fantoozie
Ironically, the FDA is actually moving towards mass vaccination of industrial chicken and cow operations!
https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-conditionally-approves-vaccine-protect-poultry-avian-flu
Your last post did ask if you should feel personally ashamed for the history of French colonialism so I was responding to that in particular. Maybe you meant it rhetorically but I didn’t perceive it that way so I figured I’d share my thoughts.
I do disagree with your final point, but I can clearly see I have a much different perspective on the West than you, so I won’t dive into that. Ill simply mention that whatever vibe you think you’re getting from these comments may be a good catalyst for you to critically think about how these narratives make you feel and why that is so, since it seems that you’re frustrated over some perceived threat to your belief system. If anyone is arguing in absolutes than I wouldn’t invest much energy into their arguments, but from where I’m looking I don’t see much of that; just people engaging in good-faith discourse about very complex subjects.
I would say your argument necessarily assumes that American hegemony has been a net good for the Global South, when in fact it has not. Foreign aid and development funds have created incremental progress in vital areas such as treatment for certain infectious diseases and emancipation of women globally (which is important; I’m not arguing that it’s ALL bad), but the countries on the receiving end of those funds have unequivocally stated that they’d rather engage with the West as equal partners in trade and economic integration rather than be subject to asymmetrical policies that only perpetuate their status as cheap wells of natural resources and labor. The fact that the current Administration is rescinding that aid without considering the repurcussions gives immense weight to their arguments, in my opinion.
I think an unrecognized issue is that Pax Americana was good for living standards in the West, but its implementation necessitated the creation of an underclass to subsidize that growth; much in the same way that domestically, we have an underclass of wage-earners, incarcerated laborers, and immigrants that subsidizes the outsized wealth of a few individuals. I think, given the circumstances, it’s not unreasonable that people living in the periphery would rather take ANY change than continue living under the boot of American neoliberal economic ideology.
While the devil you know could possibly be better than the one you don’t, the world is ripe for a transformation that recognizes the shortcomings of the West. Without having that conversation, I don’t see how you can expect people to sign in to the notion America should remain at the top of the international order. The argument that ‘it could be so much worse’ is actually quite condescending.
Color me surprised that the Democrats have as much blame for our current situation as the Republicans. Nobody, NOBODY, wanted to return to normal; they wanted real change and the best they got was state-sponsored financing for tech companies and unequal economic policies
The same DNC that stole the 2016 primary nomination from the only candidate to accurately voice the concerns of their constituents?
The same DNC that happily takes money from AIPAC to turn their heads to Palestinian genocide, and then refused to have a primary in 2024?
The same DNC that bailed out the corporate finance industry in 2008 and told everyone who foreclosed on their homes to suck a lemon?
The same DNC that just capitulated to Trump and continues to appear fascism because they’re too scared to lose their “good billionaire” donors?
The sooner we see the Democrats for the fraud and complacency they embody the faster we can build a REAL progressive party
Open your eyes buddy; we’re already there and the DNC is just protecting their donors while continuing to shit on the working class. Protecting GOP privatisation of the government and oppressive autocracy prevention is moot, especially after the US spent the majority of its reign as the world premiere superpower inducing those same exact policies on Latin American and Southeast Asian countries .