• Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 months ago

    I like how some people are claiming americans are aware of this lol

    If most americans were sufficiently aware and organizing against it accordingly (if they’re not organizing, they’re not aware enough) the imperialist gov would already have been toppled.

    • metaldream@sopuli.xyz
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      9 months ago

      Some zoomers and some millennials know it. Boomers don’t know or actually think it’s a good thing, with some rare exceptions.

      Either way your take is extremely juvenile and simplistic. There’s a lot more at play with revolutions than people knowing their country did something bad. It takes a lot more than that to get people off their ass, with very few exceptions historically, and even those exceptions are usually led by rich people looking out for themselves.

      People need to have their own livelihoods threatened before they do anything. And there are always power systems in place that deliberately make it hard for people to organize.

    • Promethiel@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Power. Your fantasy assumes the weight of mere knowing outweighs the power wielded against the citizenry. No revolution started with the whole citizenry waking up. You know why. If not, read more and be less disingenuous.

      • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 months ago

        No revolution started with the whole citizenry waking up

        Obviously not everyone lmao.

        What every revolution has had is people informing others about what the issue is (often by pamphlets, news, etc), what needs to be done, and organizing. The vast majority of successful revolutions are only those that had organized revolutionaries.

        • Promethiel@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I like how some people are claiming americans are aware of this lol

          What every revolution has had is people informing others about what the issue is

          If most americans were sufficiently aware and organizing against it accordingly

          The vast majority of successful revolutions are only those that had organized revolutionaries.

          OK. I see your messaging is at odds with itself and you understand the assignment.

          You got top spot on this here memetic sharing of ideas. Which message for the Americans at home who by virtue of reading you on Lemmy are closer to you than not?

    • Evilsandwichman [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      I’ve always thought that if you switch America and Russia/China in most events, it would better fit the narratives.

      For example:

      America brokered peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

      America opened up factories in Afghanistan to provide jobs for the locals who are recovering from a war with China.

      America is supporting their ally in Syria and combating terrorists supported by Russia.

      Russia went to war with Iraq and killed a million people and destroyed all their infrastructure.

      The incarceration rate in China is the highest in the world.

      China accused America of spying on them with a weather balloon.

      Russia overthrew the Libyan government, spiraling the wealthiest African country into a civil war.


      Like seriously, switch the stories around and it better fits the narrative we’re constantly being fed. With the view that libs have of Russia, China and America, events would literally have to play out like this if their view was correct.

      • rockerface 🇺🇦@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Russia is killing people and destroying infrastructure, though. Do you not mind it happening if it’s in Ukraine?

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        9 months ago

        America is an endless expansionist that has illegally invaded multiple neighbours by force while calling it a “military exercise”.

        America has a semi dictator that gave themselves full unlimited power after being elected once and has since then meddled in every election in order to win

        Hmm, not really

        • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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          9 months ago

          America is an endless expansionist that has illegally invaded multiple neighbours by force while calling it a “military exercise”.

          Yes?

          America has a semi dictator that gave themselves full unlimited power after being elected once and has since then meddled in every election in order to win

          The US literally overthrew their democracy, and then when elections took place within a bourgeois ‘democracy’ interfered in those too. Russia post-overthrow of USSR could never have become a democracy, the US wouldn’t have allowed it.

          • assa123@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            9 months ago

            Also Texas and California. If we change the point of view of what constitutes power in USA this days from precidency to wealth, both questions are easily answered, specially considering all the elections USA or money coming from USA has meddled with (Chile for starters, Mexico, Honduras, Argentina, Guatemala, Cuba, Libya, Iran, …).

          • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            Russia post-overthrow of USSR could never have become a democracy, the US wouldn’t have allowed it.

            America is when Russia

            • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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              9 months ago

              The “territory” you’re looking for is called NATO. Its members totally join on their own free will, please ignore the regime changes that happen almost always before a country joins.

              • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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                9 months ago

                The only things forcing countries to join NATO are the aggressive invasions of countries like Russia.

