What on Earth is going on in the world today? It's gone mad

[Horsa]

Thinking of you @mrzz in these troubling times for Brazil. Thanks for keeping us updated.

I'm also thinking of Mrzz at the moment hoping him & his friends & family are o.k. & that everything goes as well as can be expected under the circumstances & that he keeps us informed about what's going on as I'd miss him for 1 if he wasn't here even though at the moment I'm having to ration both reading & screen time which is driving me crazy already but I've got to try to rest my eyes more & I've got to wait until the 16th for my new specs until I get back to normal (well I won't be completely back to normal until I've run out of eye drops & this eye drop every 2 hours malarkey is doing my head in).

 

[isabelle]

hope extremism won't win in Brazil

 

[Moxie]

I'm also thinking of Mrzz at the moment hoping him & his friends & family are o.k. & that everything goes as well as can be expected under the circumstances & that he keeps us informed about what's going on as I'd miss him for 1 if he wasn't here even though at the moment I'm having to ration both reading & screen time which is driving me crazy already but I've got to try to rest my eyes more & I've got to wait until the 16th for my new specs until I get back to normal (well I won't be completely back to normal until I've run out of eye drops & this eye drop every 2 hours malarkey is doing my head in).

You're not actually thinking about mrzz, if you're going on to talk about yourself. Brevity, my friend. And focus on the topic. The Brazilian elections.

 

[Horsa]

You're not actually thinking about mrzz, if you're going on to talk about yourself. Brevity, my friend. And focus on the topic. The Brazilian elections.

I am, actually, among other things. I know I could have brought things back to the topic in hand with connections but was trying not to be so long-winded & I was allowing everyone to vent while realising that distraction techniques help people when things are bad so trying to cheer him up though I know if I used word-play, started making a joke or spoke cheerily it would have worked better. I also knew that if I spoke too cheerily in order to cheer him up it would have looked as if I didn't understand or care. I was also trying to say I meant to say something earlier but explaining why I couldn't, pal. Maybe my problem is I always feel the need to explain myself instead of just saying what I want & need to say which I think can be too abrupt sometimes & then I try to think of how everything could possibly be seen so I don't have any comeuppances which makes things too lengthy at times & I can be seen as selfish at times which I'm not. I try to balance things out as conversations should be 2 way. Sometimes, I find getting the balance right hard.

Back to the Brazilian elections, I think it's scary for people to have to live in a country where someone with such views are in power. People just aren't safe anywhere & they should feel safe in their own homes & getting on with their lives. I disagree with the idea that owning & being prepared to use a gun is going to keep the crime rate down. Gun crime is still a crime. All that's going to happen is that the crime records are going to be the same but the categories of crime are going to change from all different crimes to just 1 that is gun crime. I disagree with the idea of vigilantes on the street & think it's scary. I don't think people should be hospitalised because of their sexuality in the hope they'll be cured of it. (That's going back into the old days.) I thought that although some aspects of our identities were structured by the society in which we lived in other areas we have some choice in who we are & can structure our identities according to our wishes. Actually, I think that the only people whose business it is about their sexuality is the person themselves & their partner. I don't know why so many people would vote for someone with such views. ;0)

 

[mrzz]

Fellow posters, for now, there are appalling things happening, but initially more symbolic, with the hard stuff pointed to politically active people and/or specific minorities in specific conditions. I am worried as I have politically active friends, who are on the front line, as I already posted above. Even if I disagree with basically everything Bolsonaro's opponent proposes for the economy, among other things, I am openly and actively opposing the Bolsonaro myself -- but it is quite safer for me as I just got politically active, while my friends are out there for decades. Other friends on the "other side" are just silent.

For now -- before the monster is elected -- is safer because he took a lighter tone (even his lighter tone is absurd, though). For example, he is pretending he is not openly racist (there are lots of videos of him going full KKK. For readers who never read other posts of mine, remember I always oppose a happy trigger for labeling people as racists -- for example I stood (and stand) for Ramos in the Serena spat. This a whole other level. This is borderline Tarantino stuff.

The guy hides behind "conservative values", so reasonable conservative people are being fooled by him (or fooling themselves). All reasonable conservatives that I speak with are unanimous: "But he is not going to actually do all that". There you have it. The guy says he wants to kill people from poor neighborhoods (again, you people here know me, I am the kind of guy who goes after the original sources, I never trust rumours, hearsay, and forwarded stuff, I read those fucking FBI reports to discuss the russian probe for fucks sake), the guy says he would personally beat gay men on the street, the guy says a lot of explicit things, but people chose to believe that "he is not going to actually do all that".

