rant · moment 8 of 17

War Economy and the 'Big Given' in Political Arguments

from What Does Your Brother Do In The Navy · #82

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

1 min

Tim describes arguing with someone who dismissed war economy criticism by saying America isn't Sweden, and uses it to illustrate how people smuggle huge assumptions into arguments about foreign policy.

In this bit3 moments
  • 22:15Tim describes arguments where people accept a "big given" — unstated premises they won't question.
  • 22:39Everyone agrees the U.S. drops bombs on innocent people worldwide, but there's a conversational way of moving past that admission.
  • 23:00Tim's absurdist take: if we're destabilizing countries and creating refugees, at least we shouldn't misgender them in the process.
Mentioned here

SwedenIKEA

All 17 moments in this episode →