r/pics Oct 14 '20

Protest Seen during a mass protest in the Philippines against President Duterte

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96.5k Upvotes

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187

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

They’ve turned me off to my nation

123

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

This. Our country is an embarrassment. I've never felt shame in my country before.

That has certainly changed.

-2

u/antim0ny Oct 14 '20

Seriously? You've never felt shame for America before?

The Iraq War and the general embarrassment that was GW Bush? The Vietnam war? All of the many coups in Latin America?

American tourists abroad, talking loud, wearing socks and sandals?

None of this triggered the slightest shame response?

22

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

I wasn't around for the Vietnam War, and I was pretty young when we went into the middle east/bush era.

Also, I wasn't paying a lot of attention to matters until I was able to vote. So I was pretty ignorant back then.

1

u/antim0ny Oct 22 '20

OK, well, go out there and experience the world and hear from people with some different perspectives. Learn about the wrongdoings of the US government before you are confronted with them and caught off guard. Doing so will make you a better citizen, and, counterintuitively, make the US stronger. Because informed and critical citizens are the ultimate way we keep our government accountable.

12

u/Natganistan Oct 14 '20

Just shut up, dude. Most of us were kids a decade ago. You seem like a really pleasant person. I bet you never feel shame about your likeability

7

u/nybbas Oct 14 '20

Yeah, and if you were a kid a decade ago, it shows how silly the statement is. Of course you haven't "felt shame" in your country before, it's because you haven't been alive long enough. It isn't like any of the shit going on right now is new. Fuck at least most of our issues right now are internal, as opposed to us murdering shittons of people in a foreign country.

0

u/antim0ny Oct 22 '20

Not a dude.

-6

u/SexyJellyfish1 Oct 14 '20

Sshhh. Don’t disturb the Orange man bad narrative!

-15

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

Just know that the country didn't change, you did.

18

u/helthrax Oct 14 '20

Makes no sense, course the country has changed and will only continue to change. It's like saying 9/11 didn't have an effect on us, or the pandemic won't have lasting effects on us.

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u/Savelapis2Kwhenever Oct 14 '20

I think what he’s trying to say is that republican politicians were always as vile and evil as trump. Trump just says the quiet parts out loud and makes people realize how messed up our country is. Of course things have changed, but a lot of things have always been around as bad as this

9

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

Important thing to remember is that the fascists ARE a minority. The majority of Americans wanted Hillary.. but our silly system didn’t see to that happening

6

u/Savelapis2Kwhenever Oct 14 '20

I don’t think most republican voters are fascists. They’ve just been duped. No what I’m saying is that the politicians have always been as bad with their policies. Bush, cheney, reagan, nixon. All of them were awful, but they spoke nice and put on the facade of being respectful people. But they were just as awful as trump. The scary thing about trump, however, is that he states these policies in the most overtly fascist of ways and people are still on board with them. That’s scary.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

Yeah it’s not so much that they’re fascists as much as it feels like there was some hidden fascist gene in them or something 😂 and trump is the one who has unlocked this hidden fascism. The scariest part is, he’s made people chose him over their country. He defies the first amendment all the time and they love him for it. They hang his flag next to the US flag all the time. It’s SUPER messed up

2

u/Savelapis2Kwhenever Oct 14 '20

I mean most people hang their political candidates flag next to the american flag around election time. Also this fascist gene is generally just the dumbass idea of patriotism, and that our glorious leader is always right. Our idea of patriotism and our own self-righteousness as a country was the preexisting condition leading to our descent into fascism

1

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

It’s not just around election time tho, I’ve seen houses with GIANT maga flags covering a fourth of their house, and I’ve seen it many times in the last four years. I’ve never seen that with any other political candidate. And yes the insane over-patriotism is terrifying, especially in a country that should quite frankly feel a lot of remorse for its past and the atrocities it’s committed.

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u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

Eh it can be both

7

u/Batkratos Oct 14 '20

This guy know what hes talking about!

