this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
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US Authoritarianism

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Hello, I am researching American crimes against humanity. . This space so far has been most strongly for memes, and that's fine.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 5 months ago (4 children)

This is just a quick list I can think off the top of my head: the trail of tears, slavery, Jim Crow laws, fighting Mexico to gain the west coast, fighting Spain to gain the Philippines, Florida, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, deposing democratically elected governments in Central and South America for cheaper bananas, isolating Cuba from the rest of the world when it turned communist but still keeping possession of Guantanamo Bay, putting down the Boxer Rebellion in China, invading Middle Eastern countries for their oil, fighting the communists in Korea and Vietnam, deposing the Hawaiian government and then annexing it for cheaper pineapples, and leveraging its position at the end of WWII to solidify its hegemony throughout the world via the petrodollar. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I've forgotten. The only other imperial power that would compare is England up until WWII.

[–] JustAnotherRando 30 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

Britain (which you mentioned), France, and Spain all have pretty awful imperial histories too. Not saying that to diminish the atrocities of the US by any means, but let's not pretend the rest of Europe didn't get up to some bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And the Dutch! Don't forget about the Dutch

Kek

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You thought that was a joke in Austin Powers?

No. Nigel Powers saw what they did in the Congo.

It's why he was so happy to aid in the Boer War-

Wait

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Nigel Powers saw what they did in the Congo.

That was Belgium - which TBF is just a bunch of French-speaking dutch people.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sorry, all Frisians look alike to me

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife 2 points 5 months ago

They literally live on peat.

[–] Cosmos7349 15 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The reason that London has such great museums lol

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

We got screwed over, didn’t even get good museums out of the horrors and atrocities perpetrated by own government.

[–] nomous 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

We got an entire beautiful, resource rich country from some of our horrors and atrocities so that's something.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Also the most museums per capita in the world with some absolutely amazing ones OP just hasn't been to.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1203021/museum-density-worldwide-by-region/.

Sure, most of them are tax dodges, however

[–] blazeknave 1 points 5 months ago

Good thing they've let go, like New Caledonia! ;)

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

fighting the communists in Korea and Vietnam

I would add dropping most of the bombs left over from WWII (literally!) on Vietnam's neighbors because reasons.

The only other imperial power that would compare is England up until WWII.

This is underselling Spain which wreaked havoc in the Americas (and elsewhere - like the Philipines) for centuries before they got supplanted by us in the havoc-wreaking department.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Wow. That's a long list.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

A lot of this firehose is pretty marginal. The Boxer rebellion for example, the US was a minor player. Puerto Rico won self rule via the US fighting the Spanish so it's kind of weird to quote both. Also Spain is in NATO. Korea was a UN action. Hawaiians voted to become a state to escape the plantation owners from imposing new feudalism. Nobody is saying the US is without sins but these pale in comparison to things the major European powers did.