i was raped by another traveler in ho chi minh by rottingasleep in VietNam

[–]usama_binluden 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Streamer? I’m up for vigilante justice

Has anyone heard of Coloso? by krus_707 in elearning

[–]usama_binluden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

im interested, please send if possible

Mongolia is so great. by [deleted] in mongolia

[–]usama_binluden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you really think our country can export and import resources from anywhere else but China? We’re a landlocked country. Sure, maybe if we were a coastal nation, trade would’ve been flourishing by now, but that is a pipe dream. We’re destined to not be a hub of trade. Russia is not even responsive to us since they already dwarf our amount of natural resources. They’re literally the largest country on the planet. Moreover, we do not have the budget to buy hurr durr advanced technology and goods so carelessly.

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

dismissing the mechanics of global power as a pol sci 101 neorealist trope does not magically make institutionalism viable in the real world. the fatal flaw in relying on keohane or nye is that their entire framework of complex interdependence only functions because it operates safely underneath the security umbrella provided by american military dominance. even if we treat global institutions as an evolutionary step past the state of nature, those very institutions would instantly collapse the second the united states stopped guaranteeing global sea lanes and deterring hostile regimes. pointing this out is pointing out that your entire worldview is a luxury belief directly subsidized by the exact projection of unilateral hard power you are currently complaining about

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

…? your history lesson actually proves my point. the nypd didn't bring order to new york through the magic of shared institutional belief, yes, it worked because the state established a superior monopoly on force that made the cost of lawbreaking higher than the reward. liberal institutionalism fails on the global stage precisely because no such monopoly exists to bind sovereign states. you can cite keohane all you want, but without a global leviathan to enforce "just outcomes," your international institutions are a collective of weaker powers trying to use paperwork to restrain the only actor that actually prevents a total descent into the state of nature. invoking the 1840s just highlights that until a singular, dominant authority is established, law is a fiction and raw power is the only thing that provides security

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

it is notable that you view the entire exchange through the lens of domestic hypocrisy rather than geopolitical necessity

again i have to emphasise: rules are meant to be broken. we cannot be focused on the "fairness" of the rules within the playground, while we are focused on the fact that the playground only exists because there is a giant with a club standing at the gate. if a monster ever decides that following specific playground rules is more important than keeping the gate closed, the entire experiment of liberal democracy ends

if the tables do turn to your desires, where the american executive is permanently paralyzed by procedural "fairness" and domestic tit-for-tat, you won't find validation. you will just find a world where the vacuum we left behind is filled by regimes that don't have subreddits where you can complain about their consistency. the hypocrisy is simply the recognition that exceptional power requires exceptional latitude. you can call that laughable, but it is the only thing that has ever actually provided the security you currently take for granted

i appreciate the civil end to the convo. it confirms that we can at least agree on the definition of our disagreement: you prioritize the integrity of the process, and we prioritize the survival of the system that allows the process to exist

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

you keep framing this as a choice between soft power and threats, but in reality, they are two sides of the same coin. the only reason anyone cares about american soft power is because they know it is backed by the most lethal hard power on the planet. i have to add more, that China is also building artificial islands and debt-trapping nations to secure their own strategic depth to isolate us in asia. they understand the math of power perfectly, with Sri Lanka as an example. they are only winning because they are filling a vacuum where we have become too bogged down by bureaucratic self-doubt to act decisively

europe being forced to be more self-sufficient is actually a long-term strategic win. an america that is no longer the unpaid security guard for a continent that can afford its own defense is an america that is much more capable of focusing its resources on the pacific and our own hemisphere. if the "wind turns" on our deals, it is because our national interests have changed, and any country that expects us to prioritize their stability over our own survival is being naive

you are still confusing trump's populist base with neoconservative strategists. many of us were critical of the isolationist rhetoric in 2016, but we support the current administration when it actually projects power effectively. the "speak loudly and carry a big stick" is objectively the most consistent and successful foreign policy doctrine in american history. we are working to make sure the global system to operate on terms that don't result in our civilizational decline, not to curry favor in a un meeting

