this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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[–] fennesz12@feddit.dk 186 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (8 children)

I see a lot of right wing influencers arguing a kind of might makes right rhetoric. They say that the US should take Greenland simply because it can, and the US needs it. Which makes me wonder if I as a Dane am morally justified in gathering a few friends, breaking into these influencers homes, kicking them out, and just take up residence. After all, I need their houses, and my friends and I are stronger. Isn't that so?

I suppose there is no moral obligation for me to obey American laws, if there is no moral obligation for America to obey international laws. If the US is justified in hostile takeover of a foreign democratic nation, then I see no reason why I, as a Danish citizen, should abide by US laws.

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 69 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You're descendants of Vikings. Go Viking.

Take their treasure while you're at it.

[–] partofthevoice@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Yesterday, I heard Magnus Carlson get called an insufferable viking. ‘Twas humorous.

[–] unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

I doubt the chess champion cares if he gets called a slur, but I know nothing, definitely nothing relevant. Godspeed

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Be incredibly angry at Americans

Invade Quebec

Become very cold

Leave after about 80 years

[–] BurnedDonutHole@ani.social 42 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Anyone who is talking about this should first realize that a NATO member is trying to get territory from another member just because they think it's better for their geopolitical situation, this will break NATO as an alliance because then Greece and Turkey will take it as a greenlight to take action against the disputed territories between themselves. Which will cause the collapse of NATO and who knows what Non-NATO countries will try to do. This is not about MAGA bullshit it will cause a huge change and might even cause the WW3 to start instead of the proxy wars we've been seeing. I'm saying this a person who doesn't like NATO.

[–] Honytawk@feddit.nl 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It will not break NATO. Since it is a defensive pact.

If the US attacks Greenland, every NATO member will jump to the defense of Greenland because they are the country being invaded. That is how the pact is written. Doesn't matter if the invading country is NATO themselves or not.

The only thing this will cause in NATO is that the US will be kicked out.

[–] Gloomy@mander.xyz 2 points 1 day ago

This is wishful thinking. This will brake NATO or they will just shrug and move on. Europe is still to reliant on the US as a protective force. Maybe this will help them see that the time in which the US cared for anybody but them self belong to the past. Right now to many EU countries are clinging to world order that died with Trump 2.

[–] fennesz12@feddit.dk 11 points 2 days ago

Well said, and it really puts it all into perspective. There are vast geopolitical consequences.

[–] Orygin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Has NATO really prevented anything between Türkiye and Greece?
I thought there were explicit exceptions for the defense agreement in case the conflict is between member states, precisely because of Türkiye and Greece.

Edit: from what I can find, there is no explicit exceptions but it is generally understood that article 5 is only to be invoked for external aggression. No action was undertaken by NATO when Cyprus was invaded.

[–] ssladam@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago

These morons would take us back to living in caves and knocking women over the head with clubs to claim their spouse if they had their druthers.

This juvenile "might makes right" perspective is so goddam infantile it's almost laughable, if these weren't the idiots with the guns.

A Dane invading and pillaging... I've heard this one before.

Do it. Embrace your Viking ancestry.

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 days ago

you are morally justified in using the method of your aggressor enemy against them, yes

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Which makes me wonder if I as a Dane am morally justified in gathering a few friends, breaking into these influencers homes, kicking them out, and just take up residence.

The thing about Might Makes Right is that hypotheticals aren't a signal of strength.

What would happen if you tried? You'd probably get in an altercation. People would be injured. The local police would be called to break it up. And nobody would care that you were trying to prove a rhetorical point.

I suppose there is no moral obligation for me to obey American laws, if there is no moral obligation for America to obey international laws.

To borrow a quip from Brandon Lee Mulligan

Laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic-ethnic group in a given nation. It’s just the promise of violence that’s enacted and the police are basically an occupying army. You know what I mean?

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

But in a hypothetical "might makes right", cops aren't ever safe either and don't act with impunity of the courts and the consent of the governed. Police stop being police, and are just people with a slightly above average level of force in a mad max world.

