Yes! Very well put, Mex! I never knew enough about the guy to be one of those who said he was great by any stretch of the imagination. In comparison, he was no more great than any other psychopathic dictator. From a different perspective however, I think the respect he gets comes from the fact that he kept his people in check through methods of fear. He became respected because you didn't dare question him. He kept his people "safe and secure" because if you fucked up, you got FUCKED UP! And after all, is that not what we look for in any great despotic dictatorship? Seems to me the qualifications for the job have remained exactly the same as we continually repeat history! Ugh!A_Northern_Soul wrote:Mexicola - thanks for articulating this a lot more eloquently than I had the patience for!
I suppose you could also say he gets his respect for not taking shit from the UN. For standing up for what he thought was right for his country, no matter how fucked up it actually was. Still doesn't make him a decent human being though.
While I no doubt agree that getting all your information directly through conspiracy channels is ridiculous, you simply cannot ignore it either. There is an ever increasing number of people who come from this perspective. There is valuable information in there. I'd say at any given time 40-60 percent of it is hyped up, fear induced, paranoia bullshit, but if you can use your logic and intuition to filter out the pulp, it becomes a useful tool when used in conjunction with other angles and sources. I usually try as best I can to hear both the left and right side from my country's bought out corporate media, then I try to get the left/ right or good/ evil version from whatever other countries are involved in the story. Mix that with a bit of the conspiracy perspective and a little unbiased history as best as one can find it. Jam all of this information into your brain, keep it as raw and unbiased as possible, run it through your logic and intuition and you have yourself a generally informed opinion.
