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General Discussion / Re: Emotional Responses to War in Ukraine - Trollbait 2.0
« on: February 21, 2024, 01:27:55 pm »True, but the majority of American citizens are more than happy to save a one-time $100 payment today but have to spend $1000 in 10 years. Because apparently they can't see the long term cost of not preventing aggressive international behavior as being more than the short-term cost. Congress should say: look US population, it's in your best interest to stop this nonsense, because it really is going to cost us more in the future*.This is literally the opposite of how a democracy is supposed to work. You are describing an aristocracy, where the people in charge pursue their own interests because they think they know better. In a democracy, officials must answer to their constituents. Constituents are often short-sighted or easily swayed, a flaw of democracy that has been commented on since ancient Athens; nevertheless.
The current US culture just isn't interested in stamping out injustice - or I should say, they only care about what they perceive as injustices to themselves, not to other people.
It's all very disappointing.
*The cynic in me, though, is that Congress itself just doesn't care - they don't care about long-term success and stability, just short-term profit.
That said - what's the rest of Europe doing? I don't get the impression (which could be wrong, of course) that the EU is actually trying to stop Russia either, or give Ukraine what it needs to actually stop Russia.
It's all very disappointing (repeated for emphasis).
"Look, we need to support the murderous autocracy that is attempting to lie and murder their way to victory."
"Why?"
"Well, because the local aristocracy (wealthy republicans) says we're supposed to support them!"