Robot Wars (Politics/Technology)

Omnutia

Making a new thread to continue from this point in the fail of the day thread.

YoshoKatana

Which brings us back to the problem of political dis-interest among the population.

Verily. I think this might be the root problem of American Foreign Policy (and, to an extent, other countries'), and it's an issue the draft would address. If we had a draft (that is, of course, bi-gendered and such) I think it would cause a lot of people to be more involved in the peace process. It would also raise awareness of other problems in the military (racism, sexism, gender-orientation issues, corruption, a rightward spiral of opinions, etc).

Nuri

Oh, oops. Okay, moved.

I'd like to point out that while our country may not be forcing people who don't want to go to war to join on our side, there is a significant amount of involuntary involvement where the war is actually being fought. Philosophically, it's hypocritical to refuse to do it on our side because it is inhumane while forcing people into that position on the other side. The difference? The majority views things from a selfish standpoint. Keep the war from affecting US inhumanely, and we're okay with it.

The draft is an inappropriate solution to the problem, but it would get people mobilized on the issue. As long as it's not OUR families being forced into danger, we're willing to let the war slide. It's a problem of responsibility. Our elected officials serve the people who elected them. They hold our interests far above foreign interests. Diplomacy and foreign relations are pursued entirely because it's good for our country. Geneva convention? Well, we don't like having our people tortured, so we'll make an agreement to keep it from happening. Same thing with every agreement we've ever made. We get something out of it. So, while ending the war may help those innocent foreigners involved in the war and may bring our volunteer military home, it is perceived as more in our interest to prevent the bad guys from being able to attack us again than it is to do that.

The less trauma the people fighting the war on our side have to suffer, the less bad we have to balance against the good that this war does FOR US. That makes the war less of a problem, which makes it less likely that a great effort will be put forth to end it. So, while the drones make things less risky for the soldiers, there is a philosophical argument against them.

That said...I don't have a problem with the drones as long as they are not abused. It's really the abuse of the technology that people are worried about.

Victor Frost

Geneva convention? Well, we don't like having our people tortured, so we'll make an agreement to keep it from happening.

Except, lets face it, no one pays attention to the Geneva convention.

Churba

Robot Wars

This man Approves:

Rochelle

This man Approves:

I think he only approves of eating a good vindaloo with mango chutney. ^_~

YoshoKatana

I approve of eating a good vindaloo with mango chutney.

WindUpBird

This man Approves:

I think he only approves of eating a good vindaloo with mango chutney. ^_~

Unless a space hulk's DNA modifier Uplifts the vindaloo.