these are the people
Wait, who do you mean? The people who are saying Israel doing genocide is good and Palestinians are bad for resisting it? No shit scum like that would think that a person who fought and gave their life for liberation is bad. I must be missing something?
I have no people in my life anymore. I had to do regular check out at a grocery store instead of doing self checkout and I couldn't even form sentences. I bought vodka so I couldn't do self checkout. The checkout clerk asked me to pull my mask down to verify my ID after I showed my drivers license. For a split second I thought "aw, he's being nice and pretending I might still pass for being under 40, let alone 21" then I realize he probably just didn't like that I was wearing a mask and wanted me to take it off. Power thing? Who knows. I don't. I don't interact with people so I don't know if I'm being paranoid or attentive and perceptive.
I keep thinking "Hezbollah is going to kick things back into gear any second now. If not, then Iran better take the initiative and will do something materially significant. Ok, fuck, if that's not going to happen, then at least Egypt will get some food and water and fuel through." But nothing happens except more Palestinians die from the unrelenting outright genocide. From being blown up to bleeding out to dying of white phosphorus burns to now dying on a mass scale of thirst because their oppressors are refusing them the most basic, fundamental thing necessary for life. Is this really how it goes? Genocide of Palestine, and then a return to the FUCKING STATUS QUO, with the only unambiguous win being that everyone knows Isntreal is a weakling paper tiger evil little pissfuck?
That's one fucking bitter pill. I can't swallow that. How can anyone else swallow that?
Do it, officer. This place is severely lacking in havoc. Not even the occasional trash can fire to break up the tedium. I'll even throw in my Red-dyed heavy fuel oil. Sucked it out of a cop's fuel tank myself -- back in Jamrock.
I was looking around for size comparisons for Gaza. It is shockingly small. Very good for a quick glance comparing its size to many cities all over the world as a blue/red overlay. This one is only compared to US cities but it's a lot more detailed and "3D".
A series of maps shows how the Gaza Strip compares in size to some of the major U.S. cities, often being dwarfed by American metropolises.
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, with an estimated population of over 2.2 million in an area measuring just 141 square miles in total, meaning buildings in its urban areas are tightly grouped together.
By that U.N. population approximation, there are on average around 15,600 people in every square mile of the territory. Compared to many sprawling cities in the U.S., the area it occupies is relatively minute.
The Israeli government claims an area of 8,630 square miles, including the contested Golan Heights region claimed by Syria. It has an estimated population of 9.1 million, with density of around 1,135 people on average per square mile, owing to the nation's rural and desert regions, according to census statistics.
When its footprint is overlaid onto New York City, it covers an area roughly the size of Manhattan, the Bronx and Hoboken, New Jersey, combined.
An overlay of the boundaries of the Gaza Strip over Los Angeles. Google Earth / U.S. Geological Survey
My god that's depressing, but I think you're 100% correct. I think about this every time I watch another piece of media where yet another rich, beautiful, tv/movie star (even when they're coded as being plain and poor) is completely consumed with solving their SUPER important in-universe problem, a problem which if thought about for more than 3 seconds is actually the most trivial, mundane, and ultimately inconsequential "problem," one that is easily solved when you consider the star's exceptionally privileged material conditions at their disposal, yet is still totally a universally relatable problem of course.
People watch that over and over and think "so that's what American's problems are like! Those lucky bastards! The culture I live in should be more like theirs, and then my problems would be more like theirs too." even if it's all subconscious. I mean, I know it happens to me way more than I like to admit even though I try to be aware of it and fight it off in my own mind. The soft power of hegemony as propagated through entertainment mediums is deep as fuck, insidious, tenacious, and overwhelmingly effective. One of the main reasons it works so well is that people like to think they're immune to propaganda and are just having fun consuming some treats. (trying to channel @UlyssesT with that last sentence, he knew what I'm talking about.)