this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2026
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Leopards Ate My Face
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There are ways to wish well for your country that don't have that history.
Surely context matters. For example, one of the flags of where I live, the English flag, has been used to essentially express support for a more restrictive immigration policy
Whereas football fans will use that same flag with a completely different intended meaning - they just want to express support for the England football team
Sure, context matters. For example, if they used that slogan while throwing up statues of Stepan Bandera everywhere and celebrating him, that context would indicate that they're intentionally using the slogan because they're proud of him and the things he did, and want to associate themselves with him. If they used the slogan while acknowledging his involvement in the Holocaust and criticizing him, it would likely indicate that they're separating it from its original context.
Where I grew up, some people like to say, "The South will rise again." Some people claim it's harmless, that it's just about the South "rising" in the sense of developing and becoming prosperous. But generally, it's understood to mean the South rising up in rebellion. And you can tell that's what it means by the fact that it's generally said by people who wave Confederate flags, get Confederate tattoos, downplay the crimes and atrocities of the Confederacy, etc.
And the fact that this strain of far-right nationalism is prominent in Ukraine was documented by Western news media such as Reuters and The Guardian, until the war started and those stories suddenly became "Russian propaganda."
I want you to follow me on a hypothetical. Suppose you suddenly found yourself in 1981, in the middle of a TV debate about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Of course, being from the future, you know that the groups the US is arming and supporting are the same mujahideen who will attack the WTC in 20 years. You have the possibility to prevent that, and the 20 year war in Afghanistan that got countless people killed, if you can just convince the people of 1981 that the mujahideen are dangerous and that we shouldn't be arming and training them.
What do you say? The moment you suggest that, they accuse you of supporting the Soviets, of trying to undermine US interests, of repeating communist propaganda, of just letting the Soviets do whatever they please, and they won't stop at Afghanistan. Of everything you say to and about me now.
Whatever you would say to them, you can just imagine I said it to you. And while I'm not from the future, I do have basic pattern recognition, and the fact is that arming dubious, right-wing groups has not really worked out super well for us historically.