KurtVonnegut

He's pressing the Solarpunk button.

Here's a good interview with a Marxist who has written books on the Arab Spring: https://catalyst-journal.com/2020/12/the-arab-spring-a-decade-later

Here is another interview with a middle east reporter: https://jacobin.com/2020/11/arab-spring-fundamentalism-corporatism-class-struggle-labor-power

And here is a good, 250 page book by leftist author Vijay Prashad, who also wrote the popular "Washington Bullets," about the CIA and American anticommunism: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29563632-the-death-of-the-nation-and-the-future-of-the-arab-revolution

I like to imagine that's what Lenin thought every day between, like, 1906-1917. Just a decade of "this shit is never going to end, it will only get worse, and no one is fucking listening to me."

Kissinger is smiling in hell right now.

: "Go gett'em, kid."

The ball is in Iran's court now, essentially. Hard to predict what their leadership will do.

'It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal.'

Why did Saudi Arabia not simply make their country non-flammable?

I'm not sure why Hitler didn't do that.

Well, the one of the immediate causes of the Nazis' rise to power was widespread German resentment over France's demand for huge reparations payments after Germany lost WWI. In fact, France even annexed the profitable territory of Alsace–Lorraine back from Germany, after Germany had taken it from France following the Franco-Prussian War. France and Germany were literally fighting over that territory since 843 when Charlemagne essentially created France and Germany by giving the two regions to two rival sons, who both cooperated to invade the third son sandwiched between them. Anyway, Hitler invaded France first because it was very popular with the people of Germany, especially his Nazi followers, who wanted revenge over the WWI reparations payments. He also wanted to take pictures in Paris, standing in front of the conquered Eiffel tower - here's a picture of him cutting some propaganda doing just that: https://www.annefrank.org/media/filer_public_thumbnails/filer_public/88/ca/88ca45d2-50c5-400c-afa6-f8755d8f84fb/hitler_speer_y_breker_en_paris_23_de_junio_de_1940.jpg__1536x1536_q85_ALIAS-limit_large_subsampling-2.jpg

Yeah, based on everything I've learned about Iran, it has 1) the geographical difficulty of Afghanistan, 2) the ideological commitment of the North Vietnamese, and 3) the ability and motivation to destroy their rival Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure, benefitting them and Russia and raising America and Europe's energy prices. America could only win the most Pyrrhic of victories, and just like in Afghanistan, the USA would lose power immediately after withdrawing. From a leftist perspective, Iran should 100% be left on its own, so that its urban bourgeoisie can wage its own native battle against the conservative religious theocracy. There is a growing home-grown feminist movement in Iran, and a small group of secular technocrats who are fighting for power against the entrenched religious elites. Foreign intervention, in the form of an American invasion, would only strengthen the right-wing war-hawks of Iran. Peace, as China is pushing for, is what we all should want. A war between America and Iran would be a disaster of generation-defining importance which would probably only strengthen fascist tendencies in both countries.

Reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgt_kJQdjes

The only approach we can take as outsiders

Outsiders? OUTSIDERS? The Prime Minister of Israel is literally from Philadelphia. They are the 51st state. Israel is an American military base with some decorations on top. It's like saying America should not interfere with South Korea vs. North Korea. A bit late for that!

back the regional coalitions we already back and avoid escalating

That is literally what protesters are asking for. We are asking for Biden to pressure Israel into not escalating. But then liberals get mad that roads are blocked off etc. because that's not "the right way" to push for de-escalation. What is the right way? Any way that doesn't actually work. Any way where activism is limited only to superficial cultural consumption. Those are the boundaries of liberal politics.

It's only called a Fed if it comes from the Quantico region of Virginia. Otherwise, it's just a sparkling hog.