                They either get invaded (see Crimea, Chechnya, Georgia, …) or join the defensive alliance of NATO so they get to keep at least a semblance of individualism.

                NATO wouldn’t be needed if Russia kept to itself.

                If you want forced regime changes, just look at all the territories before they were invaded by Russia.

                • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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                  9 months ago

                  Ah yes, famous invasions during the 90s. Where NATO expanded a shitload after promising not to.

                  Also your knowledge of these events is lackluster. Gerogia attacked Russia, not the other way around (one couldsay Russia over reacted, but that does not change the fact who initiated hostilities). Chechnya was a civil war (a country can’t invade itself). Crimea seceeded. So all of your examples are wrong.

                  Oh and Russia asked to join NATO in the eaely 2000s. Got denied.

                  IF you want to go further back it gets even better. NATO was founded before the Warsaw Treaty Org, the latter was founded after the USSR asked to join NATO and was denied.

                  You are correct that NATO is a anti soviet/anti russian alliance, but not for the reasons you think.

                • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                  9 months ago

                  Do you believe history is driven by people and ideas, or material conditions and the interests that arise from them?

      • 𓅂𓄿@c.im
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        9 months ago

        @JohnDClay @turkishdelight Zenz repurposes the pro-life argument that reduced birth rates are genocide to make it look like Xinjiang getting free healthcare & women who had 3 kids already receiving tubal ligations/ etc. is genocide the same way KKK guys think modernity is white genocide. China literally trained these people to be bilingual realtors and stuff like that, it wasn’t even a mega trade program or something. They got people to white collar shit Xinjiang is rich

          • 𓅂𓄿@c.im
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            9 months ago

            @conditional_soup If you’ve heard of the one child policy here’s a fun fact none of you “China watchers” know. Most regions and/or minority groups did not get affected. If you were Han or anything in Tibet, or a minority any placd, you could be fruitful and multiply. Just an example of how China deliberately gives minority groups boosted democratic representation, healthcare access, training, and cultural representation. Which is what responsible nations should do (glaring at indian res)

        • Liz@midwest.social
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          9 months ago

          Reading comprehension really is a struggle sometimes. They specifically mentioned scale in their comment. Also, I kinda feel like being open about genocide doesn’t make it better.

    • FrowingFostek@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      It’s an international poker game and everyone is cheating. To see politics through a campist lens helps no one.

      • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 months ago

        Acknowledging that the US has been the leader of the imperial core — the countries that have been colonizing the rest of the world for 500 years now — since WW2 is the realistic, materialist view.

        Only difference now is that it’s changed form to mainly the economic subjugation (neocolonialism) of “former” colonies through unequal exchange under capitalism rather than direct military subjugation — though the US still has a major actual settler colony committing a genocide in Palestine right now.

        Any country that tries to escape this system (by nationalizing its resources to prevent extraction by unequal exchange, usually by establishing a socialist state) is sanctioned (DPRK, Vietnam in the past, Zimbabwe etc), embargoed (Cuba), overthrown (Chile, Burkina Faso etc), or invaded (Vietnam, Libya, Korea, etc).

          • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            9 months ago

            Well, the empire from Star Wars was based on the US empire after all, and the rebels were based on the Viet Cong.

            • rocket_dragon@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              That’s partially true, the Empire was based on inspiration from the US, Nazi Germany, and USSR. The rebels are of course the Viet Cong.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                Citation needed on that USSR claim, Lucas has only, to my knowledge, spoken of the USSR with respect to the inspiration he took from their film industry. He’s outright stated that the Empire is the US and the Rebels the Viet Cong, plus there are the obvious allusions to the Nazis with Stormtroopers and the color of the Empire’s unirorms, but to my knowledge nothing connecting to the USSR.

                • rocket_dragon@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  Return of the Jedi special edition commentary.

                  Believe it or not, Lucas is capable of finding both positives and negatives about both the US and the USSR.

                  Most of the aesthetic of Empire architecture is inspired by brutalist Soviet architecture, and ceremony for the Emperor’s arrival was inspired by October Revolution Day military parades.

