It's crazy how military families are so into being in the military, out how proud they are of being Marines, etc. They're literally doing the governments dirty work.
The question is: why would they be proud of being marines?
I mean, marines are the cannon fodder in every alien invasion movie, so, with that knowledge, that military branch is composed of useless moving targets.
I don't know if you've lived in rural America, but I have, and the fast track to quasi-celebrity status out there is to join the Marines or get KIAd. Americans have been heavily propagandized about making the great and noble sacrifice to "defend the country".
Yeah, the US, particularly rural US, has been propagandized an absolutely ridiculous amount. Being seen to sacrifice or die for the empire is seen as a glorious thing both in and for your community.
Originally i would agree but i am referencing how things are today as that’s what the meme is referencing.
If you asked Americans today if they are the rebels or the empire the folks I know concede that we are the empire. We are the ones going into other peoples home towns with military occupation.
I think we're more like the Alliance from Firefly.
Most people are just trying to go about their day-to-day, and the war and major imperialism was done a long time ago. Now there are a few in the government who keep doing evil shit, but for the most part it's a big useless bureaucracy.
That people don't know about because it isn't covered in the media unless you actively look for that info. So it might as well have happened a long time ago
In Warhammer 40K, the Imperium of Man are awful, but they're the 'good guys' because they're human, any every other species is even more awful and would wipe humanity out given the chance
Most of the independent human systems doing just fine without the Imperium tyvm
Eldar
Some Necrons, maaaaybe. It's hard to tell with them sometimes.
Hrud mostly seem to just want to be left alone.
A lot of aliens just chilling
Fun Fact: the Imperium doesn't actually span most of the galaxy. Nor do they really "control" the area around their systems.
Because of how FTL works in 40k, some areas just aren't accessible to them. There's a full on insectoid empire called the Q'orl near Terra that they didn't have access to or know about until the Warp currents shifted.
And apparently their technology is even enough to be a potential threat... And the Imperium learned this when they immediately tried to kill them, obviously
Ah yes you can join our 'Greater Good' if you volunteer to be our slaves and castrate yourself. Also if you change your mind and try to leave we'll kill you.
Yes, that is the justification most Americans use; western chauvinism tells them that no matter how bad they are, the other places are worse. How many times on Lemmy do you see people say "America bad, but China or Russia or Iran would be worse (therefore we're justified in facilitating massive bloodshed)?"
It's used to justify bombing Yemen, support the genocide in Palestine, escalating the proxy war against Russia, and starting one against China.
You can get a social democrat to acknowledge that every conflict America has supported since WWII has made make the world worse, and they'll still insist that this time, it's different.
I for one wouldn't have used unrest as a chance to do a coup. But if I did, I wouldn't have planned who to install in what positions over an unsecure line.
And so, Ukraine would have stayed a democracy that is more economically aligned with Russia, and Russia wouldn't have invaded.
I for one, wouldn't have spent 40 years trying to overthrow a proletarian democracy, eventually succeeding in sponsoring a coup.
So Ukraine and Russia wouldn't be right wing nationalist nations and would instead be part of a progressive federation.
The path where America is not in control and making the decisions for the rest of the world doesn’t even enter the liberalist mind. The inability to imagine an alternative world order is heavily ingrained and maintained by fear of “the other.”
The portions of Ukraine that Western Ukraine was shelling before the invasion.
The lines have hardly moved in a year, despite thousands more dead and millions more displaced. Every bomb we send is a bad day for someone, statistically mostly civilians. To send more bombs is to sacrifice more people, for the same geopolitical outcome.
He pulled it from nowhere because tankies are incapable of nuance, especially if you hold an even mildly dissenting opinion. You're either with them or against them, there is no in-between. It's ironic how much they share in common with actual fascists.