PotatOScore
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https://thenib.com/education-in-fear-growing-up-in-the-assad-regime-syria
SevenLeagueBoots
The first victims of islam are muslims.
b00gi
What a shitty place to be
TheFastpaws
That is very scary. That one side forces others to do such things. People can be scary in what they allow due to it fitting their views.
an4on7Villain
Who down votes something like this??
meltedlipbalm
This is starting to happen in America w Trump in the WH.
AlltheSarcasm87
Artist doesn't understand how to hold a rifle...
iAndroo
.
Carefuler
Excellent post, thanks very much! I'd love to see more like this!
OBM1
That was very interesting. Thank you for sharing.
NorfolkBoy
To give it it's full name: The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The totalitarian nature of it was a give away, so I had to look it up.
Sionas
Very enlightening.
Gunthervonhinten
I was looking hard for the terrible things but you had a pretty good teen time. Going places and dressing up. American suburbs look worse
Rochambeaubeau
What's up with that rudimentary clothespin boobytrap? It's weird that someone drew that, specifically.
Ryssaroori
Oh no, no. The Mauser was not primitive at all, if it was it wouldn't be the most used bolt in use today in bolt action rifles
DefenderOfDog
I know the Dutch are annoying but living there over Syrian might have been the better move
Meh93fr
You should read "The Arab of the Future" (Riad Sattouf). This is great too.
BuddahsBrother
Boring fact. Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth.
Wanderingmaniac
I hope you're happy now @op. I pray that there is peace in the Middle East... And elsewhere
RepostFromLastWeek
What makes you think its OP own experiences?
MaelstromDesign
In the military, this is an assumed way to be treated and trained. I was fine, but I was an adult. But for kids to be forced and subjected..
MaelstromDesign
It's disgusting to take away a child's ability to decide, not to mention train them for war
Whopraysforthedevil
In the US Army, that exercise is called JoeJoe the Duck. You do it when you're all fucked up.
CodeWarrior
Is that a recent thing? I never heard it called that as of 2006. Always it was Duck-walk.
Whopraysforthedevil
I did it back in '10. I never looked into it further.
DwaynElizondoMountainDewHerbertCamacho
Assad > "moderate terrorists" and ISIS. He is secular. Christians and Muslims lived side by side in peace and harmony.
groveldog
Until he started bombing and gassing the shit out of them.
DwaynElizondoMountainDewHerbertCamacho
That's the western media's bullshit. He is fighting foreign terrorists in residential areas. Take a look at Iraq and Libya, common?
IlluminaBlade
Even this post could be a very well fabricated... fabrication. It's getting so pointless and tiring to even attempt to tease out facts.
Sefalim
It's nothing new.
bluemeaniesarecoming
They've got us at the point where everybody's apathetic because it's too hard to filter the bullshit from what's real. Dangerous times.
CandidGamera
That's the spirit! (that got us to where we are today)
AlIYourBaseAreBelongToUs
You move back to Kuwait but then fail to tell about segregation in THAT country.
snipekill1997
Freedom of Speech rankings. Kuwait: 104/180. Syria 177/180. https://rsf.org/en/ranking
AlIYourBaseAreBelongToUs
Go there yourself and try it out.
snipekill1997
My point is that maybe their story was about 1 EXTREEMLY shitty country that is relevent to the US right now, not it and a pretty shitty 1.
JHawke
What do you want, this to be a comic series of epic proportions? This is a story about living under assad not a life story.
AlIYourBaseAreBelongToUs
She got on to tell about how life is better now and not segregated anymore. Yet in Kuwait it is still the case. One goes with the other.
JHawke
If history serves me correctly kuweit was a normal fairly modern country during that time.
AlIYourBaseAreBelongToUs
Modern but islamic segregated
SamuthNBS
Great post. I'm always wary of a school that starts the day by making people talk to a flag.