                • rocket_dragon@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  The USSR was also a fascist dictatorship, the actual bureaucratic structure of the Galactic Empire much more closely resembles the USSR.

                  Edit: good points were made, it’s overly reductive to call the USSR a facist dictatorship

              • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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                9 months ago

                Decades prior.

                Fun fact : The rebells in Star Wars were modelled after the Viet Minh, the Empire after the USA.

              • Queue@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                9 months ago

                Even if it was, using media to explain ideas of politics isn’t new nor is it bad. Like how is using Star Trek or Star Wars or any other piece of media that the public is familiar with on a cultural level inherently a “Gotcha!” to an argument/debate?

                “Hey this book that was taught in classrooms has some parallels to current events.” “Wow, you’re using your understandings of the world around you to make commentary? Weirdo.”

        • FrowingFostek@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I acknowledge the US has been the “imperial core”. The thing I take issue with is the finger pointing.

          As if the United States is unique in seeking out and pursuing its interests. China and Russia may not be the “imperial core” but, all nations will do what’s in their best interest.

          That’s the flaw with nations, the campist lens of “America bad, Russia and China good” isn’t productive. Das all I’m saying.

          • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            9 months ago

            No other country controls the global financial system like the US, and imperial core countries in general, does through its dollar hegemony and global monopolies.

            Which is natural, since the entire modern world, its institutions and trade systems, are built on the past few centuries of brutal colonization of the rest of the world by western europe and japan.

            finger pointing

            Acknowledging reality isn’t “finger pointing”.

              • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                9 months ago

                But they don’t, so talking about those "what if"s are pointless. China’s current interests — and, broadly speaking, those of capitalist Russia even after the USSR has been overthrown — are mostly in line with the Global South’s against imperial core countries. There’s a reason sentiment like this is common across the developing world.

                Many of western countries’ victims, like Cuba, DPRK, Burkina Faso, Palestine, etc., would not be able to function right now, or perhaps even exist, if they did not have China and Russia’s support. Of course, alot of them like Libya aren’t able to function anymore.

        • nomous@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Well, not “communist” capital C, but certainly socialist, or at least with socialist leanings.

          For example private land ownership isn’t really a thing in China, making essentially all natural resources defacto state-owned. It’s actually a really interesting idea IMO.

        • Gabu@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Are you illiterate? That is the whole fucking point of my reply. x2

  • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    It’s a not uncommon theme in anime: some large imperialist/war nation or one associated with fire or occupying Japan.

    It’s also worth noting that Japan had a history of imperialism and occupied a significant portion of the world around them not too long ago.

    Japan has a pretty similar world view to us. I don’t know a lot about Japanese culture, but I think a lot of its similarities contribute to anime’s popularity in the US. We both have pretty rigid class structures, appreciate violence and capitalism and are enamored with technology.

    I know that Avatar is American, perhaps I just wanted to air out a pet theory, however I think it’s good for us to explore some of these assumptions with art and stories.

    I think most of us aren’t the baddies though.

    • EvolvedTurtle@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      To be fair Not all fire nation citizens are bad either

      Usually when there’s a imperialistic government it’s very rarely every citizens fault

      • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        A comforting/not comforting thought

        I sort of believe that the vast majority of whoever from wherever would happily get along, but we still have wars.

    • Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      9 months ago

      Japan has a similar worldview to Americans because there’s been multiple points in history where we brute forced our ways on them, conveniently at times where their old ways were losing faith.

      Forcing Japans borders open while they remained isolated with outdated weaponry, and the end of WW2.

      Capitalism was drilled into their culture until it’s teeth sunk in and they had their economic boom.

      • samus12345@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Japan went from feudalism to an emerging modern industrialized state in what, 40 years? Industrial Revolution speedrun.

    • trafficnab@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      The irony of a diverse set of people from around the world talking about an American cartoon and in the same breath saying that American only knows war is not lost on me

      The US cultural victory’d so hard that it’s hard to recognize it sometimes

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      Yeah the fire nation has way more similarities to Imperial Japan than anyone else. Island nation industrializes before their neighbours and just starts taking over. Style of dress, the archesticure, the names of the characters, all give a Japan vibe way more than an American vibe. But maybe drinking tea in a ceremonial fashion is something that’s part of American culture that I wasn’t aware of.