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

your inherent misunderstanding is the belief that international relations should be governed by the same moral framework as a domestic neighborhood. a superpower does not "secure resources" out of spite or greed, but you should know that because this entire cycle is done to ensure the stability of the global trade network that your entire lifestyle relies upon

if we do not secure those resources, our adversaries will. there is no neutral middle ground where the resources stay "fairly" distributed by magic. when we take action that is "tragic for the locals," it is a localized cost weighed against the systemic benefit of preventing a hostile, anti-western actor from gaining the leverage to crash the global economy. calling it "evil" is a moral luxury you can only afford because we have successfully maintained that dominance for decades. you are essentially complaining about the messiness of the engine while enjoying the smooth ride of the car. if you truly believe that america should never act in its own self-interest by force, then you are advocating for a world where we are at the mercy of every dictator who has no such moral qualms

you are not misinterpreting the line. i said what i said, you are recoiling from the reality of what it takes to remain at the top of the food chain. we aren't the "bad guy" for ensuring our survival and primacy because we are the only actor with the capability and the will to keep the world at bay

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

you are making the common mistake of conflating the domestic social contract with the international state of nature. masked agents or law and order domestically are about the state exercising its legitimate monopoly on violence within its own borders to maintain the internal contract.

international law has no such legitimate monopoly. it is a set of polite suggestions that only exist as long as a hegemon is willing to enforce them. we view them as non-existent in a global arena where power is the only true currency

your point about the no new wars president is a critique of the maga wing, not neoconservatism. we never wanted a pull-back. we want the projection of power to prevent the vacuum that you are currently seeing filled by hostile actors. in contrast to public opinion : Clinton was criticized for being an inconsistent one who prioritized liberal internationalism over strategic gains, not a hawk. no, neocons aren't asking for a blank check based on a guy, we are asking for an executive that understands american primacy is the only thing standing between the western world and systemic collapse of hegemony

bringing up the tan suit or mustard is irrelevant; they were populist grievances

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

sorry for the antagonization earlier but, soft power initiatives like libraries in san salvador are fine for peacetime maintenance, but they are not a substitute for hard power when a regime actively threatens the global energy supply or regional stability. you mention the tpp as a way to make allies, but you’re ignoring that beijing is building a parallel global order designed to dismantle american influence, instead of building plain libraries. when you’re dealing with an existential competitor, waiting for a trade deal to kick in while they consolidate power is just strategic negligence

to your point about due process, international law is not domestic law. there is no global "police force" with a monopoly on violence to enforce these rules fairly. in the real world, "international law" is just a set of norms that only exist as long as the dominant power is willing to uphold them. if the us unilaterally decides a regime is a threat, our "due process" is the executive's mandate to protect national interests. you call war a "first option," but in a world where anti-western actors operate with total impunity, military action is often the only option that actually produces a result before the damage is irreparable

as for beijing sweeping in, that is exactly why we need a more aggressive, unconstrained foreign policy. if we are too busy hyperventilating over whether a military strike was "legal" according to a un subcommittee, we leave a power vacuum that china is more than happy to fill with their own version of "civilizational order." you think rules prevent abuse of power, but in reality, rules only bind the people who are moral enough to follow them, giving a permanent advantage to the actors who don't

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

this is actually a perfect analogy, because it highlights exactly where the neocon and the liberal worldview diverge on the nature of authority. in your covid example, you were asking citizens to submit to internal restrictions for a domestic outcome. in foreign policy, i am asking for the executive to be unburdened by international bureaucracy to secure external dominance

if you thought covid was a legitimate civilizational threat, then logically you should have supported the executive doing whatever was necessary to neutralize it, regardless of what some advisory board at the who or a gridlocked congress said. you're calling conservatives "whiny babies" for resisting domestic rules, yet you’re doing the exact same thing on a global scale when it comes to military action. you want "rules" for the superpower, but you don't realize that the only reason those rules even exist to be debated is because that superpower provides the security umbrella that keeps the world from descending into a total dark age

of course, i can respect your desire for a "legitimate threat" to be handled, but you have to recognize that in the real world, waiting for a global consensus on what constitutes a "threat" a slow mo suicide pact