TiGRIOSindustriesRnD
https://imgur.com/uUmNuE2
SamuthNBS
It's not a joke, it's a very unusual thing to do.
bluemeaniesarecoming
Not American either and yeah it's unusual. Indoctrinated blind patriotism.
FrankPerkele
I wouldn't call it patriotism, I'd call it nationalism.
TiGRIOSindustriesRnD
You must not live in America.
SamuthNBS
Exactly, I do not. Neither do the vast majority of the global population - relatively few of whom pledge alliegance to their flag/nation.
darkdragonempress
Even as an American, looking back on it the pledge was kinda weird. But at least it was for country rather than party.
TiGRIOSindustriesRnD
Okay, but why do we have to make a public announcement about it every day, 180 days a year, for 13-14 years? That's the indoctrinating part.
KillingTheJoke12
Every person experiences this in some form. Taught to believe in creeds, gods, and morals that their culture deems appropriate.
CandidGamera
Well duh, because without that there'd be no identifiable "culture". Truism, ho!
GiantBlueSpaceship
To varying degrees yea. But free democratic nations allow opposing views to be aired and people can decide for themselves. Its when (1)
GiantBlueSpaceship
all such opposition is silenced like in Syria or China or North Korea that morals/values education gets morphed into brainwashing (2/2).
FuckMeThenYou
Well yes, humans are social creatures. But there is a pretty big difference between morals and party indoctrination
SKPY
eh..
NotTheSharpestSpoonInTheDrawer
Sweden here. I'll agree that I've been taught about the creeds, gods and morals in our society but I've never been forced to adopt them as >
KillingTheJoke12
"in some form". Certainly some places don't force you - it's more of a gentle coercion
NotTheSharpestSpoonInTheDrawer
I find it hard to call it coercion when there's no systemic pressure for conformity.
KillingTheJoke12
Society... people living together in a place requires conformity to function. It just may be a lighter touch where you live.
NotTheSharpestSpoonInTheDrawer
my own. And I've never experienced reprisals for rejecting tradition.
NotGarrusVakarian
Okay, but I'd say in America or even other places, indoctrination is willing, in places like the comic, they have no idea what's happening
DiggerPlease
Hahahahahaha
TiGRIOSindustriesRnD
All indoctrination is willing if you start early enough and don't talk about the bad things.
NotGarrusVakarian
Indoctrination by all definitions is not inherently bad, it's what keeps diverse groups of people together, it's why America didn't fall 1/2
NotGarrusVakarian
Apart at the very beginning. Now, it's hard to say if we are or not. 2/2
flamingflamingo
Uh, no. I remember reciting the pledge of allegience and singing songs of patriotism EVERY MORNING, most of which included "god".
NotGarrusVakarian
I don't really believe in a god but this just sounds like you're an angry, stereotypical atheist
KillingTheJoke12
Spoken like someone who has no idea what's happening
NotGarrusVakarian
That's just false, the fact I'm talking about it says I know at least some of what is happening.
thefunnypostguy
This is essentially Persepolis
TongueTiedLabourerfromtheLandoftheLittlePeople
Such a great comic
PotatOScore
I loved that comic as a kid. But persepolis is about an old forgotten war. Syria is happening now
RandomGliscor
Dude what? The Iranian revolution was like 40 years ago. If that's your threshold for "old and forgotten" you're gonna have one hell of a 1
RandomGliscor
2 time when you open a history book.
WhotheFuckAretheArcticMonkeyss
You can’t really compare Ba’athist and Ayatollahs. Iran and Syria are two totally different problems
WhotheFuckAretheArcticMonkeyss
Persepolis is great though. Both the comic and the movie
ManMashine
surprise surprise! The political system is NOWHERE as the media describes it. No matter what country.
hardradadada
I can tell you because ceaușescu that this is happening. These are the moves of dictators. "I hate em!"
FuckMeThenYou
Maybe try watching something else than Fox and RT?
TwoReds
Imgur is a part of "the media" we even cite sources wich alot of "the media" doesn't
ManMashine
That's why I rather trust bigger communities with more eyes on different sources.