The parallels with Hitler's rise to power (which I know quite well) are countless. There are simple coincidences, there are big ideological convergences, you have it all. My own sister wears a black t-shirt and says the communists should be killed. Needless to say that everyone who is not with them is a communist...

My college professor friends every day send me reports of students being beaten on the street (students with I would surely disagree with the political views, but it DOES NOT MATTER). It is collective hysteria. His main stance is the fight against corruption, and the crazy, unbelievable thing is that he openly supported one of the biggest and clear cut corrupt politicians in the country's history (Eduardo Cunha, for reference), and people simply ignore that part.

Again, @Moxie, @Horsa, and also @isabelle , thanks for asking for news and for the concern. I am, personally, very safe. I may discuss openly with some idiot but the worst thing that can happen now is that the sucker tries to go physical. I am now in that mood "I would LOVE to see them try", you walk on the street with your fists closed, but I know the right political position is to keep a calm, civilized attitude.

But you know I am damn good at irritating people...

 

[Horsa]

Fellow posters, for now, there are appalling things happening, but initially more symbolic, with the hard stuff pointed to politically active people and/or specific minorities in specific conditions. I am worried as I have politically active friends, who are on the front line, as I already posted above. Even if I disagree with basically everything Bolsonaro's opponent proposes for the economy, among other things, I am openly and actively opposing the Bolsonaro myself -- but it is quite safer for me as I just got politically active, while my friends are out there for decades. Other friends on the "other side" are just silent.

For now -- before the monster is elected -- is safer because he took a lighter tone (even his lighter tone is absurd, though). For example, he is pretending he is not openly racist (there are lots of videos of him going full KKK. For readers who never read other posts of mine, remember I always oppose a happy trigger for labeling people as racists -- for example I stood (and stand) for Ramos in the Serena spat. This a whole other level. This is borderline Tarantino stuff.

The guy hides behind "conservative values", so reasonable conservative people are being fooled by him (or fooling themselves). All reasonable conservatives that I speak with are unanimous: "But he is not going to actually do all that". There you have it. The guy says he wants to kill people from poor neighborhoods (again, you people here know me, I am the kind of guy who goes after the original sources, I never trust rumours, hearsay, and forwarded stuff, I read those fucking FBI reports to discuss the russian probe for fucks sake), the guy says he would personally beat gay men on the street, the guy says a lot of explicit things, but people chose to believe that "he is not going to actually do all that".

The parallels with Hitler's rise to power (which I know quite well) are countless. There are simple coincidences, there are big ideological convergences, you have it all. My own sister wears a black t-shirt and says the communists should be killed. Needless to say that everyone who is not with them is a communist...

My college professor friends every day send me reports of students being beaten on the street (students with I would surely disagree with the political views, but it DOES NOT MATTER). It is collective hysteria. His main stance is the fight against corruption, and the crazy, unbelievable thing is that he openly supported one of the biggest and clear cut corrupt politicians in the country's history (Eduardo Cunha, for reference), and people simply ignore that part.

Again, @Moxie, @Horsa, and also @isabelle , thanks for asking for news and for the concern. I am, personally, very safe. I may discuss openly with some idiot but the worst thing that can happen now is that the sucker tries to go physical. I am now in that mood "I would LOVE to see them try", you walk on the street with your fists closed, but I know the right political position is to keep a calm, civilized attitude.

But you know I am damn good at irritating people...

You're welcome. I'm glad you're o.k. I agree. Violence is or should never be the answer. I get the message that you had the choice of 2 bad options & the people who voted for him only believe he'll do some of what he says as all politicians do but they think he's going to do the good things he said he's going to do & not the bad or even when listening to what he said he was going to do & what the other person is going to do ignored the bad things he said he was going to do while emphasizing the good & doing the opposite with the other person.

 

[Horsa]

What's going on in the world today? It really has gone mad.
What's happening in the world today? Why is the news, nearly always bad?
The state of government & the choices people had to vote from in some countries is very sad.
There's bad weather causing destruction in America & Majorca which is an island belonging to Spain.
America just wants rid of all the wind while Majorca needs sun to soak up the rain.
There are only so many times you can say sorry for everything bad that's going on in the world.
There are only so many times you can think about people & pray for them when events are unfurled.
There comes a point when you've just got to switch off the news because it just depresses you.
No matter how hard you try though at some point watching the news is something you have to do.
This is because no matter how much you flick through the channels on t.v. or pass by newspapers in shops the news comes into view.
It comes up on your social media timelines too.

