Immigration General Discussion Volume IV (Read the first post and moderator warning on page 309)

gentlemoose57 said:And what’s so strange about that? We're moving forward—we aren't the same savages we were a thousand years ago.

The weird part is that, historically, the aggressive ones always walk away with the win. And I'm talking about last year, not a millennium ago!

Karen Doyle72 said:The weird part is that, historically, the aggressive ones always walk away with the win. And I'm talking about last year, not a millennium ago!

Not quite.
The winner has consistently been whoever manages to dismantle the other party's economy and supply chains first. It isn't about aggression; it's about systemic collapse.

History shows us that people have always been—and frankly, will continue to be—nothing more than expendable resources used to achieve those ends. In other words, we're all just cannon fodder in the grand scheme of things.

Karen Doyle72 said:The weird part is that, historically, the aggressive ones always walk away with the win. And I'm talking about last year, not a millennium ago!

First off, we've always been a bunch of wild savages, haven't we?
The aggressors—or just the ones with way more people—always end up winning.

People have been migrating and blending together since forever; this isn't some crazy, unprecedented thing. In 300 years, everyone will probably look back and call it "progress." But honestly? It's always the first generation that gets screwed over—the locals and those just passing through.
And as far as things stand right now... well, that's us.

Patrick Castillo4 said:First off, we've always been a bunch of wild savages, haven't we?
The aggressors—or just the ones with way more people—always end up winning.

People have been migrating and blending together since forever; this isn't some crazy, unprecedented thing. In 300 years, everyone will probably look back and call it "progress." But honestly? It's always the first generation that gets screwed over—the locals and those just passing through.
And as far as things stand right now... well, that's us.

Maybe we’re actually descended from the Illyrians?

Honestly, it’s not even a bad thing—you never really know what the future holds.

David Baker2 said:Not quite.
The winner has consistently been whoever manages to dismantle the other party's economy and supply chains first. It isn't about aggression; it's about systemic collapse.

History shows us that people have always been—and frankly, will continue to be—nothing more than expendable resources used to achieve those ends. In other words, we're all just cannon fodder in the grand scheme of things.

And how else are you gonna crush an economy besides dumping a few million of your own people onto their social safety net while slamming the borders shut? 🤣

Look, people *are* cannon fodder and disposable assets. Women and kids used to be off-limits.
But not anymore. Nowadays, a few aggressive types just push them right in front of the guns. A kid is basically the ultimate human shield.

Except those guns still fire. They just weren't designed to hit women and children.

gentlemoose57 said:Maybe we’re actually descended from the Illyrians?

Honestly, it’s not even a bad thing—you never really know what the future holds.

Exactly.
Maybe everything actually works out for the best.
But let's be real—we all got screwed over by crazy exes, bigots, and payday lenders. 🤷

Karen Doyle72 said:Exactly.
Maybe everything actually works out for the best.
But let's be real—we all got screwed over by crazy exes, bigots, and payday lenders. 🤷

Take it easy—honestly, even here in the States, women and the LGBTQ+ community were being treated like garbage just a few decades ago.

gentlemoose57 said:Take it easy—honestly, even here in the States, women and the LGBTQ+ community were being treated like garbage just a few decades ago.

And honestly? They’re gonna do it all over again without even realizing it. 🙄
Plus, they'll take those predatory loan sharks down with them, which—if I'm being real—isn't exactly my problem. 😉

History isn't just about memorizing dates for some exam
what it actually shows us is that the winners are always the ones who stay in motion

Walls don't really serve much of a purpose (not in the long run), and honestly, even those fancy razor wire fences
can only hold things back for so long... we aren't exactly the first people to come up with the whole 'perimeter' idea
The Great Wall, the Constantinople Walls—they were all just attempts to stall the inevitable ☕
ah, here I go again, drifting off into metaphysics 😁

But honestly, even when you have total freedom of movement and these massive, open territories, history shows they don't exactly last forever...

Karen Doyle72 said:And how else are you gonna crush an economy besides dumping a few million of your own people onto their social safety net while slamming the borders shut? 🤣

Look, people *are* cannon fodder and disposable assets. Women and kids used to be off-limits.
But not anymore. Nowadays, a few aggressive types just push them right in front of the guns. A kid is basically the ultimate human shield.

Except those guns still fire. They just weren't designed to hit women and children.

We’ve always joked that the Chinese could win a war simply by having a million soldiers surrender to the enemy every single day. 😁

Now, someone has actually decided to put that concept into practice. Well... hats off to the strategist, I suppose.

