Archangel1313

@Archangel1313@lemmy.ca

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Have you ever heard the expression, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”?

  Yeah. Apparently you’ve only got one tool in your toolbox.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Man, see you should try looking at this conversation from an external perspective. I say one thing…you make it all about the US. I say something else…you turn it back to being all about the US. I point out that you keep making everything all about the US…and you find a way to blame the US again.

  If I were a relationship counselor, my advice to you, would be that you should stop blaming other people for your problems, and start taking responsibility for your choices. Because as long as you are stuck in the mindset that everything you do, is someone else’s fault, you are never going to be able to move on with your life and grow as a person.

  But, what do I know? The US is terrible, so obviously China has no choice about anything. It’s inevitable that as long as the US exists, they will have no choice but to constantly react defensively to US influence. It’s pretty pathetic, that no one in charge of that country has any free will, to even try and do better than that. Right? US influence is simply too powerful.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Nah, that’s ok, buddy…your firehose did the job. I don’t have the energy to sift through all that, and really have no inclination to defend the US. I think it’s fairly sad that you’re trying to put me in a position where you think should have to, in order to make a point.

  That’s pretty disingenuous, given the fact that I’ve repeatedly told you I don’t side with them. So, if you insist on putting me on their side of this conversation, then I’m out. Gaslight someone else.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Wow. There is so much make-believe bullshit in there, that I don’t even know how to respond to it all. I would just love to see you go back through that comment, and attach sources for any of your claims.

  I am no fan of the US, but I at least have the intellectual integrity to not just make shit up, to satisfy my pre-existing biases. Good grief, dude. Have you no shame?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  The US isn’t behaving defensively, it’s behaving offensively. Maybe that’s why you’re confused about my position.

  It’s funny that you think your opinion about their motives even matters here. It doesn’t. They can say whatever they want in defense of their crimes…just like China can. China is literally using the exact same defense of their actions in the SCS. What makes their excuses valid, while the US’s excuses are not?

  Let’s look at your analogy, from a rational perspective…I assume the “neo Nazis” you’re talking about, represent the US? So, you’re suggesting that the US has been roving around in the South China Sea, randomly robbing and killing people recently, and that China is only trying to protect itself? When did these attacks happen? Because the US hasn’t been involved in any conflicts in that region since at least the end of the Vietnam war. That makes your entire analogy invalid. China isn’t “defending itself” against anyone. No one in that region is currently threatening China, in any way.

  It’s just a bullshit excuse, no different than the one the US is trying to use in the Caribbean.

  That’s why reasons like these are not valid justifications for breaking the law. You don’t just get to pick and choose what laws apply to you, based on your excuses. You either think they should apply to everyone equally…or you don’t. And if you don’t…then you can’t complain when other people ignore those laws, too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  You know there’s “context” here though, right? I was responding directly to the article this post is about.

  Wanting to talk about everything else, is what makes it “whataboutism”. Whataboutism’s goal is to change the subject. It’s a form of deflection. It’s the introduction of a wide range of unrelated details, that have nothing to do with the original point being made.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Ok, so did you not actually read my comment? I have no idea what you’re even responding to here.

  I literally said the US has no right to police international waters, no matter what their “justification”. Just like you can’t close the street in front of your house, just because you’re worried that criminals might use it. It doesn’t belong to you, and you can’t prevent other people from using it just because you feel threatened.

  I’m starting to be a little confused by your argument here. Are you in favor of the US’s actions in the Caribbean? Because you seem to be making the argument that they have the right to “defend themselves” in this manner. Or is it just China that should be allowed to do stuff like this, and the US is still wrong?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Why does it matter for you if the blockade involve the military or not? At the end of the day the effects on Cubans are real and goes against international laws.

  Sanctions don’t necessarily violate international laws. And particularly in Cuba’s case, they don’t actually prevent anyone other than the United States from trading with Cuba. As far as I recall, the only other country that is actively participating in the “Cuban blockade”, is Israel. The point being…the “blockade” is almost entirely symbolic, unless you believe that trade with the US is somehow the only way Cuba can sustain itself.

  But, again…none of this has anything to do with China’s recent criticism of US actions in the Caribbean…which is what I was responding to with my comment. The reason I keep calling your arguments “whataboutism”, is because none of them have anything to do with the context of either my statements, or the statements that China made, that I was responding to. If China was talking about Cuba…sure…then Cuba is part of that conversation. If China was bringing up Israel…sure…lets talk about Israel. But they weren’t talking ab out any of those things. The only reason we’re talking about them at all, is because you keep swinging back to them, despite them having nothing to do with what I was responding to.

  You just bringing them up to say, “but, whatabout this thing that the US did that was really bad?”, and “whatabout that other thing the US did that was also bad?” Why not bring up WW2 while you’re at it? Or Vietnam? How about Nixon? Or Ronald Reagan? Those guys were terrible too. Whatabout we talk about the entire history of the US, and see if that distracts from the specific context that this entire conversation was actually about?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Transcribed text of Samantha Fulnecky's assignment, paper, and professor's comments⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Her paper would have been perfectly appropriate, if she was taking a Bible studies course. Definitely not appropriate for a psychology course though, unless faith was included in the topic of the article she was asked to read.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Lol! Ummm, yeah. You get that those examples are not the same thing, though…right? The US isn’t actually “blockading” Cuba with military vessels in order to prevent traffic to and from the country. Don’t get me wrong…what they’re doing to Cuba is wrong. But it has nothing to do with illegally policing international waters.

  And bringing up Israel, when talking about China / US similarities, is also not applicable. They have nothing to do with either situation. They’re committing their own crimes, completely independent of those being committed by China and the US.