      But currently the US is protecting global trade from pirates and sending weapons to democracies defending themselves from authoritarian psychopaths, which to some people is exactly how the Fire Nation behaved in Avatar I guess.

      • AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        We have stopped sending weapons to Ukraine but have continued sending weapons to Israel.

        Nothing about what you describe as is cut and dry as you are describing it. The easiest way to protect global trade from pirates would be to stop using global trade to arm psychopaths.

        • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          So your solution is just to do whatever the psychopath Houthis tell us to do?

          Neville Chamberlain tried a policy of appeasement, it didn’t work. And when you’re thinking that psychopaths that attack civilians working on a commercial cargo ship are the good guys, your world view is really messed up.

          • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            The guys trying to stop a genocide are the good guys. I do have some criticisms of them, but any actions that decrease the ability to carry out genocide is a net positive.

            • The_Lorax@sh.itjust.works
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              9 months ago

              Is your point that the outcome justifies the means? I feel the need to point out that this statement is dangerous, and statements like it have been used to justify evil acts.

              • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                You know what else is dangerous? Giving a genocidal state more weapons.

                What the fuck?

                • The_Lorax@sh.itjust.works
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                  9 months ago

                  Nowhere in my statement did I defend giving Israel weapons, this is a position I am strongly against.

                  My point in writing that comment was to point out that using fascist rhetoric is bad, no matter who is saying it. I support the Palestinians, but I would not support dropping nukes on Israel. Stating that any means would be justified gives the other side ammunition to attack you (and others with similar views as you) with.

                  “Any means” is the same reasoning the USA used when nuking Japan. And it’s the same reasoning that is currently being used to kill innocent civilians in the Gaza strip.

          • zbyte64@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            9 months ago

            If attacking civilians is the mark of psychopathology then the US does a good job of arming such nations. What the Houthis are doing is not happening in a vacuum. They have a history of resisting regimes propped up by the US. Does that make them saints? No. But we’re not any better.

            • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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              9 months ago

              I agree, it’s not happening in a vacuum. The Houthis are doing the old fascist plot of blaming the Jews to gain power. We’ve seen it all before. This is what the biggest losers in history do again and again.

              A movement under a flag of “Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews”, is a movement based on hate and it’s destruction is inevitable. Attacking global shipping is just them speeding up the timetable, but the end result was always going to be the same.

              A lot of antisemitism mixed with a feeling of religious exceptionalism has resulted in hate movement in Yemen that thinks they won’t go the same way as similar movements in the past. They’re wrong.

  • irish_link@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I disagree. Most Americans know we are the fire nation/empire from Star Wars.

    Well at least most people I know.

    • Altima NEO@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      You forgot the important part

      “And they’re proud of it”

      It’s crazy how military families are so into being in the military, out how proud they are of being Marines, etc. They’re literally doing the governments dirty work.

      • irish_link@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Originally i would agree but i am referencing how things are today as that’s what the meme is referencing.

        If you asked Americans today if they are the rebels or the empire the folks I know concede that we are the empire. We are the ones going into other peoples home towns with military occupation.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I think we’re more like the Alliance from Firefly.

      Most people are just trying to go about their day-to-day, and the war and major imperialism was done a long time ago. Now there are a few in the government who keep doing evil shit, but for the most part it’s a big useless bureaucracy.

      • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        the war and major imperialism was done a long time ago.

        This is literally a myth that papers over their current warmongering and imperialism

        • metaldream@sopuli.xyz
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          9 months ago

          That people don’t know about because it isn’t covered in the media unless you actively look for that info. So it might as well have happened a long time ago

      • Rakonat@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Enlightened 40Kism, we know we are the bad guys, cause there are no good guys, just worse villians.

          • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            In Warhammer 40K, the Imperium of Man are awful, but they’re the ‘good guys’ because they’re human, any every other species is even more awful and would wipe humanity out given the chance

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            9 months ago

            Space Dawi

            Most of the independent human systems doing just fine without the Imperium tyvm

            Eldar

            Some Necrons, maaaaybe. It’s hard to tell with them sometimes.

            Hrud mostly seem to just want to be left alone.

            A lot of aliens just chilling

            Fun Fact: the Imperium doesn’t actually span most of the galaxy. Nor do they really “control” the area around their systems.

            Because of how FTL works in 40k, some areas just aren’t accessible to them. There’s a full on insectoid empire called the Q’orl near Terra that they didn’t have access to or know about until the Warp currents shifted.

            And apparently their technology is even enough to be a potential threat… And the Imperium learned this when they immediately tried to kill them, obviously

          • Rakonat@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Ah yes you can join our ‘Greater Good’ if you volunteer to be our slaves and castrate yourself. Also if you change your mind and try to leave we’ll kill you.

      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        More like “we are the baddies, but the incredibly wealthy own the country and they want war, and none of us have to balls to start lopping off heads”

        • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 months ago

          incredibly wealthy own the country

          I wish people just said “the capitalist class”…

          Makes it more obvious what the problem is and What Is To Be Done (working class revolution and overthrow).

      • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Yes, that is the justification most Americans use; western chauvinism tells them that no matter how bad they are, the other places are worse. How many times on Lemmy do you see people say “America bad, but China or Russia or Iran would be worse (therefore we’re justified in facilitating massive bloodshed)?”

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          I’ve seen the former part of that sentiment on here, but I haven’t seen anyone use it as justification to go to war

          • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            It’s used to justify bombing Yemen, support the genocide in Palestine, escalating the proxy war against Russia, and starting one against China.

            You can get a social democrat to acknowledge that every conflict America has supported since WWII has made make the world worse, and they’ll still insist that this time, it’s different.

            And half of lemmy are worse than that.

            • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              …escalating the proxy war against Russia…

              So, comrade, how much of Ukraine should surrender for about 6 years of “peace” with Russia?

              • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                I for one wouldn’t have used unrest as a chance to do a coup. But if I did, I wouldn’t have planned who to install in what positions over an unsecure line.

                And so, Ukraine would have stayed a democracy that is more economically aligned with Russia, and Russia wouldn’t have invaded.

                I for one, wouldn’t have spent 40 years trying to overthrow a proletarian democracy, eventually succeeding in sponsoring a coup.

                So Ukraine and Russia wouldn’t be right wing nationalist nations and would instead be part of a progressive federation.

                • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  The path where America is not in control and making the decisions for the rest of the world doesn’t even enter the liberalist mind. The inability to imagine an alternative world order is heavily ingrained and maintained by fear of “the other.”

              • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                The portions of Ukraine that Western Ukraine was shelling before the invasion.

                The lines have hardly moved in a year, despite thousands more dead and millions more displaced. Every bomb we send is a bad day for someone, statistically mostly civilians. To send more bombs is to sacrifice more people, for the same geopolitical outcome.

      • irish_link@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        No, not okay. The monkey puppet reaction.

        We are not shocked to learn we are the bad guys. I never said it’s okay, I just disagree with the reaction meme to indicate we didn’t know it.

        Not sure where you pulled “it’s okay because America” from my statement but no need to jump to conclusions and put words in peoples mouth.

        • metaldream@sopuli.xyz
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          9 months ago

          He pulled it from nowhere because tankies are incapable of nuance, especially if you hold an even mildly dissenting opinion. You’re either with them or against them, there is no in-between. It’s ironic how much they share in common with actual fascists.

  • VinnyDaCat@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Surprised it’s taken this long for people to grasp it.

    We control the world’s reserve currency, and hold the ability to fry any country’s economy via economic sanctions whenever we want. We have the largest military in the world and that military is set up for the purpose of invasion. Yeah, China has a massive navy, but their ships are tiny, most likely for the purpose of defending their oceans and eventually taking Taiwan. We on the other hand have more carrier ships than anyone else, all for the purpose of being able to flex our might on anyone in the world.

