Trump supporters tricked into waving Russian flags at Conservative Political Action Conference
95 replies, posted
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874057]I mean, it's funny, but it doesn't really have any meaning. I doubt the vast majority of Americans, whether liberal or conservative, have any idea what the Russian flag looks like.[/QUOTE]
To be honest, if majority of Americans are unable to recognize a RUSSIAN flag, you know, one of the more important countries in the world's political and economic arena, that just makes it that much worse.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874077]I would assume the same about the large majority of the world. We rarely see flags of other counties and it's a pretty irrelevant piece of information to know.[/QUOTE]
Man, this is extra weird to hear from someone who's a regular at Paradox thread to boot.
[editline]25th February 2017[/editline]
My automerge!
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874077]I would assume the same about the large majority of the world. We rarely see flags of other counties and it's a pretty irrelevant piece of information to know.[/QUOTE]
Over in Europe, a lot are used to seeing other countries flags thanks to the union, plus football is a juggernaut, people will recognize flags, heck they'll even know club badges alone, so you'd assume wrong.
It's also actually pretty relevant, it's very important to know how to identify things so condoning ignorance would be pretty weird.
[QUOTE=Lolkork;51874091]why is the most powerful country in the world full of cretins?[/QUOTE]
Well, most people in most countries live their lives basically on autopilot, and often don't stop to think about the consequences of their actions or their inaction on the flip side. Part of it is due to the rat race, part of it due to general ignorance, and another part is getting a degree but not really learning anything/considering improving yourself a waste of time.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874057]I mean, it's funny, but it doesn't really have any meaning. I doubt the vast majority of Americans, whether liberal or conservative, have any idea what the Russian flag looks like.[/QUOTE]
I probably couldn't tell you what the flag of Azerbaijan looks like, but not knowing the flag of Russia? Sheeesh...
[QUOTE=Nitro836;51873487]Conservatives don't need to prank liberals, though, because they make a fucking joke out of themselves all on their own.[/QUOTE]
Let's put it this way, Liberals aren't the ones falling for [i] Donald Trump's[/i] bullshit.
Honestly, how is a flag, the representative symbol of a nation, irrelevant? That's just wrong to say.
[QUOTE=gufu;51874092]Man, this is extra weird to hear from someone who's a regular at Paradox thread to boot.
[editline]25th February 2017[/editline]
My automerge![/QUOTE]
I know the flag, but I also recognize that it is irrelevant to an accurate understanding of our situation with Russia.
Knowing or not knowing what the Russian flag looks like tells me nothing about how much that person knows about the history and current politics concerning the country.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874123]I know the flag, but I also recognize that it is irrelevant to an accurate understanding of our situation with Russia.[/QUOTE]
No it fucking isn't, knowing the flag is THE most basic thing of your knowledge of a country.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874123]Knowing or not knowing what the Russian flag looks like tells me nothing about how much that person knows about the history and current politics concerning the country.[/QUOTE]
How are you gonna know about the history and politics and along the way not even see the flag once? That's BS.
[QUOTE=Gwoodman;51874137]How are you gonna know about the history and politics and along the way not even see the flag once? That's BS.[/QUOTE]
For one, reading history. I can read a 2,000 page text on Russian history without ever seeing the flag.
Secondly, do you remember everything you've seen once?
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874123]I know the flag, but I also recognize that it is irrelevant to an accurate understanding of our situation with Russia.[/QUOTE]
Uh what? If somebody doesn't even know what the flag looks like I highly doubt that person knows a single damn thing about them. It's one of the first things you would learn about any country if you're going to do even a tiny bit of research.
[QUOTE=Trainbike;51874143]Uh what? If somebody doesn't even know what the flag looks like I highly doubt that person knows a single damn thing about them. It's one of the first things you would learn about any country if you're going to do even a tiny bit of research.[/QUOTE]
It really isn't. I can't tell you what the Afghanistan flag looks like off the top of my head, for example, but I can tell you a lot about it's history going back hundreds of years. I can also tell you about some of our political predicaments in the region.
Does my ignorance of the flag mean that I haven't done any study into the country or that I know nothing about it? No, of course not. Flags just aren't very relevant in our modern society.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874141]For one, reading history. I can read a 2,000 page text on Russian history without ever seeing the flag.
Secondly, do you remember everything you've seen once?[/QUOTE]
Alternatively I can google russia and the first thing I see is the flag
[QUOTE=Lambeth;51874150]Alternatively I can google russia and the first thing I see is the flag[/QUOTE]
I think the last thing Trump supporters would be googling before a conference would be "Russia", given their attitude towards the current controversy.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874141]For one, reading history. I can read a 2,000 page text on Russian history without ever seeing the flag.
Secondly, do you remember everything you've seen once?[/QUOTE]
I'm sure you guys have geography and history classes in the US or something?
And I was the best student in geography and one of the best in history classes, so knowing about these things is kinda my forte, so yes, surely a person can forget something they only saw once but if they are studying the history of a country, how can you possibly skip its flag? That's just ignorance.
It's pretty relevant, especially when it could've avoided these people being made look like fools.
Plus, if someone just googles Russia nowadays, the flag is literally right there, so I'm also assuming these people don't know a lot about the history it seems.
[QUOTE=Gwoodman;51874157]I'm sure you guys have geography and history classes in the US or something?
