this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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Because authoritarianism is about the internal control of its own populace, not how a nation state acts against other nation states.
The illegal invasion of Iraq wasn't authoritarianism. And I'm not going to start defending the actions of any nation that assassinates other leaders to try and get them under their influence.
I think there's very few western nations that fit that line I described in an earlier comment. That's not to say none have authoritarian traits, the UK is always criticised for being a bit too much of a surveillance state, for example.
Obviously killing people externally or internally is bad, but it's more shocking in the same way that a parent murders their own child.
If invasions, sanctions, assassinations, and complete immiseration of other nations isn't authoritarian then what is it? Why are we arbitrarily deciding there's a distinction with how a country's internal and external policies? These things inform one another. If a nation like America is doing far worse things than authoritarianism, except externally, why can't we say that's what it is?
That makes no sense. Joseph Biden is not my dad and my shared nationality with him means nothing because he represents an economic class at war with my own. Was Hitler the father of German Jews? What the fuck are you talking about
I literally just said above. Why are you arguing about the definition of it? It's like you're trying to fit western nations under the term because you don't like them to try to make a point.
Yeah they do fit the definition, because the distinction between external and international policy you're making is arbitrary and meaningless. I'm a communist. My nation is the working class.
No they don't fit the definition, it's not meaningless or arbitrary. I don't know why you're arguing this, it's not like I'm defending the actions of western nations here, or even labelled any particular countries as being authoritarian.
No idea what the point of saying this is, but just to provide some useless and irrelevant facts to this discussion, the telescopic ladder I have is 3 metres long.
I've got an easier one for you that should help you to understand. The policy of colonies regarding the population within its borders counts as "internal", don't they? What shall we say for the colonial occupation of Afghanistan? Shall we call this liberal?
Come to think of it, what do you think of non-citizen permanent residents, because America sure likes killing those within its borders and treating the rest quite brutally.
I'm not American and have no issue criticising them on their actions through history. I don't even know why you're bringing them up though? I just talked about what people define as an authoritarian state and you've gone off on some anti US tangent.
There was disagreement over if the US fits the label