• Kwakigra@beehaw.org
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    4 days ago

    This is a pretty conservative take. Does OP understand why someone living in desperate circumstances would join their local gang, or why they would choose a much larger and much more powerful gang like the military? Does OP understand the difference between explaining why a bad thing happens versus excusing that thing?

    I don’t think adults should give heroin to vulnerable children and traffic them into sexual slavery either, but the reason that’s happening isn’t because a bunch of heroin selling hobbyists decided to be as evil as possible for fun, it happens because of economic context producing survival-orientated people who behave ruthlessly for their own self interests. People making anti-social livings probably wouldn’t have chosen the road they’re on if they had the opportunity to have a comfortable life doing something safe. A lot of the time they were conned into it in the first place and can’t get out. Nothing justifies murder, but to stop the murders you have to understand the context of why they’re happening.

    Joining the military is not ok. Trying to understand why a kid would be think it’s ok to kill people overseas and then willingly do it is ok.

    • theolodis@feddit.org
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      4 days ago

      How exactly does it help if I, or you, understand the why? I would argue that a lot of people are aware of the whys, nonetheless there are still gangs and militaries.

      • Kwakigra@beehaw.org
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        4 days ago

        Because understanding that the cause is poverty encourages everyone who understands it to focus on solving poverty. Poverty should not be allowed. If there was no poverty in the US there would be less of an incentive to do desperate things such as join a gang of any size.

        • theolodis@feddit.org
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          4 days ago

          Yes, I agree, but now we’re at least 2 understanding that, but nothing will change. It probably won’t change in the next 50 years.

          • TriplePlaid@lemmy.zip
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            3 days ago

            If you think discussion and communication are so worthless… Why keep commenting on Lemmy? We are all here to exchange ideas and I think that we can agree that ideas and how they spread can change the world in a big way.

            Silence/lack of discussion is part of what has allowed this issue to become so serious.

            • theolodis@feddit.org
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              3 days ago

              What issue are we talking about? US American imperialism, or wars in general? Because I think both have been discussed and talked about a lot since the seventies. And I don’t think that we’re getting anywhere close to an improvement, looking at what the US does to south americans in boats right now.

              Talking is a good start, but what we need are actions. And education, but I am not sure how we could get any of them. Talking on Lemmy definitely doesn’t help a bit.