Oddbean

Days like today the world makes me extremely lazy. Some known Bitcoiner defending the Israeli government or the Ukrainian government, what a level of stupidity. Nation states are all bullshit, for a Bitcoiner to defend only one side as if it were a soccer game is to have something more than autism or aspergers. Stand up for people, whatever their race and origin, never stand for a government because you will only be making a fool of yourself. As Henry Louis Mencken said: "Every decent man is ashamed of the government under which he lives." In the end it is the common people who suffer the errors and mistakes of their governments and their enemies, suffer the Palestinians, suffer the Israelis, suffer the Iranians, suffer the Ukrainians and suffer the Russians, as well as the thousands of Americans who have lost their lives in the wars waged by their country, or in the "terrorist" attacks that their own government has allowed for interests that go beyond national politics. War is a liar's game, to accuse Iran of being the culprit of everything is very short-sighted. Even if Iran participated in the planning of the October 7 attacks, it is no more certain that Israel, with the best intelligence service in the world, let it happen as it did with 9/11. There are no good guys and bad guys here, Peter Todd.

And I'm going to explain it for dummies. Are there good or bad street gangs? Gang A steals from people, they do violence against the people of gang B and also against people who do not belong to any gang, sometimes they even kill. Gang B steals from the people, they exert violence against the people of gang A and also against people who do not belong to any gang, sometimes they even kill. Sometimes territorial disputes arise between gang A and gang B, maybe from an objective point of view (of private property) one of the two gangs is more right, maybe one gang has started the aggression first, but for sure in other occasions it has been the other gang that has started the aggression first. Does that make gang A or B good depending on who you consider that has aggregated first or has invaded their territory this time? Isn't it impossible for you to position yourself in favor of either gang simply because they are criminals who steal and murder? Isn't it right that these gangs should disappear so that everyone can live in peace? Now substitute gangs for states. nostr:note1wvm687cunjdn4rq7fchz27s7xh9y3jl40hckrqa4dpwqvsdzjyess05euw