I'm old enough to remember movies like Platoon or Apocalypse now that were rather critical of the Vietnam war. I liked them because it was not about supporting / opposing the war, but rather to show how absurd the whole thing was. Young americans went there to fight an enemy they didn't understand and a country that wasn't a real threat to the US.
But since Vietnam, there has been many other wars led by the US that have been even more absurd, but no movies like those 2. I mean since then, everything is about showing how hard soldier life is or how heroic the team were on those conflicts. I haven't seen many, but I think they're rather lame compared to those 2.
Together with those movies, I believe there was also a whole anti- war movement where veterans participated in those protests (not sure how it was, I wasn't there). But nowadays it's pure silence, like the youth has given up on trying to change things, no protests, no condemnations of the war on terror, no protests against supporting Israel, nothing.
I do not live there to say much about it, but it feels like the US youth has fallen in a deep apathy and defeat that stops them from even trying to change the course of things. AFAIK most people in the US doesn't support the funding of Israel, but what are they really doing?
For me, two things come to mind.
First, the previous pacifist generation got older and started finding excuses advocating for war. What used to be a no-go in the left-leaning crowd somehow has become a mandate, because everyone else is fascist and needs to be stopped or something.
An example I am very familiar with from when I was growing up is the Green party in Germany.
Initially they were consisting of pacifists, environmentalists and openly non-conformist people. After ending up in power some time later, their votes changed legislation so the German army could operate outside its own borders, a restriction put in place after WWII.
From there it only got worse over time. This is them now:
(source)
So that leaves the old "OG" pacifists out of the picture as they've become too complacent or ideologically blinded to see war for what it is.
The second part is that there is no new generation taking up the mantle.
In part at least I suspect it's because expressing discontent has been turned into this frictionless experience.
People think attending some half-assed rally once and signing a petition means they've done their bit and they retreat back home in the expectation that someone is bound to listen. Or they'll start some social media challenge to "bring attention" to some cause. While only they themselves and their close circle even see it.
And when inevitably no one listens, it's easy enough to distract yourself in other ways and blame the older generation (right now: boomers) for everything.
And no, I'm not dunking on the current young generations. My generation didn't do shit either. We were for the most part apathetic and/or nihilistic.
We had a few people who'd stick their necks out, but no where near the magnitude of those in the 60s/70s.
We're just lacking a generation pissed off enough and not too distracted to notice they're being abused. And have been for a while.
I had the impression that at least in Germany there were some protests against intervention in Ukraine, but you don't see much of that in the US.
Part of what I wanted to point out with the movies is that dissent has been silenced and consent manufactured, but most people don't even see it.
I guess the generation that will be pissed off enough will be one that goes hungry or see the bombs falling over their heads.
People are doing bets on wars now... Is just a game for them.
You are a joke Mr @DarthCoin virtue signalling BTC Maxi 'living on the bitcoin standard'.
You don't even use Bitcoin here on Stacker News...you use only CC shitcoins because 'they always work' and because Stacker News 'is just a game'.
Go tell your NSA handler you have been exposed as a hypocrite and statist infiltrator.
Then fuck off, loser.
#1439763
well-known fact: people shed a lot of weight after parasite cleanses... what is "gravity?" what is "retardation?"
gone. Died.
We all like war now
It's very simple, they were anti-war when the war was against communists. If it's against Russia which is not communist anymore and Putin represents some Orthodox conservative fascist figure they support it totally.
USA is in terminal moral, economic and spiritual decline.
The burden of empire does that.
Nearly half of Americans are obese.
Let it die.
It's gone too far to save.
The youth are glued to their phones. They'll complain on Reddit and Bluesky, but not likely to actually do anything.