Stiff;8103401 said:
this post epitomizes American hypocrisy.
at some point, repeated bold declarations of someone else's hypocrisy are simply one's own hypocrisy.
janklow;8103318 said:
Well I'm sorry you feel that way. Especially being that America totes itself as a beacon of democracy and justice worldwide (until democracy and justice is inconvenient)
are you going to tell me with a straight face that a country like Cuba DOESN'T tout themselves as a beacon of (insert positive values here)? because this is a thing that every country does.
Stiff;8103401 said:
You think America should get a pass because we don't send checks to dictators that say "Mass Murder Money" in the memo line?
i think we should bash America for supporting dictators and not give Cuba a pass either. is that hard to do?
Stiff;8103401 said:
And no, you didn't explicitly say that it was appropriate for America to do that…but when you say things like " Cuba have this weird fandom where a guy like Castro can literally reign as a dictator for decades and be seen as a force of righteous freedom" I find it ironic…when you have a government in America that goes from nation to nation installing autocrats, paying for mass murders to be done to protect its interests and policies that oppress its own minorities…all while maintaining sizable fandom.
and yet, here's the thing: if we come into this thread and criticize American policies for whatever reason, that's cool. and it should be. but if we criticize Cuba, how dare we exhibit American hypocrisy, because Cuba ... uh ... well, we're not going to be defending Cuba here for some reason.
you want to talk about hypocrisy? giving a country like Cuba a pass for anything bad it does because America has also done bad things is the most common kind of hypocrisy found on this forum. and i am still going to point out that if you think the US president or Congress sucks, you can at least vote against them and see them leave office in this country. it IS a little easier to take your "beacon of freedom" stance when your country isn't run by one of those murderous autocrats.
janklow;8103318 said:
I'm comparing killings of United States citizens by government in the United States (as opposed to the United States Government) to killings by government in Cuba. Stop looking for arbitrary technicalities (nice try though).
i know, i know, it's very difficult to debate a topic without making it personal.
the distinction i'm making is that a local jurisdiction in the US can have policies that result in a police officer killing someone that are not directed by the federal government. per your breakdown, that doesn't happen in Cuba because the equivalent is part and parcel of the federal government and thus directed by it. further, if we're talking about rounding up and executing prisoners, this is actually different than police officers shooting people because of some bullshit law or their own personal issues.
janklow;8103318 said:
And yes of course there are distinctions-
sorry, that's "arbitrary technicalities," i think.
janklow;8103318 said:
-but I don't think either one is better than the other..we have two scenarios where the government is killing its citizens…both without trial. Sure you can say "oh it's not the exact same situation as in Cuba so it's automatically not as bad" but in actuality very few developed countries (if any) kills it's citizens at the same rate the United States does.
fine, don't say "the US is better than Cuba." but this is not an argument that says Cuba can't be criticized.
also, the "developed countries" theory starts this slippery slope where someone names a country and someone else has to argue why that country is not "developed." so you might want to define what that means before someone starts telling me why Mexico and Russia aren't developed nations (completely separate debate, but one that got weird in that regard).
janklow;8103318 said:
And as far as comparisons being raw numbers vs per capita…I can only guess.
i don't know exactly what this means, because your statement was "It's a slower drip which gives comparable numbers," which implies, whatever the figures, you have SOME basis for the claim, right? so is the basis raw numbers of people killed? or a per capita thing? or literally just a feeling?
Stiff;8100162 said:
Lol you would argue that now wouldn't you.
right, i would, but i would also be more interested in debating the topic than the people making it. so there's that as well.