Gun Policy

Ah… you must have went to California. :)

What you describe doesn't represent the vast majority of the US.

I did! Drove around the west a bit. Hit up the theme parks, national parks, aquariums, zoos. All touristy stuff.

Hey, did you watch that "stand-up comedy" I linked? :)
 
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War is definitely always worse. Sure, that's all that's holding USA up from collapse. It's good in that way. I loved USA when I was there. Other than all the bread being sweet as cake and the water tastes like its from a pool and the cities are so dirty and in an aura of smog. Everyone was super friendly and helpful. Great people. It's a huge shame that USA foreign policy blinds most of the world to how nice the normal people are.

But, yeah, war is always worse. Nuclear war will destroy the world. I saw some video about how just a few nukes will raise the global temperature 2 degrees and that's enough for all the crops to die from climate change.

It's back to the Threads thing I was saying before. Any attack on Iran could end the world. USA bombs Iran, Iran launches LRMS at Israel, Israel fires nukes at every Iran city. Worlds over. Then you gotta be ultra rich to get a place in one of those underground cities they already have made.

People are essentially the same everywhere. We're all driven by the same needs.

The cultural impact is not irrelevant, of course - but it's never as simple as "Americans are always such and such".

There's no country on Earth where the people are "great" - that's for sure.

You're not really thinking this through.

Wars can happen to prevent other wars - and they can happen to prevent maniacs from taking over the world.

What you're saying is the same as saying no one should have declared war on Hitler back in 39 or 41.

Now, if you're saying peace is always the right alternative, then I would agree - but the point is that sometimes people aren't smart and we have to do something about it.

Good? No. Destructive? Yes. Necessary? Sometimes.
 
I did! Drove around the west a bit. Hit up the theme parks, national parks, aquariums, zoos. All touristy stuff.

Hey, did you watch that "stand-up comedy" I linked? :)

Heh heh... I figured. There are only a small handful of cities in the US that still suffer from smog, and that's mostly because they're located in valleys surrounded by mountains that trap the pollutants.

I'll try to check that clip out when I have more time. I noticed it's 20 minutes long.
 
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I'm not really sure what all of that has to do with you not thinking things through when you said wars are always worse.

I give you two specific examples. Are you saying France and the UK shouldn't have declared war on Hitler - and are you saying the US shouldn't have done the same thing with Japan/Axis in response to Pearl Harbor?
 
I suspect you aren't being serious but in the US there is a huge difference between the folks in rural south and cities of west and north east. I guess that is kind of obvious but having lived in several cities in the north east/west coast and growing up in the south it always shock me how attitudes and education changes across the country. As a tiny hint I took a summer job one year in the south east and one of the full time employee said something along the lines (paraphrase as it was 30 years ago) "Its a good thing you applied we were afraid we were going to have to hire a nigger". I was actually a bit shocked because the city i grew up really didn't have much racism but this was a bit further south east then where i lived and the open hostilities across racial lines was rather blatant.

People are essentially the same everywhere. We're all driven by the same needs.
 
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@SirJames;

So, you think they should have left Hitler do his thing? Ok, cool.

A very interesting point of view. Thanks for answering.
 
I suspect you aren't being serious but in the US there is a huge difference between the folks in rural south and cities of west and north east. I guess that is kind of obvious but having lived in several cities in the north east/west coast and growing up in the south it always shock me how attitudes and education changes across the country. As a tiny hint I took a summer job one year in the south east and one of the full time employee said something along the lines (paraphrase as it was 30 years ago) "Its a good thing you applied we were afraid we were going to have to hire a nigger". I was actually a bit shocked because the city i grew up really didn't have much racism but this was a bit further south east then where i lived and the open hostilities across racial lines was rather blatant.

I was talking about needs and what drives us at the core.

Meaning, if you take two infants from completely different places in the world - and subject them to 100% identical circumstances from early childhood to adulthood - you will find two very, very similar human beings.

Hint before someone says something: Twins do NOT experience anywhere near identical circumstances. From the moment your senses come into play - as a human being - every human being will experience the world in their own unique way, because every input matters.

