Quote (Black XistenZ @ Jul 12 2018 12:06pm)
when it comes to NATO, europe is depending on the US and their contribution to the NATO for their own safety. if the US withdraws from the NATO, europe is fucked and has to invest a lot more than "just" 2% of its gdp into the military to make up for it.
therefore, the US - if they are willing to be rude and essentially blackmal their allies - can force their will onto the european countries on this issue. they are in a position of strength and dont have to persuade. they should, and I think that they should treat their european allies well, but they have other options than persuasion.
the kneeling protests are different in that the protesting nfl players are in the weaker position and cant force their will onto the white club owners/the white majority society - they HAVE to persuade, and in that situation, what I wrote in my 2nd post applies.
I don't agree with your implication of need with regards to NATO. what exactly are you suggesting? that the US pulls out of NATO and the next day Russia storms in and the US sits back and watches? or will it be the Chinese? maybe North Korea sweeps across the continent ala Genghis Khan?
NATO has been as ceremonial and a function of the military industrial complex since the Berlin wall fell. It has real functions, they're just drastically diminished to the point that your "Europe is fucked" doom and gloom talk is laughable. The EU can just got to China if it want's military tech. It isn't 1960 anymore.
I think your assessment of the kneelers is also off. Kaepernick got washed out of the NFL, true enough. But for every player kept down or cut for kneeling there are 20+ that still have jobs. they successfully furthered a dialogue, owners and personalities who are far right have been outted and in some cases lost jobs, and they created a shit storm that shows how inadequate the NFL is at dealing with this type of situation. something that serves their goal with the NFLPA's stance on the commissioner acting as a court unto himself. most people don't care about kneeling, but it has played a notable part in highlighting police violence. which has dominated headlines and led justice mobs that are currently unseating cops and other CJ workers at unprecedented rates. i know you're newer here but 5+ years ago every cop shooting thread started with santara or someone stating (correctly i might add) "cops rarely get fired or see any punishment for these types of shootings". a relic of the past. cops still are afforded some blue protection but its rapidly dwindling considering historical precedent. some cop had to resign this week for not stepping in on a man harassing a woman in a Puerto Rico shirt. welcome to 2018.
This post was edited by thesnipa on Jul 12 2018 12:24pm