And I was the best student in geography and one of the best in history classes, so knowing about these things is kinda my forte, so yes, surely a person can forget something they only saw once but if they are studying the history of a country, how can you possibly skip its flag? That's just ignorance.
It's pretty relevant, especially when it could've avoided these people being made look like fools.
Plus, if someone just googles Russia nowadays, the flag is literally right there, so I'm also assuming these people don't know a lot about the history it seems.[/QUOTE]
I've never seen a pre-college, non-country specific, history class put any focus on a flag. Even the US flag is only mentioned based on the number of stars changing based on the number of states.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874077]I would assume the same about the large majority of the world. We rarely see flags of other counties and it's a pretty irrelevant piece of information to know.[/QUOTE]
Knowing different flags is imperative to your experience abroad. Perhaps even life saving.
[QUOTE=Zero-Point;51874156]I think the last thing Trump supporters would be googling before a conference would be "Russia", given their attitude towards the current controversy.[/QUOTE]
I would presume a basic level of curiosity considering how present they are in the news.
[QUOTE=Toothpick;51874168]Knowing different flags is imperative to your experience abroad. Perhaps even life saving.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for that total non-sequitur. We're not talking about people who are abroad.
(Although, I doubt it's very relevant unless you're strolling around some Middle Eastern nation. I've been to Mexico many times and knowing the flag didn't help or hurt me in one way or the other in the slightest.)
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874077]I would assume the same about the large majority of the world. We rarely see flags of other counties and it's a pretty irrelevant piece of information to know.[/QUOTE]
That's not true what so ever
I learned flags in school. We had "Social Studies", which was the study of the world even in 3rd grade. We had projects about nations involving their flags. I sure as shit remember many of them. What a silly cop out.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51874177]That's not true what so ever
I learned flags in school. We had "Social Studies", which was the study of the world even in 3rd grade. We had projects about nations involving their flags. I sure as shit remember many of them. What a silly cop out.[/QUOTE]
Cop out? What? It was a side comment that had nothing to do with my overall argument.
A flag is used to identify the nation, every military in the world uses it, bullshit it isn't relevant lol
If you want know about the history of a country, you're going to start with the basics, not buy a 2000 page book about the Lenin revolution or something
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874175]Thank you for that total non-sequitur. We're not talking about people who are abroad.
(Although, I doubt it's very relevant unless you're strolling around some Middle Eastern nation. I've been to Mexico many times and knowing the flag didn't help or hurt me in one way or the other in the slightest.)[/QUOTE]
but knowing the flag for belize while in that region could be useful
Source: Friends lost in Mexico looking for Belize.
[QUOTE=Gwoodman;51874181]A flag is used to identify the nation, every military in the world uses it, bullshit it isn't relevant lol
If you want know about the history of a country, you're going to start with the basics, not buy a 2000 page book about the Lenin revolution or something[/QUOTE]
You know how else we identify nations? By their names. I would assume that military members do know the flags of the nations involved in wars that they fight it.
Pointing out these very specific situations don't prove anything about the situation of your average person.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874190]You know how else we identify nations? By their names. I would assume that military members do know the flags of the nations involved in wars that they fight it.
Pointing out these very specific situations don't prove anything about the situation of your average person.[/QUOTE]
It's like pointing out that the average person would buy a random 2000 page book to read on Russia.
[editline]25th February 2017[/editline]
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874190]You know how else we identify nations? By their names. I would assume that military members do know the flags of the nations involved in wars that they fight it.
Pointing out these very specific situations don't prove anything about the situation of your average person.[/QUOTE]
In press conferences and meetings, do the governments put the country's names in giant letters in the back? No, they use flags.
[QUOTE=Gwoodman;51874194]It's like pointing out that the average person would buy a 2000 page book to read on Russia.[/QUOTE]
You might want to actually read the argument instead of taking one fact out of it's context. My point was that knowing the flag has nothing to do with knowing about the country in question. It's a fact of trivia, nothing more, nothing less.
The book was in the context of learning about a country and still not knowing it's flag. For example, I read a ~600 page book about the history of Islam. After reading that book I still couldn't identify the flags of the varying Islamic empires. My lack of knowledge about those flags has zero to do with my knowledge about the history of those empires.
[editline]25th February 2017[/editline]
[QUOTE=Gwoodman;51874194]In press conferences and meetings, do the governments put the country's names in giant letters in the back? No, they use flags.[/QUOTE]
They do identify them by name, though.
flags are more than trivia but i doubt you're going to agree to even such a small argument as that at this point
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51874206]flags are more than trivia but i doubt you're going to agree to even such a small argument as that at this point[/QUOTE]
Talk about a cop out by trying to make this a personal thing.
[QUOTE=sgman91;51874164]I've never seen a pre-college, non-country specific, history class put any focus on a flag. Even the US flag is only mentioned based on the number of stars changing based on the number of states.[/QUOTE]
So you've never had teachers put up a picture of a flag in a history or geography class? Not as a small icon on a slide or anything? You've never had school books show relevant flags? Flags are never displayed at all on the news when they're talking about a country? I find it hard to believe that none of these are common, because they sure are in Britain.
And as previously stated in the thread, this is a world superpower we're talking about. Not knowing the Russian flag is like not knowing the US flag. It's just kind of absurd.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.