SuzetteTheSmoreSchnappsGirl
surprise surprise nothing is as the media describes it. research for yourselves kids!
ManMashine
Exactly
koopaya
brb gonna go research Syria in person because this comic is all propaganda and I can't trust journalists
viennacodex2
That is not actually true. Most of what the media says is true. 95% most of the time
koopaya
^ This. And they've been doing a better job since Trump's election, thanks to his continuous attacks on the media.
ProgeriaProstitutes
But how? Any source can be false
IgniaEternale
Exactly! Journalism is never 100%- it's simply the best known information at the time. Even best sources require critical thought&skepticism
IgniaEternale
2Much of our news today is designed to sell (persuade) rather than inform. The facts require critical thought to extract from the marketing.
viennacodex2
Actually "the media" describes exactly this. Why are you so down on the media for some reason?
FuckMeThenYou
Because people that spew the most shit about media is the fuckers that gets their info from fox, breitbait and RT
TheEightfoldPath
To be fair, 'the other side' have their stinkers too. I read both sides of important issues, assume both exaggerate and find a middle ground
viennacodex2
Assuming that both sides are lying equally is a...really bad idea.
FuckMeThenYou
I'm not american and i follow fox, cnn and msnb on cable. Fox is 5% facts follow by 95% distortion of those facts
TheEightfoldPath
Hyperbolic statements like this would make me discredit everything else you have to say. I don't like them either but come on..
Matthew550
Its weird that you were to honor a political party rather than the country itself. Even saluting a politcal flag.
BronzeLeaguePro
Syria is a new-ish country. It does not yet have roots as a country, so you create some community by hook or by crook.
minipancho94
think back to the nazis. the party is what matters, the ideology/leaders as they are even above the country itself. the country can burn 1/2
minipancho94
so long as the party can survive.
Caspergirl
Where am I seeing this now? Where oh where is this happening now....hmmmm sounds so familiar
Mentok
Look at what our two parties are doing. Is it really that weird? People are about to elect a pedo because he's an R
snipekill1997
"our two parties are doing" https://pics.me.me/both-parties-are-the-same-everyone-knows-both-parties-are-27541736.png
Mentok
They might not be the same but dems do plenty of shitty stuff
snipekill1997
Yeah the democrats are far from perfect but its like comparing a nasty fart to someone shitting in your mouth.
bart2pl
it's wierd you were forced to honor anything imo ...
JayEnfield
The equivalent you might relate to is how "support the troops" always somehow means "support the choice made by our leaders to do war"
leechdemon
Eh, like citizens and politicians voting along party lines instead of for the interest of their country. Its more obvious there, but still.
PlunderingAndPillagesMakesNiceVillages
I´m from post-communist country and the stories my parents have about this..Well, lets just say I'm glad i was born right before revolution.
criggie
Does "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, ....." seem much different?
dex2775
I mean, you don'
criggie
`sok - means 2 upvotes instead of 1
dex2775
*I mean, you don't say 'I pledge allegiance to the Republican/Democrat Party'. Sorry bout the other one, I accidentally pressed enter.
milkytits
Doesn't that mean you pledge to the people of the country who are represented by a flag? You're not pledging yourself to a political side
Air36723
seeing as you arent pledging allegiance to the Republican/Democrat parties or to whoever the current president is (ie Trump). yes, it does
Air36723
i'd rather give my allegiance to the country and its IDEALS as well as my fellow citizens, then to a specific political party or politician.
BronzeLeaguePro
So... if someone does not agree with American ideals (and these change over time), they're not an American? Civic Nationalism is horrifying.
ArchAzazel
Nope. Because American ideals include people who think differently than us. That's why even tho we hate Nazis, they can exist here in peace
questionableanswers
China is the same. China does not have an army, the party has. Many chinese get upset when you critize the party, as if you insulted China.