 

[britbox]

Fellow posters, for now, there are appalling things happening, but initially more symbolic, with the hard stuff pointed to politically active people and/or specific minorities in specific conditions. I am worried as I have politically active friends, who are on the front line, as I already posted above. Even if I disagree with basically everything Bolsonaro's opponent proposes for the economy, among other things, I am openly and actively opposing the Bolsonaro myself -- but it is quite safer for me as I just got politically active, while my friends are out there for decades. Other friends on the "other side" are just silent.

For now -- before the monster is elected -- is safer because he took a lighter tone (even his lighter tone is absurd, though). For example, he is pretending he is not openly racist (there are lots of videos of him going full KKK. For readers who never read other posts of mine, remember I always oppose a happy trigger for labeling people as racists -- for example I stood (and stand) for Ramos in the Serena spat. This a whole other level. This is borderline Tarantino stuff.

The guy hides behind "conservative values", so reasonable conservative people are being fooled by him (or fooling themselves). All reasonable conservatives that I speak with are unanimous: "But he is not going to actually do all that". There you have it. The guy says he wants to kill people from poor neighborhoods (again, you people here know me, I am the kind of guy who goes after the original sources, I never trust rumours, hearsay, and forwarded stuff, I read those fucking FBI reports to discuss the russian probe for fucks sake), the guy says he would personally beat gay men on the street, the guy says a lot of explicit things, but people chose to believe that "he is not going to actually do all that".

The parallels with Hitler's rise to power (which I know quite well) are countless. There are simple coincidences, there are big ideological convergences, you have it all. My own sister wears a black t-shirt and says the communists should be killed. Needless to say that everyone who is not with them is a communist...

My college professor friends every day send me reports of students being beaten on the street (students with I would surely disagree with the political views, but it DOES NOT MATTER). It is collective hysteria. His main stance is the fight against corruption, and the crazy, unbelievable thing is that he openly supported one of the biggest and clear cut corrupt politicians in the country's history (Eduardo Cunha, for reference), and people simply ignore that part.

Again, @Moxie, @Horsa, and also @isabelle , thanks for asking for news and for the concern. I am, personally, very safe. I may discuss openly with some idiot but the worst thing that can happen now is that the sucker tries to go physical. I am now in that mood "I would LOVE to see them try", you walk on the street with your fists closed, but I know the right political position is to keep a calm, civilized attitude.

But you know I am damn good at irritating people...

Hey @mrzz - not got too much time on my hands to check in here that regularly at the moment, but just read your piece. Stay safe mate. These extreme pendulums usually correct themselves to a degree once people figure out extremism (left or right) doesn't work.

 

[Horsa]

I hope everyone from America is safe & that the hurricanes haven't hit anyone too badly especially as they only had 1 last month & they've now got this 1 too.

I also hope that the floods in Majorca don't cause too much damage & everything gets back to normal A.S.A.P. I'm very sorry to hear of the people who died in the Majorcan floods & hope they don't cause more fatalities.

I hope everyone is safe & well.

I meant to say this before but needed to express myself poetically first to stop things getting to me too much. I'm very sorry for upsetting people by not being quick & to the point. Anyone who really knows me knows that I don't think, I improvise & most of the time that serves me well, however sometimes I accidentally upset people by saying stupid things I know better than to say & making careless errors. I even write spontaneously including in rhyme & most of the time it works well for me so I don't really think. Sorry!

I realise how serious things are & do care about others & the state of the worlds affairs although it may look as if I don't.

 

[mrzz]

Hey @mrzz - not got too much time on my hands to check in here that regularly at the moment, but just read your piece. Stay safe mate. These extreme pendulums usually correct themselves to a degree once people figure out extremism (left or right) doesn't work.

Thanks, BB! Let's hope it corrects itself soon...

 

[Horsa]

What a mess in Brazil. Another t-man getting the top job in politics:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ffaf6d422aa_story.html?utm_term=.92db741161da
What's going on, mrzz? Why did your people vote for Jair Bolsonaro? Another brexit? A "Brazilian exit into the politics of insanity"?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...brazil-presidential-candidate-trump-parallels

I'm very sorry, Chris but I felt the need to say something here. (I've been thinking about it a couple of days now. I didn't want to say anything at 1st because I knew we'd be at logger-heads here.) I had good American twitter followers on both sides during the election where Trump got through & saw arguments for both sides. My historian friends voted for Trump because they wanted change & things to go back to the way they were & the government to think of their own country before helping others out. They also thought he'd have made a good president because he appeared to be a successful businessman which I'd have thought too. I didn't agree with a lot of what he said & did as mocking the disabled is just wrong as is sexual harassment. He hasn't done or been able to do 1/2 of the things he wanted to which is a good job.

