There’s a simpler explanation: people who aren’t shitbags are made unhappy by being beaten down by shitbags, and the shitbags becoming more openly shitty.
You don’t need to bring a geopolitical philosophy into it.
The failing power of the empire and the rising resistance of the global south instills them with a sense of nihilism, because we are supposed to be enlightened and civilized (though we can no longer be said to be, with the rise of overt fascism in the west), while our enemies are regressive, authoritarian barbarians - two equal evils fighting each other, with no hope for anything better
No one is being instilled with a sense of nihilism because of a loss of American influence in the global south, and no one really gives a shit about our enemies and their moral character. People care about stuff like “healthcare”, “poverty”, “civil rights”, “not burning the world”.
The world, and life itself, is complicated and messy in 2026, and an awareness of it and the constant, always on vigilance of keeping up with all of the moral responsibility of trying to build a life that allows you to look yourself in the mirror every day in a world built to usher everyone into maintaining exploitative systems is draining and crushing.
If you don’t have to do that because you’re either ignorant of the machinery you’re part of, or don’t care, you just get to go about your life.
e: I misread your original post, I thought you were saying that both sides in the war were shitbags. I still think it’s too simple of an explanation in general, though. Such circumstances deserve a deeper look.
Why do you think things need a more complex explanation?
Do you really feel like this Iran incursion is somehow significant feeling compared to Iraq or Afghanistan?
Do you actually think that the hegemonic status of the US really enters into the consideration of most people, to say nothing of having a significant impact on their emotions? Do you think an awareness of that would actually make people feel better?
people openly supporting nazi’s are indeed simply shitbags
and yes non shitbags are sad to see people suffer, that is called empathy, it is only confusing to the shitbag party in the US because they generally lack said empathy
Yeah, definitely, but the world is much more complex than that. The current state of affairs is a result of historical contingency, and it isn’t going to last forever. As I have attempted to get across, the tide is already changing.
There’s a simpler explanation: people who aren’t shitbags are made unhappy by being beaten down by shitbags, and the shitbags becoming more openly shitty.
You don’t need to bring a geopolitical philosophy into it.
No one is being instilled with a sense of nihilism because of a loss of American influence in the global south, and no one really gives a shit about our enemies and their moral character. People care about stuff like “healthcare”, “poverty”, “civil rights”, “not burning the world”.
It’s actually even simpler than that.
The world, and life itself, is complicated and messy in 2026, and an awareness of it and the constant, always on vigilance of keeping up with all of the moral responsibility of trying to build a life that allows you to look yourself in the mirror every day in a world built to usher everyone into maintaining exploitative systems is draining and crushing.
If you don’t have to do that because you’re either ignorant of the machinery you’re part of, or don’t care, you just get to go about your life.
e: I misread your original post, I thought you were saying that both sides in the war were shitbags. I still think it’s too simple of an explanation in general, though. Such circumstances deserve a deeper look.
Why do you think things need a more complex explanation?
Do you really feel like this Iran incursion is somehow significant feeling compared to Iraq or Afghanistan?
Do you actually think that the hegemonic status of the US really enters into the consideration of most people, to say nothing of having a significant impact on their emotions? Do you think an awareness of that would actually make people feel better?
people openly supporting nazi’s are indeed simply shitbags
and yes non shitbags are sad to see people suffer, that is called empathy, it is only confusing to the shitbag party in the US because they generally lack said empathy
Yeah, definitely, but the world is much more complex than that. The current state of affairs is a result of historical contingency, and it isn’t going to last forever. As I have attempted to get across, the tide is already changing.
x to doubt