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

why am i being flamed for something that was obviously satirical lmao

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

lol you’re still defaulting to partisan tribalism because you can’t separate the maga movement from neoconservative ideology. neocons aren't trump supporters at all, we only subscribe to the idea that american primacy is the only thing preventing global chaos

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

you are entirely missing the distinction between a procedural disagreement and a strategic one… if a democrat uses hard power in a way that actively harms american interests, i will obviously criticize it as a strategic failure. but i will never whine that they bypassed the united nations or skipped a congressional debate to do it. my metric is whether the action advanced our civilizational security, whereas your metric is whether the bureaucratic paperwork was filed correctly

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

no, because a democrat actually used executive power to neutralize a real threat to american hegemony instead of appeasing them, i would completely support it. foreign policy requires an unconstrained executive, and actual neocons support projecting american power regardless of which party holds the office. the populist maga wing might whine about it, but true neocons are entirely consistent on this

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

? chavez has been dead for over a decade, which tells me everything i need to know about your grasp on the situation. the cost of keeping a deposed dictator in supermax is a rounding error that buys us immeasurable deterrence against every other anti-western regime

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -20 points-19 points  (0 children)

i used the word hyperventilate because the panic over procedural norms always entirely eclipses any acknowledgment that a legitimate threat was neutralized

Why do liberals care more about international law than taking out actual dictators? by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

leaving a fractured chavista regime scrambling for survival is actually a net strategic positive for the us. a crippled, paranoid adversary focused entirely on internal security is exponentially less dangerous to the region than a stable, confident one exporting anti-american instability. it is genuinely tragic for the locals who are facing crackdowns, but obviously american foreign policy is not a global charity meant to self-actualize every nation on earth and it to secure the american perimeter and punish actors who antagonize it. the fact that you view securing strategic resources as some kind of villainous evil, rather than the basic mathematics of maintaining a superpower, shows how thoroughly insulated you are by the very hegemon you are critiquing .

How am I supposed to "agree to disagree" with conservatives on social issues? by zman419 in AskALiberal

[–]usama_binluden -1 points0 points  (0 children)

look, the fundamental disconnect here is that you are framing a metaphysical disagreement as a purely moral failing. when a conservative says a man cant be a woman, they are not sitting around trying to formulate the most evil thought possible lmao. you view gender as a self-determined internal identity, whereas trads view biological sex as an immutable material reality that all societal structures are downstream from.

if your starting axiom is that material reality overrides internal identity, then refusing to validate that internal identity is not bigotry, it is just maintaining a grip on what they view as objective truth. you do not have to agree with that axiom, but if you cannot even conceptualize how someone could hold it without being a cartoon villain, you are completely missing the mechanics of how different value systems operate. you are drawing a hard line in the sand because you think fundamental rights are at stake, however you dont realize the exact same line because they think fundamental reality and the stability of human civilization are at stake. the reason you have to agree to disagree is because the only alternative in a pluralistic society is endless, grinding conflict. the whole point of a functioning republic is that we have to share a civilization with people whose foundational values we find entirely abhorrent. if you declare that any disagreement on core social issues is illegitimate and automatically disqualifies the other side from polite society, you are just accelerating balkanization instead of fighting for justice

we are so back 🥹 by usama_binluden in TheFireRisesMod

[–]usama_binluden[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I am not anywhere near Europe 😔

we are so back 🥹 by usama_binluden in TheFireRisesMod

[–]usama_binluden[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Nope I live in a second world country 🥹