As for Brexit, the reasons why Brits voted for Brexit are:-

1. they thought the amount of money they were paying into staying in the E.U. wasn't good value for money & could be better spent on other things. A lot of our people were relying on food banks including some workers which had never happened before. Our people thought that some of that money could have been spent on our country & services.
2. There had been a lot of terrorist attacks abroad. We knew part of the E.U. rules meant we had to allow freedom of movement between E.U. countries so even if we knew someone posed a threat we couldn't really stop them from coming into our country. As a result we didn't feel safe.
3. We felt that the E.U. were imposing too many rules & we couldn't rule our own country anymore & we were too restricted.

Some areas of Britain benefitted more from being in the E.U. than others as did some people & that's why certain people & areas voted in & others out as well as the fact that a lot more brochures were distributed for in than out & the in campaign insulted people who voted in rather than coming up with facts which only made people like me rebel. They just twisted the facts though some people would say things worked the other way round. There was a lot of talk about people who voted out being uneducated racists which while it was true for some people wasn't for others. What really got me going was the people who said because we were leaving the E.U. we were leaving Europe. We're not. The E.U. is not the whole of Europe. It's the European Union. The whole of Europe didn't join. Geographically speaking we've been in Europe since the super-continent of Pangaea broke up & some of the land was under water creating more smaller continents & we'll be in Europe unless something drastic happens again. (It's up to you what you think of me. I'm not trying to influence you because I don't try to influence anyone. I'm not racist. I know who I really am. I want to remain friends but if you don't want to because you disagree with me & think I'm an empty-headed numbskull like I act at times that's your choice. I value our friendship & enjoy our conversations but don't try to influence anyone. I don't want to fall out but friendship is 2 way.)

I think that the situation in Brazil is very scary & am concerned about Mrzz. It appears no one is safe anywhere there & I think that Bolsonaro's ideas are disgusting & won't work. His ideas shouldn't work either. It would be very scary if they did.

 

[Horsa]

@Chris Koziarz , please see my above post for some reference. I confess I did not read those articles in its entirety (as I know pretty well what is going on) -- but I will tell you this: the "Brazilian Trump" epithet is wrong, as it is waaaay too light. He would be something like the Brazilian Franco -- he is anacronic to that level. I was reading yesterday Freud's "Group Psychology and The Analysis of The Ego" -- there you have it. People chose to follow a leader who publicly supports street justice killings, forceful hospitalization of gay people, so on and so forth. I could describe things here for hours... I have people in my family who fell in to this trap. For them, now I am a "dirty communist" (the funny side is that I am, economically speaking, an old fashioned liberal, while they hardly can spell the word liberal). My (truly) communists friends, for them, should be killed, or jailed at best. It is crazy at that level.

[P.S.] Edited the last phrase as basic spelling mistakes changed the meaning of it -- don't know why in the world I inserted an apostrophe there before. It was election day here yesterday and I was as worried as it can be, so typed in hurry. At least we get a second and final round, bad thing is that the alternative is quite problematic on their own way.

I meant to say something about this earlier this week but didn't know how it would be taken especially as I'm interrupting. I think it's disgraceful that people are sick enough to support such policies & I'm very sorry to hear about your family rifts. It's not good when our families don't think much of us. My parents think I'm hopeless, useless & brainless while I think Dad's a bit harsh & too argumentative & Mother always agrees with Dad. I think it's dreadful that your family think that your friends should be killed or imprisoned.That book sounds interesting. I've read what he had to say on the constitution of intelligence & identity when I was 10 in 1 of those books my parents bought me when I asked questions. They had no idea what youngsters should be reading though they refused to buy me Jane Eyre because they said it was too hard for me until I asked my Gran who said that she's asked & she's capable of deciding for herself if it's too hard for her. If it is she'll put it to 1 side until she's ready & what they brought for me to read was harder.

 

[mrzz]

First and foremost, @Horsa, thanks for the concern.

Unfortunately I cannot expand my thoughts as long as I would wish, but let me just make one comment.

There is a tendency to see everything in two different, opposing blocks: you have Brexit and Trump in one side, remain and "liberals" on the other. Everything, every country, every question is divided up to two factors, so if you are with/against Trump in America then you are with/against whatever fucking thing or person some guy on the internet told you should be in some faraway country you barely can spell the name. It is all part of the big good versus evil fight.

