BashfulBob [none/use name]

Biden himself helped spread a myth about genocide being committed in China.

In a vacuum, idfk. You probably could make some kind of argument regarding the very rapid industrial expansion of the Chinese bureaucracy into Xinjiang and the callousness with which state officials imposed national policy over the heads of locals.

But when Uighur=Genocide but Hamas=Had-it-Coming, what the fuck is any sane leftist supposed to say about China? We went from pointing to rapid urbanization of the western frontier and saying “This is a ruthless land grab by an imperial power!” to covering our eyes in Rafa and Beirut and Isfahan while shouting “Israel has a right to exist, okay!”

The other problem is actual genocide doesn’t bother a lot of people.

Genocide is just another political team sport. When the Bad Guys are doing genocide, its not bad because its the obliteration of whole population centers. Its bad because those populations were on Your Team and They’re Scoring Points Against You every time a swath of humanity gets culled like so much wheat caught in a combine. Israelis rant about Oct 7th because they’re upset Palestine put points on the board. That’s all.

It’s the same shit with Cuba and Venezuela and Haiti back on our side of the planet. The inhumanity is just Good Ethnicity scoring points on Bad Ethnicity. Its a big fucking game and we’re all just cheering for our side.

My neighborhood in Houston is full of legitimately good chill people who would fit into a bodega in Brooklyn as easily as a tackle shop in Kentucky. Its frustrating because I grew up in a neighborhood where people were legit just a bunch of selfish reckless assholes and this ain’t it. They’re not invested in the culture war crap, they don’t want a War with China or to crucify trans kids or whatever. But the power-mad fascists running the state government are just kinda railroading through insane bullshit because they can. Its enervating to just watch it all wash over us like a tidal wave of shit.

Imagining the plot of Hero but it’s Joey Chestnuts winning a hotdog eating title so he can get close enough to swallow Trump like in a Kirby game.

It’s Texas. California loves to Pantomime at decency then cower whenever someone calls to Woke.

Texas reveals in fascism and torments people for trying to be nice

Idk, it kinda reminds me of the neoliberals pissing and shitting themselves because socialist policies were OP in Victoria 3. “Game Balance” doesn’t mean some strategies won’t be fundamentally better than others.

What I think this guy misses is that there are already tools for countering broad social dissatisfaction with your policies in Stellaris. Just crank up that consumer economy, invest a bunch of resources in entertainment and other distraction economics, and you can do all the genocide you want without real consequence. You just don’t get to ignore the outrage “for free”. You have to pacify your population just like IRL.

People keep telling me right-wing comedy is dead and then I see this.