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Cake day: June 23rd, 2024

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  • Only tangentially related -

    I once read a book by a Holocaust survivor where he said (paraphrased) that the really nice ones didn’t survive the camps - the ones giving away part of their rations, the ones giving away their blankets to the sick, the ones standing up for their fellows, the ones trying to help the weaker, they were the first ones to be shot, or going into the gas chambers, or dying of hunger or disease. And those willing to be selfish were the ones more likely to survive.

    Obviously no judgement or blame either way, in situations like these you’ll have to do what’s necessary but that point of view hit me really hard at the time “the really nice ones didn’t survive the camps”.

    It made me truly realize the horror those camps represented, they didn’t just take their belongings, or their lives, or their dignity - they robbed them of their humanity to the point where being nice to your fellow people would get you killed and that was a horrific aspect that never made it into my consciousness until I read that sentence " the really nice ones didn’t survive the camps."




  • I am deeply sorry for expressing the inner response I had upon reading these holy texts. I long to better myself and only wish that some day I might cross unto the plane of higher understanding only true masters of eloquency like you can achieve, so that I might not flood the sacred halls of understanding and wisdom with my measly attempts at conveying a feeling that overcame me. One can just dream of reaching such a form of enlightened humanity to not dirty this truly intellectual exchange of minds with such a lowly response. My regrets at such blasphemy in the face of these holiest forms of pursuit for true knowledge is unbearable. My only hope is that I have not hindered the epiphanies surely to blossom out of the riddle of the mysterious white box on the wall. Were it not for enlightened minds like yours, the world would surely crumble and collapse into nothingness and we all are deeply thankful for your selfless and brave acts against the evils of this world.

    I will now retreat to silence in order to chastise myself, so that I might come out of this shameful exhibition of my intellectual shortcomings as a better person.

    spoiler

    Could’ve just said that this was a low effort comment, I would’ve agreed, your holier than thou bullshit can stay at home. It costs you nothing to be kind.



  • I understand that now, my phrasing was poor and I also didn’t make it clear that I was trying to engage with the comment and underline the missing nuance and not with the conversation about walz, although i was also missing some nuance in my comment I agree.

    You lost the crowd immediately

    Yeah going back I can see that most didn’t make it past the first two sentences, that is on me. I guess after the first answers I was just angry people were unwilling to engage with the content of my comment, so I wasn’t able to see my own shortcomings without you pointing me at them.

    I appreciate the insight and the kindness of encouraging me to reflect that instead of just piling on. Thank you!


  • I agree with all that you said.

    I think the issue you’re running into is that the point here is Walz is being subjected to ad hominem to distract from a broader discussion on the nature of genocide because such discussions are bad for Israel and their conservative benefactors in the US.

    Ah yeah that makes sense, your rephrasing made me understand the issue.

    The Holocaust is unique in a particular sense, but that is not what Walz is talking about; in the context he is speaking, the Holocaust is not unique. Essentially, the Holocaust, as a vivid and well-documented case study, can and should be a window into the broader history of genocide and human rights abuse.

    I understand, I was trying to point out that nuance is important in that instance, the uniqueness of the event is a good cautionary tale and to diminish that into a too broad of a “genocide blanket” would take away from the unique problems genocide projects into our modern world.

    Similar to how antisemitism is a form of racism but in its “design” it is still a unique form of racism.

    Although my attempt was way less eloquent than yours.

    Thank you, that was the first comment that actually engaged with what I tried to say.





  • It wasn’t unique, it wasn’t a “one off”.

    I disagree with the premise, the Holocaust was unique. It was unique in its effectiveness, it was a meticulously planned machinery of death the world has never seen before or after. The Jews weren’t just killed where they could be found, they were caught, cataloged, transported, sorted and then murdered as effectively as possible. Death on a well planned assembly line.

    ** Does all that make it a quantifier, was this genocide more “genocidy” then others?

    No, just that the way it was carried out was unique, no more no less, but to deny that is just revisionism. **

    The unique framing appeals to conservatives as it feeds into exceptionalism and impunity. “We’re special!” It’s those people who only care about stuff when it happens to them.

    That’s just a disgusting take just someone very privileged is able to have.


  • Destin at Smarter Every Day

    I enjoy his content and like him and his style but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from him being a former missile guidance engineer at Redstone and making this low-key military ad series. I mean he has been pretty upfront about his past career and such but he also knows that his channel is probably watched by a lot of children.

    I don’t know, something feels off about it.