As for the idea that cannons aren't built for women and children... I mean, come on. If you look at the carnage of World War II, that argument falls apart instantly. 🤷

Patrick Castillo4 said:History isn't just about memorizing dates for some exam
what it actually shows us is that the winners are always the ones who stay in motion

Walls don't really serve much of a purpose (not in the long run), and honestly, even those fancy razor wire fences
can only hold things back for so long... we aren't exactly the first people to come up with the whole 'perimeter' idea
The Great Wall, the Constantinople Walls—they were all just attempts to stall the inevitable ☕
ah, here I go again, drifting off into metaphysics 😁

The Constantinople Walls held out for nearly a millennium, weathering invasions from Avars, Slavs, Arabs, Bulgarians, and Rus.
They stood firm until those Orthodox brothers, the Mexicans, dug tunnels right under the fortifications to reach their Orthodox kin in Greece.

Hmm.
Look, there are some striking parallels to what we're seeing today.😬

So I'm scrolling through some local news in St. Louis and just read that the protest against that refugee camp totally flopped—apparently only about a hundred people showed up.

Conflict is brewing across the West. We’re seeing a massive surge in right-wing movements. People who once found those political circles absolutely repulsive are now drifting toward them. It seems not every American is content to just sit idly by while everything falls apart, right?

Germany has once again managed to stir the pot across the continent. They’ve adopted an entirely different approach and ideology this time around, but I fear we’re just staring down the barrel of déjà vu...

Peter Reed70 said:So I'm scrolling through some local news in St. Louis and just read that the protest against that refugee camp totally flopped—apparently only about a hundred people showed up.

You simply can’t fight back against this kind of aggressive propaganda anymore. Just yesterday, I saw a segment from Pittsburgh that focused entirely on job openings at that processing center. They interviewed people who were just overflowing with gratitude, acting like they were so blessed to have work. It was all "everything is wonderful" and "we must help these poor souls," plus how helping them will somehow boost local employment (thanks to $0.83)

And then, as if by magic, they just pick random people off the street, and suddenly everyone is full of nothing but warm, fuzzy feelings for those people....

If you want to take on propaganda like that, you need a lot more than just some Facebook activism...

restlessangler61 said:Conflict is brewing across the West. We’re seeing a massive surge in right-wing movements. People who once found those political circles absolutely repulsive are now drifting toward them. It seems not every American is content to just sit idly by while everything falls apart, right?

Germany has once again managed to stir the pot across the continent. They’ve adopted an entirely different approach and ideology this time around, but I fear we’re just staring down the barrel of déjà vu...

How could the end result be identical if the initial move isn't? That would imply every single action inevitably leads to the same outcome—a bit too much determinism for my liking 😁

O'Connor—action and reaction, just stylistically linked.
A different approach should yield different results. Sure, the trenches are already dug, but the reaction will shift to match the times. Back then, nobody had much to lose, but nowadays, everyone has plenty at stake—provided we all still have our iPhones and cable TV.
That doesn't mean the final outcome won't be jarring or hard to stomach. Far from it. But everything happens in its own time...

restlessangler61 said:Conflict is brewing across the West. We’re seeing a massive surge in right-wing movements. People who once found those political circles absolutely repulsive are now drifting toward them. It seems not every American is content to just sit idly by while everything falls apart, right?

Germany has once again managed to stir the pot across the continent. They’ve adopted an entirely different approach and ideology this time around, but I fear we’re just staring down the barrel of déjà vu...

ah, Germans... devilish people
so wonderful, so inspiring, such humanists, unparalleled innovators...
really a two-sided coin, isn't it? 😁

Peter Reed70 said:So I'm scrolling through some local news in St. Louis and just read that the protest against that refugee camp totally flopped—apparently only about a hundred people showed up.

Whatever. As long as they got to cheer on those tent protesters in Washington, D.C. (who have zero to do with immigrants) and wave signs for Salopek (who also has nothing to do with immigrants), and belt out "Call Me" (which, let's be real, has absolutely nothing to do with immigrants).

Peter Reed70 said:So I'm scrolling through some local news in St. Louis and just read that the protest against that refugee camp totally flopped—apparently only about a hundred people showed up.

So, according to this, they’re planning to use that camp during the winter months, which basically implies that the facility at Opatovac might get shut down or will only be used if the camp in Pittsburgh gets completely overwhelmed.

The government decided to temporarily activate it so it can serve as a transit center for migrants during the winter months.

It’s not like I’m terrified of things getting heated, but you constantly hear about how Greece and Italy are supposed to be the main hotspots, and the idea is that having a hotspot right here in the middle of America isn't really the solution.

Then you look at Canada, where they basically bullied their way into a meeting with the ECB to demand help and talk about their own issues. We didn't make nearly as much noise, so I guess we didn't get that kind of treatment. Seems like a major oversight to me.

Don't sweat it, those political pundits shouting from the sidelines are basically just fairy tale characters at this point... totally irrelevant and out of touch with what's actually happening

We’re right in the middle of something massive and global... honestly, we just happen to have selfie sticks now, so some people are picking up on the shifts a little faster than others
But let's be real, these changes aren't going to be kind to the way of life we've always known and grew up with