catter

joined 2 years ago
[–] catter@hexbear.net 8 points 3 weeks ago

Honestly disgusted by that thread and the wider chilling effect this already seems to have. I understand people want to feel like they're doing the most good possible, but that doesn't give anyone the right to dictate how aid gets spent. These are systemic problems that cannot be fixed by wiring someone cash.

[–] catter@hexbear.net 13 points 3 weeks ago

IMO as someone who frequents the mutual_aid community when I can, we should not be policing posters there with respect to how much they've received or how much they can ask for. A consequence of this being an anonymous online community is that there's no way to know whether someone is being honest, and that is something we should just accept. Others have said this, and I agree with it: if you want to know you're helping someone who needs it, join a local org.

Potentially a limit to the number of posts could be helpful. However, I understand why people desperate for help would make posts in a short period of time. I would leave that one to people in the comm who need help.

Meta posts calling out other users feels too much like a witch hunt and I believe it's unproductive (for the reasons mentioned in paragraph 1). I feel like mods should handle grievances like that if we choose to handle it at all.

[–] catter@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago

That's a great point. It's probably worth my time to listen through the series again now that I have much better context for earlier seasons (at the time I listened to the first season I was still fighting a lot of conservative brainworms I grew up with). Thanks for the insight :)

[–] catter@hexbear.net 30 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I agree. It calls to mind that proverb "when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled." I think you're right that this is more an untold history.

Just processing out loud here: it's useful for getting rid of brainworms as well. Embarrassingly, I sat with the cognitive dissonance of the PRC supporting Pol Pot for a long time before resolving it with the obvious answer of it being wrong and bad, as others have mentioned in this thread. Getting out of that mindset of geopolitical "teams" is rough lol

[–] catter@hexbear.net 33 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Out of all the seasons, this one has been the hardest for me to understand the "blowback" part. All the consequences of US foreign policy seemed to fall on the Cambodian people, even after the bombing stopped.

The main critiques I recall (it's been a while since I finished it) are that the attempts to force untrained people into agricultural work failed and racist / nationalist elements within the revolution prevented international cooperation, both of which created a feedback loop of paranoia and human misery.

I also am learning more about the sino-soviet split, which seemed to play a large part in this too.

[–] catter@hexbear.net 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I was just about to type this exact comment. Don't forget the primer episode that sets it up as well!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GCbxiBtWDvE