    People used to say that we attempted to police the world. I don’t hear it nearly as much anymore, but it’s accurate. We throw our weight around. We’re the world’s bully.

    • Pilferjinx@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Yes, and to large extent NATO countries love to join in on the bullying. Britain and Australia jumped right in with the Iraq invasion for example.

  • RedWizard [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    9 months ago

    And most of this critique of empire is completely lost in Legend of Korra. A show that does nothing to reconcile the past with the present. Instead it preaches literal horseshoe theory as the over arching message of the show.

    "what did Amon want? Equality for all. Unalaq? He brought back the spirits. And Zaheer believed in freedom. […] The problem was, those guys were totally out of balance and they took their ideologies too far. " - Toph, EP 43, “The Calling”

    Each of these villains, including the final one, Kuvira, represent a kind of ideological boogie man.

    • Amon is the minority rights Boogie Man, he espoused the ideals of equality. One could interpret him as the white genocide boogie man but there is little evidence of any kind of true class division between bender’s and non-benders. A shallow caricature at best.
    • Unalaq was the religion or spirituality boogie man, or could be interpreted as the “return to tradition” boogie man.
    • Zaheer is the anarchist boogie man.
    • Kuvira is the totalitarian dictator aka Communist boogie man.

    At no point in the show does Korra have to struggle against any of these ideas and combat them in any ideological way. They are all metaphorical punching bags. Each of them “to extreme” to allow to exist. Each contrasted against each other as though they were equals.

    Republic City stands at the center of the show as the only constant and good political organization. A representative democracy. Tied explicitly to Aang to drive the point home, if you had any doubt’s about its goodness. A stand in for America with its own statue of liberty.

    In the end, the heir to the Earth Kingdom Monarchy gives up his throne to install a representative democracy in the Earth Kingdom. The result of this shallow attempt at writing leaves the shows saying almost nothing at all. It’s as if it was written to tell 13 year olds that their anarchist or communist curiosities are misguided and simply a phase.

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      The whole overarching theme of the two series is totally different.

      ATLA is about restoring peace from an objectively big-bad. It’s a story of perseverance and self-improvement. And it’s about recognizing and correcting mistakes…Aang, in saving the world after he abandoned it; and Zuko’s entire story arc.

      Contrast that with Korra (which Nick studios really messed up). There was not supposed to be more than one season, initially. And they ruined the last season (or two, I think) by rushing it out as an online exclusive.

      If you have to pick a theme for Korra, though, it’s about balance and nuance. None of the big bads are objectively totally bad. They all have redeeming factors and all of them, you could say, are somewhat right. But, as you said, they go too far.

      Even towards the end as Korra has the mercury poisoning and PTSD and depression, it’s about inner balance and harmony. Honestly, mental health is a huge topic for a kids show to try to tackle, and they did it wonderfully.

        • RedWizard [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          Yes this is exactly my point. Zaheer is a vague shadow that represents Anarchist ideology. He says he wants to bring “Chaos” to the world because somehow that is a preferable world state to order. Except Anarchism isn’t about “chaos” or “lawlessness” its about building horizontal organizations instead of vertical ones. Its about dismantling unjust hierarchies and being vigilant in your critical view of hierarchies. I’m not even an anarchist and I understand that much. Even if I’m talking out the side of my mouth, I’m being more generous then the show.

          At no point is Zaheer interested in sticking around to educate the Earth Kingdom citizens in how to reorganize their society in a more ethical and equitable way. He just wants to do wacky disruptive assassination while quoting vaguely Zen Buddhist philosophy about detachment from worldly possessions.

          Kuvira is attempting to restore “order” as a result of Zaheer’s Chaos, and they paint her as an “authoritarian” as if her actions are some how philosophically different then Zaheer’s, who enforced his own authority over the Earth Kingdom by killing the Queen. She has no “ideology”. She’s not trying to build an Earth Kingdom ruled by the proletariat. She’s not trying to build a Fascist Earth Kingdom bent on exploiting its citizens for capital gains. None of that is explicitly stated. They simply drag out every anticommunist trope and have her do them all.