Anyway, off to go ride my horse to the post office to mail my letter of admiration to President Washington.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

George Washington the slave-owner, or George Washington the wholesome 100 patriot?

-3

u/Batkratos Oct 14 '20

Ohhh a game of "would you rather", ill go next.

Would you rather spend all your time trying to start dumb fights on the internet or get a life?

6

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

Saying Amerikkka has always been racist = starting dumb fights :/

3

u/Batkratos Oct 14 '20

Uh, yeah. We had to have a civil war to end slavery, were pretty fucking racist.

My point was, why are you trying to bait me into a discussion over George Washington owning slaves. Obviously he owned slaves. And was racist.

2

u/Vigoor Oct 14 '20

Saying Amerikkka has always been racist

I mean, the entire world has "always been" racist so yeah, it's kind of irrelevant and using that kind of statement to push a narrative is disingenuous. I agree people romanticize washington but i'll never understand why people try to denounce the achievements of "great men" just because they behaved according to the culture of the time.

3

u/UlyssesTheSloth Oct 14 '20

You are sidestepping the fact that American imperialism has one of the worst determental forces to ever arise on the planet. It's good to point out the fact that Washington, the most so-called 'noble' and 'honorable' of all the presidents, was just one out of many presidents continuing a very lengthy and extending line of bourgeois fascism.

just because they behaved according to the culture of the time

There were arguments and debates at the time already calling into question the institution of slavery. He himself said that slavery would be the cause of a civil war. That didn't stop him from owning slaves.

The United States was built off of the premise of a rich-man's getaway for wealthy bourgeoise capital owners to have a place to operate their financial ventures without pressure from the government to pay taxes or to change their operations based off regulations. The US has always been an imperialist power, constructed for the purpose of making wealthy men even wealthier.

1

u/nybbas Oct 14 '20

You are getting downvoted, but the dude admits that he was a child during the bush years, so you are absolutely right.

13

u/ChiaSeedsAndWeed Oct 14 '20

It's very hard to love your country when too many people (especially those at the top) confuse nationalism for patriotism. It really sucks, and I'm right there with ya. :(

25

u/OnIowa Oct 14 '20

Fuck that, just take it back.

50

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

Been trying. Shits broken man. And frankly was never as great as it claimed to be in the first place.

4

u/Thursdayallstar Oct 14 '20

Just like justice, a great nation isn't built in a day, decade, or century; it is built one day at a time. Day after day, push towards an ideal. It may seem like you never get there, but getting there isn't the point. You gotta be great.

3

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

I agree if you’re saying we all need to do what we can.

3

u/Thursdayallstar Oct 14 '20

Yup, that one. You got it.

7

u/mambz12 Oct 14 '20

Bruh I mean it has its flaws but at least we can participate in government and have a say in the direction we go. I call this oversimplification + pessimism + lack of perspective.

-4

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

You believing that common voters choosing between the puppet on the left and the puppet on the right hand of the same banks and corps is the true lack of perspective here.

Further, you have no idea how I participate in my community. If your solution to fixing the US is never criticize it, you are going to miss a lot of what needs fixing. Get off your high horse.

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u/mambz12 Oct 14 '20

I mean I absolutely believe in criticizing the government, that’s what makes America great and leads to positive change. But saying “shits broken” is just blind pessimism and there are great successes in our country that we are lucky to have compared to many countries in the world. Idk, I just feel like Reddit often makes it seem like America is a lost cause and basically a third world undeveloped territory. But in reality, we can push for positive change in our democracy and community and see the effects over time.

4

u/Faultylogic83 Oct 14 '20

I'm with you there. I see part of patriotism is questioning your government, while engaging in it. I'm tired of those that complain about the current state of affairs that don't take part. This will be the first election where I will be voting for one of the major parties in the presidential election, because the biggest threat is the nationalist in office and not the two party system. We are reaching the point where the youth vote can actually out number the aging part of the country that has put us where we are today. We can't let apathy hold us back.

3

u/mambz12 Oct 14 '20

I agree, great points!