Well, no. Hell no. Fuck no. This idiotic approach to the world results exactly in what we have here: a real, by the book nazi-fascist regime in the making. Good part of this blame I surely put on all those people who instantly called any conservative a "fascist", because now the word has lost its meaning. I call that retarded sucker here a fascist, it has zero effect, because basically everyone was already called that. I was already called that. It is the boy that cries wolf story applied to politics.

So, for ones who live on democratic or relatively free countries, if I can give one suggestion, is this: don't paint everything black and white, good or bad. Not all Trump voters are white suprematists (hell, even not all the voters of the retard we have here are white suprematists), not all voters of the given liberal candidate in your place are part of or complicit with the big conspiracy to take down the world, make everyone communist, cut your penis and stick it to the ass of your grandmother.

The scary thing here is that the guys who will get to power are not supported by those people who believe internet conspiracy theories. THEY BELIEVE THAT SHIT TOO. Everyone has his own, so you have flat-earthers, aliens of the past, communists will eat your children, you have it all. People who constructed their 'knowledge" out of you youtube videos and facebook posts are getting there.

I could go on and on. For everything I posted above, I have dozens of examples that I experienced -- not that someone whataspped me.

Sorry for the rant. Could not revise the post either, hope it is understandable.

 

[Horsa]

First and foremost, @Horsa, thanks for the concern.

Unfortunately I cannot expand my thoughts as long as I would wish, but let me just make one comment.

There is a tendency to see everything in two different, opposing blocks: you have Brexit and Trump in one side, remain and "liberals" on the other. Everything, every country, every question is divided up to two factors, so if you are with/against Trump in America than you are with/against whatever fucking thing or person some guy on the internet told you should be in some faraway country you barely can spell the name. It is all part of the big good versus evil fight.

Well, no. Hell no. Fuck no. This idiotic approach to the world results exactly in what we have here: a real, by the book nazi-fascist regime in the making. Good part of this blame I surely put on all those people who instantly called any conservative a "fascist", because now the word has lost its meaning. I call that retarded sucker here a fascist, it has zero effect, because basically everyone was already called that. I was already called that. It is the boy that cries wolf story applied to politics.

So, for ones who live on democratic or relatively free countries, if I can give one suggestion, is this: don't paint everything black and white, good or bad. Not all Trump voters are white suprematists (hell, even not all the voters of the retard we have here are white suprematists), not all voters of the given liberal candidate in your place are part of or complicit with the big conspiracy to take down the world, make everyone communist, cut your penis and stick it to the ass of your grandmother.

The scary thing here is that the guys who will get to power are not supported by those people who believe internet conspiracy theories. THEY BELIEVE THAT SHIT TOO. Everyone has his own, so you have flat-earthers, aliens of the past, communists will eat your children, you have it all. People who constructed their 'knowledge" out of you youtube videos and facebook posts are getting there.

I could go on and on. For everything I posted above, I have dozens of examples that I experienced -- not that someone whataspped me.

Sorry for the rant. Could not revise the post either, hope it is understandable.

You're welcome, @mrzz. I'm glad you're o.k.

I don't know about what went on in America (I'm using America here to refer to the U.S. & Brazil as Brazil was in South America last time I knew, just to keep things short.) only hearsay & news which can always be moulded to fit the writer's/orators views so you've got to read between the lines which I do but I've seen what's on in Britain & the effect being in the E.U. has had on us as well as some benefits I've seen for myself. *I have no problem spelling. Thank you very much.* I've been around Britain & to a few E.U. countries so see the benefits being in the E.U. has on travellers etc. so I did think it was unfair how some people were just labelling all Brexit voters uneducated racists when they don't know all Brexit voters. Some Brexit voters were uneducated racists but not all. People who label haven't always been to the areas where people think differently & had the same experiences. Experiences shape the way people think as do other things.

I know. There's good & bad in every group of people. Not everything is black & white. There are grey areas.

I don't just believe everything I read on the internet or in books & newspapers for that matter but because I live in Britain I have to rely on the news for information about what's going on in other countries. I believe what others have to say about their country because they live there & I expect them to know what's going on in their country so I give them the benefit of the doubt a bit especially if news supports their statements & I expect people to believe what I have to say about what's going on in my country or the part of my country that I live in & give me the benefit of the doubt especially if news supports my comments.

