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Imperial soldiers be like (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 days ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/memes@lemmy.ml

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[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Thats the trick. If a country doesn't have a military and they have something like resources other countries want. The become puppets of the countries that have militaries. The exceptions are small countries that don't have enough of anything anyone wants for others to bother taking it. They don't tend to do so well usually.

It's a race to the bottom.

[–] lumettaria@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So what you're saying is... superpower nations shouldn't exist

[–] davepleasebehave@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

but they do. And now it is just a game of brinksmanshit

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 0 points 23 hours ago

Correct. If there is one, then others have to exist to balance them out. Only with none can we all exist without militaries. And that really should be a goal.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de -2 points 1 day ago (3 children)

ironically the countries with more natural resources typically have lower quality of life. this is known as the resource curse phenomenon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 8 points 22 hours ago

Yeah i'm sure it's a curse, and not centuries of colonialism, imperialism, uneven trade etc etc.

The Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich! The Philippines are rich! Brazil is rich! Mexico is rich! Chile is rich—only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken—there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries—these countries are not underdeveloped—they're overexploited!

-Michael Parenti

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 6 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

The "resource curse" is just people trying to pretend imperialism isn't responsible. Norway has plenty of oil and they have a high quality of life, because nobody invaded them.

Plenty of these countries had leaders who wanted to use their resources to help the people, but the powers that be, most often the US, didn't want that. And so for example Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran, a peaceful, democratically elected progressive, was overthrown by the CIA, and he was replaced by a monarch who could be easily bribed and would use the oil to enrich himself. And when that monarch caved to domestic pressure and participated in an oil embargo, US support was withdrawn and he was overthrown and the current government came to power.

There's no "mystery" or "curse." It's just imperialism. The story generally goes that these resources were stolen by force during colonialism and remained in foreign hands after independence and the country still functions as a neocolony, leading to poverty and exploitation, or war and instability if they challenge it.

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world -1 points 23 hours ago

Very much so. So ewhere there is a balance of having enough to be a stable country, but not so much to draw attention. But it's a very small point to balance on.