SilentMajority420
Let's not forget about how they harvest organs from Falun Gong members.
monkeymuffins
1/ China does have army—it just happens to also double as the armed forces of the Communist Party. And the state Central Military Commission
monkeymuffins
2/ just happens to have all its senior positions filled by the same people as the Party Central Military Commission.
FuckMeThenYou
Like when people go bonkers over not saluting a flag the way they think a flag should be saluted?
snipekill1997
Not really, since one is the flag of a country and the other is a flag of a political party.
Eikre
Have you heard of the concept of a united front? The sovereignty of America itself has been declared opposed to specific political parties.
Eikre
So you see why if the U.S. code says membership in the communist party is illegal and its millitary's mission was fighting communism...
Eikre
...then the political organization that is the sovereignty of America functions not unlike a party, albeit with named wings (dem and repub)?
monjoinoctave
Always baffled at how people will criticize other countries but don't realize they enforce the same pattern in the US
snipekill1997
Except Americans aren't saluting the flag of a political party (especially since our's don't even have flags).
monjoinoctave
No one truly believes that "God" is for every religion when we're working on a muslim ban. Sorry for the long Sunday night rant! (6)
monjoinoctave
That's very relative imo. People across the world see the US as a very dogmatic, hyper capitalist country, regardless of the party in place.
monjoinoctave
I know it's not true (as an american) but making scandals out of "not respecting" the flag is highly political (2)
monjoinoctave
From an outside perspective, it does show how the US ostracizes people that would not be following the main mantra (3)
monjoinoctave
Don't forget that "in God is our trust" resembles most of the nations we antagonize (4)
cannedbat
now consider north korea and how tricky that situation really is
johnvictor
And yet people want to blunder our military into another quagmire that'll bog it down for a decade.
LeafiaBarrett
It burns my tongue to say it, but yeah. As much as NK's abuses turn my stomach, that will probably be what happens if we get involved.
hostilegforce
Every Olympics, nearly all of the North Korean athletes are smuggled out of the games by orgs dedicated to helping NK ppl escape.
GabZonY
i bet that means their families back in nk end up in concentration camps
NobodyExpectsTheSpanishInquistion
Correct
PotatOScore
The thing is north korea got nukes...
HorsefaceBeeguy
They have a dildo with green paint on the balls part.
GoldFrieza
If you believe that then you have not been paying attention in the last 2 years
HorsefaceBeeguy
So an even larger green dildo?
GoldFrieza
No, it's a real dick. And when it gets to the end of its Journey you don't want to see it blow it's load.
RepostFromLastWeek
Libya, Iraq, Syria, etc. are literally the reason they have nukes.
ClinicalCynical
North Korea wants something to negotiate with. Looking at the nations you mentioned, who can really blame them?
TheLastSithposter
South Africa gave up their nukes and got Mandela's rainbow coalition. It doesn't always end badly.
Vaanhalen
Damn bill Clinton first the bj then the rape now this
bondagewithjesus
TheRealHMint
Nukes are just the thing media focuses on, but aren't that important. They have enough conventional weapons in place to obliterate Seoul.
icollectpogs
They have toothpicks honeslty it would be somewhat bad if they launched some but overall America or Britain or Russia could crush them
damnyuoautocorrect
They have enough to hurt a civilization and start a war and we need to acknowledge that
vanbarbee
The problem really lies not in the nuclear threat, but to the conventional threat of 20 million Korean civilians within artillery range.
TiGRIOSindustriesRnD
And Japan, and Taiwan...
toasterburnstheworld
You don't use nukes to quiet a military target. They are for the civilian population. Even if RU, GB, and US "crush them" the damage (1/2)
NotGarrusVakarian
To be fair, Nukes could be tactically used to take out other facilities of such nature should the need arise.
TiGRIOSindustriesRnD
Consider the ramifications of dropping a nuke on a bunch of nukes.
toasterburnstheworld
will already be done. (2/2)
ezzmann
Basically