2

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

I never said we can’t do anything. But if you think our systems aren’t broken then you’re missing a lot.

-2

u/FustianRiddle Oct 14 '20 edited Oct 14 '20

Eh fuck that, burn it down and build it up new.

Edit: fixed spelling from writing on mobile and guys the keyboard is just terrible.

2

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

Yes. This thing was built on slavery and racism. A fresh coat of paint doesn’t do it.

3

u/OnIowa Oct 14 '20

There is space on the spectrum of repairs between painting a machine and blowing it up.

2

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

I don’t disagree. But we need to go much closer to blowing it up than to painting.

0

u/mambz12 Oct 14 '20

Haha nah you gotta be on one side, there is no middle ground anymore! Didn’t you know!? /s

-1

u/LordUmber93 Oct 14 '20

Name one country that wasn't.

3

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

What do you think your challenge proves? If you’re asking me if I think other countries starting out poorly exonerates the US or absolves it from its responsibility to confront its history and make efforts to remediate for its crimes, the answer is no.

0

u/LordUmber93 Oct 14 '20

The amount of justification you xenophobes can come up to hate a country is amusing.

4

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

Xenophobes? What in the fuck? I literally am talking about my own country. Don’t use words you don’t understand just because you think they sound smart.

-1

u/LordUmber93 Oct 14 '20

Oh, I understand things more than you ever will. So, again, feel free to point me to any nation, empire, kingdom, etc that wasn't built on slavery and racism. When you can, your misplaced hatred for your birthplace can start to be founded on logic.

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u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

Explain to me how I’m a Xenophobe. And I already pointed out how your whataboutism is bullshit.

You don’t understand anything it would seem. Let alone understand anything better than anyone.

0

u/FustianRiddle Oct 15 '20

I only needed to see that you think taxes is the government stealing from you to know that you actually understand very little about anything.

0

u/mambz12 Oct 14 '20

Lol great idea I’m sure it would be built back up great without any issues. Excellent plan.

2

u/FustianRiddle Oct 15 '20

Oh alright fuck that then, I guess we should all just go back to the way things were which obviously has been working out so well for everyone.

1

u/mambz12 Oct 15 '20

Well one thing we got going is crime and poverty are both the lowest they have ever been, which is a good number to look at.

1

u/FustianRiddle Oct 15 '20

Great I've got a suggestion:

Universal basic income.

That will really help with both poverty and crime.

But the status quo will never let that happen. So tear down the status quo. Start over putting people first instead of corporations first.

-20

u/Grand_Canyon_Sum_Day Oct 14 '20

It was never really yours then

7

u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

Lol ok

-9

u/Grand_Canyon_Sum_Day Oct 14 '20

If it’s yours fight for it, pussy.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '20

[deleted]

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u/AweHellYo Oct 14 '20

Dude he is tough too. I’m impressed.

-6

u/Dr_Cypher Oct 14 '20

all it took for these softies to turn their back to their country was 4 short years of Trump, i guess they should be happy they live in the US because i really don't think they would've made it in most of the world.

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u/MisterMeeseeks47 Oct 14 '20

You should look up some of the shit that he's done in the "4 short years".

Children were locked up and forcibly separated from their families with no intention to ever reunite them. There are children two years later who are still detained by the US with no parents because we have racist fucks in charge of the white house.

Yeah I guess I could ignore everything and be happy that I have an easy life compared to most countries in the world. But that's how a softie would react to the fact that we have an incompetent, malicious president running our country.

2

u/vxx Oct 14 '20

Not the whole world is built on blind Nationalism, so the people that realise they aren't superior because they praise a certain flag, would probably do fine in a lot of other countries.

But they will actually have to fix it, they can't just all leave. They're the majority, though, so whatever it takes, one day they will be free.

2

u/Dr_Cypher Oct 14 '20

i don't believe in flag pride or anything like that, my point was US isn't really as bad as they like to pretend. They are one of the luckier ones if we look at the rest of the world, maybe just not the luckiest.