  This is what makes it “whataboutism”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  “The worst” is the subject of their criticism. Are you expecting them to criticize themselves? Because if they did, that would be a rare example of self-awareness on their part…not an act of hypocrisy.

  But considering China has been blatantly and willfully violating the neutrality of international waters for years now, it is surprising they don’t see their own hypocrisy here. A fitting analogy would be Russia criticizing Israel for stealing land from Palestinians. Sure, you can make some arguments about the scale of the comparison…but it’s basically a “pot calling the kettle black” scenario, all the same.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Your entire premise is actually backwards. You are claiming that international laws are arbitrary, and don’t have any “moral/ethical value”. That is completely incorrect. They are based on common sense, fair practices that seek to reduce or eliminate conflict between nations. The entire point is to sustain a moral and ethical balance, where everyone’s rights are respected.

  It isn’t the same thing as declaring cryptography illegal. That would be an example of an arbitrary law. In the case of international waters being open for anyone’s use, it is anything but arbitrary. Other countries have every right to use those waters for trade and travel. Restricting their access to those waters represents an infringement on their rights.

  What you’re saying China had every right to do, directly violates someone else’s right to do the same thing. That is why it is illegal. No one is out there in the South China Sea, stopping China from moving through the area, are they? No one is stopping them from sending ships past the North American coast to Panama either. The US has no right to patrol those waters and harass ships that use them…because those waters belong to everyone.

  What the US is doing right now in the Caribbean however, IS illegal for exactly the same reason. It’s even worse, because they’re also just blowing up boats that they claim are transporting drugs…but even if all they were doing was seizing those vessels or harassing traffic through the area…they would still be violating the law.

  It doesn’t matter what justification they claimed they had, regarding their own “security”…they have no right to restrict other countries access to trade and travel, through territory that belongs to everyone.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I never said China was worse…only that they’re also violating the very same laws they’re criticizing the US for violating. If the hypocrisy wasn’t so on-the-nose, I wouldn’t have said anything…but this is just laughable.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t think you know what “whataboutism” means, then. It’s when you deflect to something unrelated, instead of focusing on the topic in question. In this case, the topic in question was LITERALLY China accusing the US of violating international law, specifically in regards to maritime law.

  There is no better irony, than China…who is currently violating international law, specifically in regards to maritime law…criticizing the US for doing exactly the same thing. See, how I didn’t change the subject? It was LITERALLY the subject already.

  Pointing out someone’s hypocrisy isn’t whataboutism, if the subject is the same. Otherwise the entire concept of calling out hypocrisy would be considered a logical fallacy. It’s only whataboutism, if you are bringing up unrelated topics in order to change the subject.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Oh, so what China is doing is “bad”…but they’re doing it for “good reasons”? I find it hard to believe that you don’t see how disingenuous that argument is.

  Americans have been hiding behind their own sense.of exceptionalism to justify all kinds of bad behavior. Small transgressions. Large ones. Doesn’t matter. They have an excuse for all of it, because they think the rules don’t apply to them. They think that because “(insert excuse here)”, they have the right to ignore them.

  All you’re doing is making the same arguments that they do…you’re just doing it for China instead of the US, and acting like it’s SO different when China does it, because the US did it worse. It’s not a valid argument.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  That was a whole lot of words to say “USA bad for ignoring international law…but China good for ignoring it”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s a whole lot of whataboutism to deflect from the point I was making.

  To be clear…as I said previously…I’m not defending the US.

  I’m just pointing out how ridiculous it is that China is calling them out. The fact that Russia is saying it too, is equally hilarious. It’s like watching a bunch of career criminals all calling each other crooks. It’s about as disingenuous as it gets.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  By ramming fishing boats with military vessels.

  And are you saying that China can just pick and choose which international laws it follows and which ones it doesn’t? “Oh, we didn’t agree to that one…so it doesn’t apply to us.”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Cool. What does that have to do with China claiming to own international waters?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Their entire “claim” to the South China Sea, which completely disregards both international and maritime law. You can’t lay claim to international waters…but try telling China that. They regularly harass and even attack boats from neighboring countries, that are operating within their own coastal economic zones.

  Don’t get me wrong…I’m not defending the US in any way…but China is the last country with any credible right to criticize other countries for playing fast and loose with maritime laws.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China says US broke international law by seizing oil tankers off Venezuela⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Oh, now they suddenly care about international law?

  Lol! smh.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨US | Trump officials halt offshore wind-farm projects over ‘national security risks’⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Prove it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨NSW premier calls for royal commission, pledges to ban 'globalise the intifada' chant⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  You know banning the phrase doesn’t eliminate the idea, right? These people are not terribly smart, are they?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why Katy Perry is using a sexualized version of the Romulan uniform?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  She’s an astronaut.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨meee⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, that went dark.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Rachel Reeves Says Progressive People Should Be Zionists⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s about the most schizophrenic response to Zionism I’ve ever heard.

  “It’s ok to criticize the Israeli government’s actions, as long as you unconditionally accept the ideology that motivates them.” - this crazy lady

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨US demands access to tourists' social media histories⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Oh, man. Anyone else remember how Republicans used to threaten to exercise their 2A rights in response to filling out a basic census report?

  Yeah. I miss the days when those folks were considered the standard for “Conservative values”. They were practically antifa back then.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨French far right wants to reopen brothels and put sex workers in charge⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  That doesn’t sound very “far-right”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Capitalism isn't the problem, THIS is the problem, and I've watched it roll over us for 40 years. [3 min. video]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  There’s nothing wrong with regulating the economy.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Capitalism isn't the problem, THIS is the problem, and I've watched it roll over us for 40 years. [3 min. video]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  If you want to end Capitalism, you would need to get rid of the stock market and ban financial shareholding entirely. Make investing illegal, and you would remove the primary mechanism for worker exploitation.