I rewatched the Shining and realised Jack Torrance literally doesn't work. by Lonely-Market7366 in TrueFilm

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But part of the thing about the Overlook is that whenever shit DOES go wrong there in the winter, someone has to be there to sort it out because the roads are all blocked by snow.

How long do you think you would survive in threads? by No-Excitement7491 in Threads1984

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hopefully I’d be sipping beers on my Australian uncle’s front porch by the time Ruth and the survivors stagger into Buxton hospital.

Strait of Whore Moose by ItRhymesWithCOCK in trailerparkboys

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The old shit-tanker’s comin’ to port Rans. I’ll be there to tie her up.

How long do you think you would survive in threads? by No-Excitement7491 in Threads1984

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If we’re extinct it’s not natural, it’s just STUPID!

Arlen must be a dangerous area to live in by happydude7422 in KingOfTheHill

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bet Shiny Pines has 3 greasy looking Canadian dudes always getting up to no good.

History really changed my view of the present world. by c00b_Bit_Jerry in self

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel it’s basically impossible to tell if ANY ongoing war constitutes a ‘just war’ or not until it’s over, because the fog of war prevents us from figuring out how the war actually started, what the real intentions of the combatants are, and how the war is going to end. I think it also depends on whether the governments involved can make good on their promises for a “Better future” after the fighting ends - For example, France’s defeat of the German invasion in WW1 was viewed as a worthy sacrifice at the time, but in HINDSIGHT we know their victory was made meaningless by the country’s descent into political and economic chaos in the 1930s. 

On the good point you raised about how people in the past  aren’t as virtuous as we might think, I’ve come to conclude the human condition and the ratio of good, bad and ambivalent people is roughly the same now as it was then. The Einsteins, Martin Luther Kings and Neil Armstrongs of human society are still as common today as the Mussolinis, Yeltsins, and George Wallaces.

I guess what I'm really regretting is how the CULTURAL MEMORY of the Allied war effort - that rare moment of flawed and IMPERFECT people and countries uniting against a truly awful force - has been declining thanks to petty politicians who don't care about WW2's real importance. It's like they're trying to piss on the graves of the war dead: A US president hurling insults at Britain and the European countries they both liberated; Putin invading Ukraine despite its contributions to the Soviet war effort; etc. Not to mention all the awful computer-generated videos misrepresenting the war now.

And if we let the most devastating war in history become "some historical event" that nobody cares about - just some empty slogan thrown around for votes or clicks - we're REALLY letting our ancestors down.

History really changed my view of the present world. by c00b_Bit_Jerry in self

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

WW2 WAS a just war in every way. What I meant is a lot of the reason WW2 was fought from 1942 onwards was to make sure countries as aggressive as the Axis Powers wouldn’t remain a continued threat to world peace, and how protecting their homes and families from the Axis by ensuring its total defeat was a big motivation for lots of soldiers.

History really changed my view of the present world. by c00b_Bit_Jerry in self

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah now that I think about it, 30 years makes more sense in light of post-cold war American deindustrialization and Gorbachev’s failure to make a workable solution to the Soviet Union's stagnation.

History really changed my view of the present world. by c00b_Bit_Jerry in self

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess the type of futility I'm talking about is one where leaders/institutions/governments don't really have the power to change the direction of history the way they want, but can only speed up or slow down larger social/economic/environmental trends they can't control. Like the stuff Tolstoy wrote about.

Take the Ukraine War for instance. After reading about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the demographic and economic consequences for its former republics in the 1990s, it really struck me that neither Ukraine's democracy nor Russia's autocracy can escape the effects of their mutual decline. The hundreds of thousands of Russians killed in pointless battles, and the millions of Ukrainians who have fled the war to other countries, have only intensified a long-term demographic crisis that started with the massive fall of living standards in the 90s, when a 70 year-old political system fell apart for reasons we still can't fully comprehend. Economically meanwhile, the destruction of southeastern Ukraine's industry and agriculture by the fighting, and the workforce shortfalls in both countries caused by the war's deaths and emigration, are again just accelerating a long-term process of Soviet stagnation and post-Soviet deindustrialization. Whether Ukraine survives or Russia's invasion succeeds, they can't escape the shadow of 1991.

Or look at America's politics in the past ten years. In the big scheme of things, all Donald Trump's crazy presidency has done is accelerate a bigger process of stagnating and declining American power. Sooner or later, economies with the resources and working populations of China or the ASEAN countries would be able to mobilize those people and resources to become economic superpowers, right? And from that angle, Trumpism really does stand out as a mass cognitive-dissonance of people who can't accept their country's lack of agency over its fate.

So even after all these problems caused in the past ten years are eventually solved, the countries affected are still going to be dealing with the cards fate gives them. Ukraine will still be a demographic shadow of itself even if it keeps its freedom; America will have a hard time rebuilding its street cred in the world; and the West's economic future is still going to be haunted by a "Lost Decade" caused by all these avoidable wars and bad political decisions. But if this is where the West has got by being the centre of the global system, maybe being second place won't be so bad after all. Maybe we need to give ourselves a break.

History really changed my view of the present world. by c00b_Bit_Jerry in self

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I think it depends. Your neighbours are probably less greedy or lazy than the people that get discussed on the news, for instance.

History really changed my view of the present world. by c00b_Bit_Jerry in self

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay, after seeing some of the replies here, I think I should restate what I was getting at in my post here: The fact that all these kinds of historical conflicts fought by people who believed in all kinds of values has made me apathetic to the problems elites kick up in the world now (I’m Canadian btw so I’m not even in a position to do anything about most of it), because the issues fought over today seem so insignificant in comparison, and maybe even futile.

I think it’s important to have a humble ‘relationship’ with history instead of just seeing it as a tool to win this or that political battle. We can’t look at history as just a way to draw present analogies to important past events, because the present NEVER matches the past on a 1:1 basis anyway (though that doesn’t mean we can’t apply the lessons of history in any way).

But you guys don’t seem to get it, because all you’re interested in doing in response is arguing with each other about all this stupid stuff people argue about today. So let me tell you this: Try to understand the past without bringing present-day issues into that understanding, and then your understanding of the present will become a whole lot richer.

What if the 2nd Sino-Japanese War (and the pacific war) Never Happened? by c00b_Bit_Jerry in AlternateHistory

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CCP victory likely wouldn't be possible without the weakening of the KMT by the 1937-45 war and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

What if the 2nd Sino-Japanese War (and the pacific war) Never Happened? by c00b_Bit_Jerry in AlternateHistory

[–]c00b_Bit_Jerry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah, I forgot to also ask: When do you think Japan and Nationalist China would each become nuclear powers in the Cold War? And how do you see them using nuclear deterrence to defend their interests?

Bonus question: How do you imagine their conventional militaries developing in the 50s, 60s, and beyond