If you step out the door for the first time in your life, then the weather, the people you meet, the smells you smell - and so on - all play a part in your response to what's happening.

One child might step out the door and experience a warm summer day - full of friendly adults. Another child might step out the door the next day, and experience dark, rainy weather and be bullied by the local dumb brute. When you're a child, you have only your first experiences from which to form your worldview - and it doesn't take a lot of bad experiences for them to get stuck as part of your core personality. That's how human beings work - and that's why the first 3-6 years of our lives are the most important when it comes to the very core of our being.

They might live in the same place, have the same parents, eat the same food, and so on - but that's only a tiny part of what makes up the human experience.

Of course, genetics play a part - and if there's some kind of physical or mental defect that's present at the time of birth, then circumstances can never be identical.

The ultimate point is that Americans aren't this one thing - because the country is vast, and they've all got their own unique perception and sense of the world. Of course, they will be affected by the american culture and american values - but that doesn't mean they all interpret them in the same way - or respond positively to everything they're told.
 
Yeah, I'm sure it would have been great for the rest of the world living under German values of the time.

Again, thank you for your point of view. It's certainly interesting!
 
I googled it and it says they became a Protectorate, which means Germany protected them. Obviously life anywere in EU in WW2 was fucking terrible, but what values did they impose on Denmark during the occupation? Heard any tales from your grandparents or anything?

edit: well, maybe anywhere but Switzerland :)
 
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I googled it and it says they became a Protectorate, which means Germany protected them. Obviously life anywere in EU in WW2 was fucking terrible, but what values did they impose on Denmark during the occupation? Heard any tales from your grandparents or anything?

Protected Denmark? :)

Nah, Denmark was a pathetically weak country in terms of military and their resistance during the invasion was very quickly subdued. So, the country was occupied and the leaders felt forced into a somewhat neutral relationship.

Eventually, a significant resistance movement was formed - which was responsible for relatively effective sabotage and the rescue of jews, etc.

Compared to what was going on in the rest of Europe, Denmark was a rather pleasant place for most Danes, I gather. Still terrible, though.

Yes, my grandfather was supposedly part of the resistance - but all grandfathers made similar claims. My grandfather was a very weak human being, so I sort of doubt he played a major role.

Also, my grandparents raised my mother and her siblings to hate Germans - and it took years and years for me to convince her that not all Germans were the same.

A very unfortunate consequence of the kind of brainwashing that goes on during wartime.
 
I don't know why you seem upset?

History is written by the winners, dart. You and I really have no idea what the future would have been like had any war in the past been won by the other side. My policy of staying out of all wars sounds pretty reasonable.

All I know is today the world is just as fucked up as ever. Wars are endless. The present day wars have everything to do with the result of WW2.
 
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I don't know why you seem upset?

History is written by the winners, dart. You and I really have no idea what the future would have been like had any war in the past been won by the other side. My policy of staying out of all wars sounds pretty reasonable.

All I know is today the world is just as fucked up as ever. Wars are endless. The present day wars have everything to do with the result of WW2.

I don't know why I seem upset, either :)

Does it make you feel better to think of me as upset when you've said something you know is not actually what you meant to say?

Because, if so, I can pretend I'm upset.

Should I make faces or say something nasty?

As for your (supposed) opinion about wars - I got it the first time.

Of course, what you meant to say is that wars are terrible - even when they're necessary. I would agree with that.
 
Men in my family fought in WW1 and WW2 for Australia.

They actually thought my great grandfather was dead from mustard gas in WW1 but then he moved. I got to meet him too. He used to give you a coin for eating all your dinner.

Grandfather was in the airforce in WW2. Came back alive too.

BTW, could you not quote these? It seems to be more or less a private conversation at this point, so I'm going to delete these so i don't have to come back and reply tomorrow when I'm sober :p
 
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Certainly, I will refrain from doing so.

Have a pleasant sleeping-it-off session ;)
 
Well, that's a rather long discussion. Not very knowledgeable about the Korean war - but I know a few things about Vietnam.

For now, I will play a little Witcher 3 - and we can get back to this. Preferably in a more appropriate thread. You can create one when you're sober again :)

Have fun!
 
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