The quote from Tropico 5 game when you get to the World War 2 era sums up my view of the West, including USA, when you have to choose a side: “One is bombing people. The other-- is evil!”
I have no problem with most ordinary people in the West, but the Western ruling class is purposefully being hypocritical by championing democracy, but deprives it from others when it is convenient for them. From anti-colonial perspective, Western colonialism is bad and brutal, but fascism is more overt so the Western-held colonies chose the lesser evil during the war, even though fascists explicitly state they took inspiration of their ideas and practices from Western colonialism. The eugenics, the sub-humanisation of others, and expansionism as a divine right all came from the West; but somehow when others do it, the West is like “whoah you are going too far!” The same Western hypocrisy is what inspired Putin to invade Ukraine. The US-led West got away with illegal invasions since Iraq, which prompted Putin to think “if they can do it, we can’t I?” If the West really wants rules based order and international law to prevail, they have to practice what they preach.
The meme of fascism is capitalism when the going gets tough, I have said it since Trump came back to office that fascism is only showing the true face of America. It’s always been like that and the country has never been a democracy since the beginning. People no longer want a fake veneers of decorum and smiles, platitudes and empty promises. They demand authenticity. That’s why Trump was elected because “he tells it like it is”, which it is. People want fewer migrants, you get ICE. People want jobs to come back, you get tariffs. You don’t want anymore illegal foreign interventions? You get isolationism. And yet, when Trump did the things people want, we are like “okay you went too far and that is not what we asked for.” The fascism happening in America right now is removing the mask of fake civility and presenting the true face of the country. To drive home the point further, in the movie The Shining, one of the key themes is the violent history and founding of America, the bartender quipped to villain Jack Torrance “you’ve always been the caretaker.” US has always been the caretaker.
The quote from Tropico 5 game when you get to the World War 2 era sums up my view of the West, including USA, when you have to choose a side: “One is bombing people. The other-- is evil!”
I have no problem with most ordinary people in the West, but the Western ruling class is purposefully being hypocritical by championing democracy, but deprives it from others when it is convenient for them. From anti-colonial perspective, Western colonialism is bad and brutal, but fascism is more overt so the Western-held colonies chose the lesser evil during the war, even though fascists explicitly state they took inspiration of their ideas and practices from Western colonialism. The eugenics, the sub-humanisation of others, and expansionism as a divine right all came from the West; but somehow when others do it, the West is like “whoah you are going too far!” The same Western hypocrisy is what inspired Putin to invade Ukraine. The US-led West got away with illegal invasions since Iraq, which prompted Putin to think “if they can do it, we can’t I?” If the West really wants rules based order and international law to prevail, they have to practice what they preach.
The meme of fascism is capitalism when the going gets tough, I have said it since Trump came back to office that fascism is only showing the true face of America. It’s always been like that and the country has never been a democracy since the beginning. People no longer want a fake veneers of decorum and smiles, platitudes and empty promises. They demand authenticity. That’s why Trump was elected because “he tells it like it is”, which it is. People want fewer migrants, you get ICE. People want jobs to come back, you get tariffs. You don’t want anymore illegal foreign interventions? You get isolationism. And yet, when Trump did the things people want, we are like “okay you went too far and that is not what we asked for.” The fascism happening in America right now is removing the mask of fake civility and presenting the true face of the country. To drive home the point further, in the movie The Shining, one of the key themes is the violent history and founding of America, the bartender quipped to villain Jack Torrance “you’ve always been the caretaker.” US has always been the caretaker.