Imperialism at its best.

          • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I do think left-leaning people need to be a bit thicker of skin but not because I think they are weak or any of that bullshit. I just think along your lines: the revolution will be messy business and the world in its current form is a fuck, people need to steel themselves toward these truths. It's also the reason I think leftists should engage in personal fitness. But its also down to the abilities of each individual person, not everyone has the time or ability to get fit mentally and physically, but the perk of collective strength and fortitude is it means we will have the strength to carry those who cannot carry themselves, we owe it to each other and ourselves.

            I'm open to being wrong, though, so if somebody wants to change my mind I'll always lend an ear to a comrade's criticism.

            • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
              hexagon
              ·
              2 years ago

              I think its also really important for more communists to get into producing food. The biggest loss of life under communism has been starvation. Most agricultural experts are kulaks or full on capitalists so there is a lot of learning to catch up on to feed a communist nation especially when sanctions come into play.

  • MemesAreTheory [he/him, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I know this is awful and all, but all I can do is :joker-troll: laugh. Bunch of goddamn war criminals burning SO MUCH jet fuel in order to make older war criminals feel special and indoctrinate the population with pro-military brain worms.

    I'm glad they're dead and I hope they don't do a show next year. That many fewer pilots to project imperialism abroad and maybe the public will stop and think about how atrocious, wasteful, and dangerous this crap is in the future. :shrug-outta-hecks:

    • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      for what it's worth, nobody flying old warbirds are currently involved in the military and most aren't even veterans

      took a ride on a b-24 flown out of galveston a while back because my grandfather flew them in ww2 and my dad paid for it, it was pretty cool. old planes are neat, particularly when you can lean most of your body out the waist gunner holes in the side of the fuselage

      • MemesAreTheory [he/him, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        While I appreciate the insight, I'm unable to take this event out of the context (a veterans day airshow) and find sympathy for even civilian pilots. In a basic, "aw that sucks those people had families" I can pity them a little bit, but then I'm reminded that the entire event is a preposterous circus dedicated to projecting and glorifying military power while the planet burns.

        • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          people that fly planes will use any excuse to fly planes, if you put on a gay pride airshow and paid for the warplanes to show up I'm certain they would

          • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I'm not sure how much better it is if the company that makes Confederate flags would also make pride flags if you paid them.

              • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
                ·
                2 years ago

                Yeah but the point is that willingness to work for "both sides" isn't necessarily a vindicating factor. You can preserve history without allowing it to be used to promote American imperialism.

                  • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    Outside of this being a veterans day event idk how this is really “promoting imperialism”.

                    Youre right. If we put aside the whitewashing of the reputation of war criminals, this event doesnt promote imperialism.

                      • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
                        ·
                        2 years ago

                        I mean yeah maybe people just wanted to see some cool planes. It's just that the people who spend their weekends larping as SS officers also use "protecting history" and "see cool war vehicles" as excuses for their crypto fascism so also :shrug-outta-hecks:

    • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      Critical support for american pilots who die while showing off and destroy the reputation of the armed forces and expensive military equipment. May their last thoughts be of how angry their CO will be.

      • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        If this had happened in Russia or China there'd be endless articles about how the VVS or PLAAF are paper tigers with poor crew training.

  • blobjim [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Kind of horrible :deeper-sadness:

    Happened so quick there's not even a chance anyone survived that.

  • Conkers [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've had the opportunity to fly in a B-17 and this is a real fucking shame. The aircraft is a sight to see when in the air. The dudes who fly them are usually all volunteers and nice people, usually on the less looney side for veterans of that era. It's kinda dark but honestly, I bet a couple of guys on the plane wanted to go out this way, live out some WWII fantasy.

    Anyway, they probably shouldn't by flying these old planes this hard - especially in a pursuit / wingman type of format.

  • happybadger [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Sucks to lose two functional historical airframes. There are only 8 other airworthy B-17s out there. When they're gone the history is no longer visceral. It's just a museum curiosity that has no sense of the mechanics or performance. We've already got the first crop of kids born who will never interact with a WW2 vet in the way I never did with a WW1 one, and that's losing any connection to the war which isn't from a film or game.

    • fifthedition [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Even when they were brand new, B-17s crashed from mechanical problems all the time. A few years ago one belly landed in a cornfield and burned.

  • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    The deranged part of me is laughing at the "What? No!"

    I know it's someone's gut reaction to something big and lethal going down in front of them, but I've also sustained The Happening-related brain damage so

    • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Proof that they're all bots. Only bots would think humans are that stupid. We're stupider. But not by intention.

  • Des [she/her, they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    damn there's very, very few flight worthy B-17s left. good chance i've seen that one when i was a kid since i was dragged to many an airshow. also sucks for the pilots obvs unless they did some warcrimes and if they did fuck em

    • fifthedition [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Do people really think that serving military pilots fly these ancient warbirds?

      No. These are civilian pilots. The planes have been demilitarized. They are all privately owned. If you want to hate on them, hate on them because they're rich and have money to waste on projects like this. I once visited a museum with just about every airframe from WWII, from a Focke-Wulf 190 to a Yak-3, and all of them had oil pans under them. Because they were flyable aircraft. Just think about the money that goes into that.

      Yes, the German planes had swastikas on the tails. Because it's "historically accurate" or some shit.

      • Des [she/her, they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        the ones i saw were mostly civilian but occasionally they are vets. but yeah seems like everyone in that thread thought they were serving military pilots. when i was young enough though i did meet a few that were actual WW2 vets but it's cool they bombed nazis.

    • ssjmarx [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Seriously, the sky is huge, you can't miss it.

    • sooper_dooper_roofer [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      https://i.gifer.com/15Zv.gif

      except in true American parodical fashion, truth manages to be more pathetic than fiction (since the sky has a 3rd height dimension making this collision even more improbable)

  • culpritus [any]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    The CAF (Commemorative Air Force formerly known as the Confederate Air Force)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDTeE7zkr_k

    if you want to see how deep the :brainworms: go

    • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      Wikipedia: "The original name, Confederate Air Force, alluding to the Confederate States of America, started as a simple tongue-in-cheek joke"

      Is this like people who "jokingly" come up with names like "Kevin's Korner Kafe" for their real businesses?

      After a little jumping through that video.... Yes it is exactly like that.

  • fifthedition [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Man, these planes crash all the time.

    I'm not even talking about vintage warbirds at airshows. Although they crash all the time, too. Just a month or two ago some jet fighter took a turn too steeply and the pilot went unconscious from G forces and crashed. I'm talking about general aviation. They fall from the sky like leaves. A person a day dies in small plane crashes on average, and that's just in the USA. Fortunately, the people who die are obstetricians, small business owners and other educated people. Obviously working class can't afford to buy a million dollar airplane and fill it with aviation gas every weekend.