It's o.k. I understand both how you must be feeling & what you had to say.

I don't just believe everything I'm told but obviously I don't live in America so don't know everything that's going on. It's also good manners to agree with what others say to a point & sympathise with them if need be or even just to show understanding though not to the point where you're smarmy. It doesn't mean you believe everything you're told.

 

[Horsa]

Fracking caused earthquakes a few years ago in Blackpool & now they're planning on starting again in Lancashire. As if that wasn't bad enough protestors are being given harsh punishments. That's dreadful. I'd protest too. At 1 time Britain never had earthquakes. Doesn't anyone care about the world in which we live? Humans have caused a lot of damage to the world in which we live what with pollution & deforestation. Then we've been the cause of many animal species dying out like the dodos, passenger pigeons, Takhis & Tarpans & a lot of animals on the endangered species list like Przewalski's horses, elephants, rhinos, leopards, tigers & white lions. (Yes, I did show how horse-mad I was by mentioning 3 types of horse.)

 

[Federberg]

So a week after MBS claimed that Khashoggi had left the Embassy, Saudi Arabia officially acknowledges that Khashoggi died in there. We live in a world now where people can blatantly lie to our faces then change their story without any embarrassment. Back during the Cold War this was something the Soviets did all the time and at least there was a consensus that the lie was happening. I'm not saying the West didn't lie, of course they did, but at least there was an attempt to finesse mendacity. There wasn't this.... disrespect we get now. Obviously Trump is the greatest exponent of this technique in the world today, but it's truly stunning to see it in action. It's numbing, and were I not so confident of my faculties and my grip on reality I would be left constantly off balance and dizzied by all of this. It is a truly scary time when objective reality can be so casually dismissed

 

[britbox]

Saudis claim he died in a fist fight now... after first claiming he left the consulate. Trump said he finds that credible.

Wonder if the body will turn up to verify that story? Somehow I seriously doubt it.

 

[mrzz]

^^The event that defined the geopolitics of the XXth, and this XXIth centuries is the outcome of the first world war. The Versailles treaty embodies that, and it is perhaps the greatest deceit of all time. The truce and armistice was agreed over Woodrow Wilson's famous 14 points, and the final treaty only fulfilled 1 of those (another one partially). This not only led straight to WWII, but showed the world that the (then) most powerful nations have zero degree of reliability. The best one can expect from geopolitics from that moment on -- and the best that was ever actually seen -- is a giant dose of hypocrisy. The only moments were one can divert a bit from it is the rare occasions were internal public opinion pressure became a true political factor. Any analysis that fails to acknowledge this simple fact is doomed to fail miserably.

 

[britbox]

^^The event that defined the geopolitics of the XXth, and this XXIth centuries is the outcome of the first world war. The Versailles treaty embodies that, and it is perhaps the greatest deceit of all time. The truce and armistice was agreed over Woodrow Wilson's famous 14 points, and the final treaty only fulfilled 1 of those (another one partially). This not only led straight to WWII, but showed the world that the (then) most powerful nations have zero degree of reliability. The best one can expect from geopolitics from that moment on -- and the best that was ever actually seen -- is a giant dose of hypocrisy. The only moments were one can divert a bit from it is the rare occasions were internal public opinion pressure became a true political factor. Any analysis that fails to acknowledge this simple fact is doomed to fail miserably.

Absolutely. The Americans would have still been bleeding in Nam for a long time after if internal public pressure hadn't been applied.

 

[Federberg]

^^The event that defined the geopolitics of the XXth, and this XXIth centuries is the outcome of the first world war. The Versailles treaty embodies that, and it is perhaps the greatest deceit of all time. The truce and armistice was agreed over Woodrow Wilson's famous 14 points, and the final treaty only fulfilled 1 of those (another one partially). This not only led straight to WWII, but showed the world that the (then) most powerful nations have zero degree of reliability. The best one can expect from geopolitics from that moment on -- and the best that was ever actually seen -- is a giant dose of hypocrisy. The only moments were one can divert a bit from it is the rare occasions were internal public opinion pressure became a true political factor. Any analysis that fails to acknowledge this simple fact is doomed to fail miserably.

Agreed. The last century is littered with the appalling decisions that the victorious side has made. Versailles is an apt example, but you could also pick the collapse of the Soviet Union or most recent of all, the defeat of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Eliminating the police and army infrastructure led directly to the creation of ISIS. One would hope that in the future the lesson would be learnt, but sadly I fear not. So much attention paid to Clauswitz and Sun Tzu and too little paid to what comes after