doing the right thing but for the world as a whole.
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Killing kids = you're doing something wrong