> one of the most unstable times in history
I can think of far more unstable times in history than the times we’re living in now, recent examples being WW1 & 2, nuclear threat during the Cold War.
I can think of far more unstable times in history than the times we’re living in now, recent examples being WW1 & 2, nuclear threat during the Cold War.
Perhaps I am a little biased as I've been eyeball-deep in weeding through election-focused disinformation and working with people to expose these tactics the past few months and everything looks like a nail to me right now.
Look at all the people who went supernova when Clinton downsized the military after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR.
"Generals and majors always seem so unhappy 'less they got a war."
No small threat; plenty of room for those, according to Daniel Ellsberg’s book ”The Doomsday Machine”.
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-doomsday-machine-978160819...
Surely info suppression tactics have often played a role?
The majority of the population, boomers and younger, didn’t live during WW2 and we probably are globally the least stable since then right now.
I mean, it sure is significant and all as the US, for better or worse, isn't "just another country", but it's also pretty narrow towards both the current time and specific location.
That...didn't happen.
Then there’s Russia and Ukraine. Turkey and Armenia. The Middle East conflict with Israel, Europe, and the US.
So no, it’s not just American history. Globally, things are the least stable since WWII.
In much of Europe you can't do any of those things right now, without incurring the wrath of state force.
The next equivalent event in history in western europe to this destruction of civil liberty was the nazi occupation of France.
My grandmother once told me her dad had to console a German soldier crying in the backyard because he wanted nothing more than being back home in Germany with his wife and children instead of occupying the Netherlands. It's not like he had much of a choice though.
My grandfather's dad (other side) had to work in Germany during the war. He sure as hell couldn't "just visit his family" and there was no realistic option to say no.
And then you have things like Anne Frank hiding in a bloody broomcloset for years. But the above are just two examples of "regular" folk who were not especially persecuted (or indeed, even the occupier).
Good heavens, this has got to be the most ignorant comment I've ever seen on HN. Please, study the daily lives of people in countries occupied by Nazi Germany and you'll find that any comparison to current events is absolutely ridiculous.
You seem to be acting like i'm saying this is worse when i clearly did not