          • reeducation camps
          • forced labor camps
          • forced starvation
          • one party rule as a smoke screen for her singular authority (part of the deal with Yi was the governor would stay in place under Kuvira’s “supervision”)

          Again, it’s a shallow exploration of these “ideologies” or worldviews, it’s clear the writers had no intention of understanding them or struggling against them.

          But also what is to say about the first season and equality? That equality can “go to far” or that behind every equality leader there is an evil intention? Are we to then look at the equal rights movement and ponder in what ways it went “to far”? Should we look at people like Malcolm X and say they were the Aamon in this situation? We should be skeptical of equality movements? At no point do they address the concerns of the non benders who clearly believed they were second class citizens. Was there a kernel of truth there or did the inequality only exist in their brain washed minds? Which is something people say to minorities today, that there is no inequality it’s just your bad mindset…

    • Zuzak [fae/faer, she/her]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      “Wow, the Fire Nation is just like the latest country the news told me to hate, good thing America’s around to Share Our Greatness™️with them!”

  • zbyte64@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    9 months ago

    Fox news calling the US an empire is not new. How old do you all think the moniker “Empire State” is? It’s wild how it’s in our language but we just don’t think about it.

  • 0xD@infosec.pub
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    9 months ago

    Don’t you think there are better, more recent examples of this?

    (Oh, I missed the instance I was on lol)

    • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      ? The most recent one is the ongoing genocide in Palestine that the US and its colony is committing.

      No, “israel” isn’t a separate entity. It was formed as a general western settler colony in Palestine using british colonization tactics, and has been functioning as an american one.

            • TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz
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              9 months ago

              Idk man. As far as I understood, the main post is about the US, which the comment you replied to also talked about. And then you’re wondering why that person talked about the US and not other countries.

        • Arcturus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 months ago

          The US has been the de facto leader of the imperial core since WW2, and its government is thus directly or indirectly responsible for a large part of the suffering in the world right now — be it directly through wars, genocides/massacres, sanctions, embargoes, or indirectly through economic imperialism or neocolonialism — so yes, that should be the first country anyone comes up with. Probably also because I happen to be from one of its victim countries.

          China has an active genocide

          All claims of this come from imperial core countries or “independent” orgs funded by its corporations.

          The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and delegates from dozens of Global South countries approve of China’s handling of the ETIM (a problem deliberately created by the US through Afganistan by the way) and deny western claims. This lines up with what the hundreds of millions of annual tourists to the region say.

          Between the western govs responsible for killing, and continuing to kill, millions of muslims in the past few decades alone throughout Africa, Middle-East, Asia, and global south countries without a recent history of doing so (they are the victims rather), I for one know which not to trust.

          Russia

          The US colony has killed three times more civilians in its genocide in the past few months than the Russian military has in 2 years in its proxy war with the US. This isn’t remotely comparable.

  • ToucheGoodSir
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    9 months ago

    Big nation go ooga fuck around n find out; hamburgerland munition go boom

    • Siegfried@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      There are a lot of assholish nations that could easily take that place, but imo there are enough references to Dalai lama in the show to assume that the fire nation is china

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          9 months ago

          Being “just a cartoon” I never thought of the dimension of it, but they literally wiped out an entire nation. Suddenly, comparing the fire nation to any current superpower seems wrong.

          • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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            9 months ago

            ?? The US famously wiped out the native population within its borders. I’m not sure what history you were taught but genocide is a very common topic.

        • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Yes, that’s how the metaphor follows through. The fire Nation destroys the air nomads the way the Chinese destroyed Tibet.

        • Kalothar@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          That’s because the air nomads are basically Tibetan monks, also annexed by China in the 1950s

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        9 months ago

        The earth nation exists with a whole theme about being the great stagnant central state empire getting overshadowed by an upstart nation going through industrial revolution first doesn’t give you any hints? Not even the queues and qibao?