If they thought the job sucked before with high rates of PTSD and suicide, just wait.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

But in a hypothetical “might makes right”, cops aren’t ever safe either and don’t act with impunity of the courts and the consent of the governed.

Cops operate as armed gangs with staked out turf. They're safe, broadly speaking, because they have a collectivist attitude towards their own defense. If you fuck with one cop, you are inevitably fucking with the entire department. And police departments - particularly in big cities - have enormous amounts of money, capital, and manpower to deploy against individuals and small groups in opposition.

If they thought the job sucked before with high rates of PTSD and suicide, just wait.

Not remotely high enough.

And the job doesn't suck. It is highly coveted, both for the amazing pay/benefits - some of the best in the public sector and regularly well above the local median - and for the slew of "fringe" benefits that come from gang membership - prosecutorial immunity when engaged in drug/human trafficking, assault/battery/spousal abuse, vehicle crimes, intoxication, etc.

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

https://www.zippia.com/salaries/police-officer/

Entry level $38k average $52. Not exactly amazing pay. The coveted nature of the job is little dicks want power to abuse.

Edit: from https://www.cna.org/reports/2024/03/Law-Enforcement-Deaths-By-Suicide.pdf

Public safety personnel die by suicide at a higher rate than the general population. For example, Violanti et al. (2013) found that detectives and criminal investigators had a higher suicide rate than the general population, and Dixon (2021) found that rates of suicide among public safety personnel are higher than rates of death in the line of duty. Various job-related factors contribute to these tragedies in law enforcement officers, including repeated exposure to life-threatening situations, the strain of shift work on sleep patterns and relationships, ready access to firearms, prior military experience, and the demographic profile of law enforcement, which predominantly comprises White males, a group already at elevated risk of suicide (Dixon, 2021; Stanley et al., 2016; Violanti et al., 2013). In contrast, factors contributing to the suicide of correctional officers remain less clear, largely because of high turnover rates (Malik et al., 2023).

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Entry level $38k average $52.

NYPD pay is $60k starting and $125 after five years. That doesn't include overtime or benefits. At 33k officers and counting, they're the biggest department in the country. Base salary in Houston is $80k with Senior Officers earning as much as $140k.

Go more local and you'll find the starting officer pay regularly outruns the median salary and benefits. The NYC median salary is $73k. Houston is $56k. You can find officers in smaller towns earning less. But they're inevitably in a township with residents that are even poorer.

And, again, this is just baseline salary. Police Unions regularly secure 1.5x - 2x overtime pay compensation, resulting in some curious compensation figures

Houston senior police officer Matthew Davis’ annual salary was about $90,000 this past fiscal year. He made nearly $170,000 more in overtime.

It was not an anomaly. Davis has collected more in overtime than his base salary every year since at least 2020, and was previously disciplined for participating in an overtime scheme involving fabricated witness claims on traffic tickets. He is part of a growing pattern among the city's highest-paid traffic enforcement officers who routinely collect overtime earnings that match or exceed their base salaries, a Houston Chronicle analysis found

Hardly the only department that's been scandalized by this kind of misconduct.

The coveted nature of the job is little dicks want power to abuse.

Definitely one of the "fringe" benefits.

The job does suck.

Most jobs suck. Few include the number of perks afforded to entry level staff.

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca -4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh look! Cherry picking. I didn't know it was in season.

[–] Evkob@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

I think more cops should commit suicide to be honest.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Fire is cheaper. you could even alert them and make sure they get out ok. just sayin

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I see a lot of right wing influencers arguing a kind of might makes right rhetoric.

Always the case with fucking fascists.

While that is the case, I wonder how many in America actually approves of this given the proliferation of right wing bot accounts. I think that even if the US decides to invade Greenland, that might trigger a US civil war because, unlike Venezuela and Iraq where there are dictators which give plausible excuse to invade, Denmark and Greenland is clearly a democratic and peaceful country. A lot of Americans know this. Invading Venezuela did not even create a rally around the flag effect in favour of Trump admin as some might have expected, in order for Trump to artificially shore up his approval ratings. I certainly thought that more Americans might have gotten on board with Trump admin immediately, considering how they jumped the bandwagon to support the invasion of Iraq.