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0 pointsaebtebeten2mo ago0 comments

Given that a large part of the subtext (Linebarger* does implore us to habitually analyse all communication as if it might be propaganda) in Psychological Warfare is that "hey, it might really be better if the US Army didn't practice apartheid" (finally ended in practice ca. the 6.25 전쟁), I'd bet the confederate train was supposed to evoke the US Civil War.

(let's stay silent about: "...the new organization is simply the old one under a slightly different name, but with the old leaders and the old ideas still prevailing.")

* might this be why he seems to have been replaced at Bragg with a very powerpoint-y kind of textbook?

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gsf_emergency_62mo ago

Okay I feel i'd said something stupid ---about the train--- without knowing what or why :)

I had a notion that, compared to the US military, it was the Civilian Enforcers that practise apartheid-- ~a decade ago, not sure about now, they forced a black admiral to retire weeks back? Then again I was surprised that I was surprised at the inflation in NYC since the start of the pandemic

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/politics/admiral-alvin...

aebtebetenOP2mo ago

I think that notion is largely true: the military started desegregating in 1948[0]; the Civilian Enforcers not until decades later[1]. (I'd believe, recent purges notwithstanding, that the military has successfully integrated[2]; civilian society apparently ... not as much as one might have hoped, 160 years after Reconstruction[3]?)

I'm not surprised at the inflation: USD has crashed by ~20% against CHF since last year[4], so it makes sense that less real value would show up in domestic prices.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9981

[1] eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1968

[2] eg I believe if it were up to career officers, US Fort Bragg would not currently be named after a CSA general

EDIT: my bad, Bragg has been retconned to refer to US PFC Roland L. Bragg instead of CSA Gen Braxton Bragg

[3] the really silly thing is that Reconstruction seems to have been thrown in the trash in order to buy southern support for WWI, yet unlike the other major XX unpleasantry, the US participation in and effect upon that conflict was minimal

[4] I lay the blame squarely on US domestic policies; others may differ...

gsf_emergency_62mo ago

What have you recently learnt from Psychological Warfare that you think scholars don't get?

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0 pointsaebtebeten2mo ago0 comments

(let's stay silent about: "...the new organization is simply the old one under a slightly different name, but with the old leaders and the old ideas still prevailing.")

* might this be why he seems to have been replaced at Bragg with a very powerpoint-y kind of textbook?

0 comments

gsf_emergency_62mo ago

Okay I feel i'd said something stupid ---about the train--- without knowing what or why :)

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/politics/admiral-alvin...

aebtebetenOP2mo ago

I'm not surprised at the inflation: USD has crashed by ~20% against CHF since last year[4], so it makes sense that less real value would show up in domestic prices.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9981

[1] eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1968

[2] eg I believe if it were up to career officers, US Fort Bragg would not currently be named after a CSA general

EDIT: my bad, Bragg has been retconned to refer to US PFC Roland L. Bragg instead of CSA Gen Braxton Bragg

[4] I lay the blame squarely on US domestic policies; others may differ...

gsf_emergency_62mo ago

What have you recently learnt from Psychological Warfare that you think scholars don't get?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse