The kitten-burners seem to fulfill some urgent need. They give us someone we can clearly and correctly say we’re better than. Their extravagant cruelty makes us feel better about ourselves because we know that we would never do what they have done. They thus function as signposts of depravity, reassuring the rest of us that we’re Not As Bad As them, and thus letting us tell ourselves that this is the same thing as us being good.

"During the cold war, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them.

“If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.”

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“The Soviet Union liberated Europe from fascism, and Europe will never forgive them for it.”

The invisible white supremacy at the center of liberalism: “You can’t believe what those people say about their country; they’re inherently untrustworthy. Only the word of white people is credible.”

The fact that you and I are allowed to post about America’s past transgressions and speak highly critically of the government (and believe it or not, I do that quite a lot) is proof that we as a global superpower are freer than them

I’ll be sure to tell this to my friend who got his skull cracked and phone stolen by cops for protesting our involvement in Israel’s genocide.

Compared to what?

Just after Kremlin stops funding nazis in my country

I would’ve thought you would appreciate the Nazis since back in '41 they brought you the liberation from Russia you so sorely desire

It’s still projection. You are incapable of caring about the genocide of millions, and so you assume that everyone else is too.

P.S.

war thing everyone gets so invested in yet no one does anything about beyond participating in thinly veiled socialization rituals and including symbols of support into their wardrobes and memes.

I can see how you’d think that if you didn’t make any attempt at all to understand what Angel was trying to tell you.

This is a discussion about piracy.

You’re the one who brought up veganism you complete fucking clown

Carnists don’t count

Insects, crustaceans, and mollusks do not have any form of consciousness.

I do not believe animals to be sentient

And why do you believe that?

I do not equate death or servitude with suffering.

So you wouldn’t have any objections if you were taken as a slave and worked to death, right? Because those aren’t suffering?

I have no issues with someone not supporting animal torture, but I take issue with self-righteous people such as yourself who can’t help but talk about how superior their choices are.

There is no functional difference between your original text and my bolded replacement. To be a carnist is to, through your actions, support animal torture.

Same reason vegans hate on omnivores - they’ve taken the high road and the benefits are small while the cost is high.

Nah, that’s not why we hate you

Communism allows everyone to pretend to have free stuff by declaring those that actually make it less than human, and thus less than citizens.

Your crops are picked by exploited immigrants, the coltan in your electronics mined by African child slaves, and the electronics themselves assembled on 14-hour shifts by sweatshop workers under capitalism. And you still have to pay for them.

What you’re describing are colonialism and slavery, both of which are time-honored, bedrock capitalist institutions.