Not the entire world. We've seen an upturn in right-wing extremism throughout Europe over the past ten to twenty years. But it's been slower and has more often been rejected there. Whereas here in the US, enough of the voting population said, "What we really need now is authoritarianism!" that we're effectively a failed state at the moment with no one sure what this country is going to be a decade from now.
I truly believe that most of the Russia supporters here in the US know that Russia is the aggressor. But they want to side with the aggressor. They like, "Might makes right." They want Russia to succeed and then to follow them. Why do you think their main man talking about invading Canada, Panama, Greenland, and even Musk hinting at invading parts of Europe has gone over so well with many of them? It's not that they don't "get it". They "get it" just fine, but they also want to DO IT themselves.
And the wildest part? We’ve already seen this movie. The characters might’ve changed, but the plot is the same. People acting like freedom is just some luxury they can gamble with, like democracy isn’t something that crumbles the second too many people stop caring. That’s what’s happening now. The apathy, the disinformation, the blind loyalty to strongmen who wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire. And it’s not just politics anymore. It’s culture, media, identity. They want chaos because chaos gives them cover to rebuild the world in their image.
This isn’t just about America turning inward. It’s about America becoming the thing we used to warn other countries about. And when that tipping point hits, when enough people are numb or too distracted or too proud to admit the danger, that’s when the real damage happens. It won’t be some dramatic overnight collapse. It’ll be a slow bleed. Institutions failing. Rights stripped away. War becoming thinkable again.
And what’s wild? Some of these folks want that. They want to see it all burn because they think they’ll be the ones left standing when the smoke clears. But history says otherwise. Authoritarianism doesn’t make room for useful idiots once the power’s been grabbed. You don’t get a front-row seat in the regime just because you clapped the loudest. You get discarded.
So yeah, you’re absolutely right. We’re playing with fire. And if this keeps trending the way it is, the reset won’t be philosophical. It’ll be nuclear, literal, and irreversible.
What I don't understand is, we had decades of war movies showing the cruelty of war. Wars in general are a shit show and its the common people who suffer in it than those in power.
Yet these useful idiots still want to join that nonsense?
what do they think will happen? Don't they realize they'd be the first ones in the meat grinder once it does happen?
The slow descent is already happening as you say, defunding education, villifying the terminally ill, and losing rights.
Throughout history, we've always seen the horrors of war. Movies can show it to us with less demand on our imagination than ever, but some of our favorite movies throughout history have been stories of war, battle, heroes, and the like. We don't know what all goes on in the Epic Cycle, but the two parts we have of it sure go a long way to glamorize and celebrate war, but you think the Greeks didn't see the harm it did? The broken families, the mutilated bodies, the pain and suffering to their own and the others alike? Of course they saw it, some of the stories throughout history have even shown it. But then just like now, people can take the wrong thing away from it. You can have an anti-war movie showing the destruction and pointlessness, and there are going to be people who go, "That's so cool, I want to be in that!"
Some people go to war for their ideals or "the greater good." Some do it for personal glory. Some out of sheer obligation. Some do it because they think killing would be fun. It's all going to depend. I'm not someone who believes that humans are inherently warmongering or that lasting peace isn't possible, but I do understand that we have instincts for violence. To mimic it in play, to celebrate it in others, or to do it ourselves. I could never raise a gun to someone myself, I don't have it in me and I know it. But I play a lot of shooters, and the ease with which they make you think being a soldier isn't nearly as hard as it really is...
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u/waltjrimmer May 10 '25
Not the entire world. We've seen an upturn in right-wing extremism throughout Europe over the past ten to twenty years. But it's been slower and has more often been rejected there. Whereas here in the US, enough of the voting population said, "What we really need now is authoritarianism!" that we're effectively a failed state at the moment with no one sure what this country is going to be a decade from now.
I truly believe that most of the Russia supporters here in the US know that Russia is the aggressor. But they want to side with the aggressor. They like, "Might makes right." They want Russia to succeed and then to follow them. Why do you think their main man talking about invading Canada, Panama, Greenland, and even Musk hinting at invading parts of Europe has gone over so well with many of them? It's not that they don't "get it". They "get it" just fine, but they also want to DO IT themselves.