Little kid on Afghan War: "Who cares about the civilians? They're not Americans!"

[Knightskye]

6:05 in the video. "Why are we in Afghanistan? That's not our country." and then he's asked what he would do about terrorism. Good googly moogly.



YouTube - Kids React to Viral Videos! (Episode #1) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDEQ6wmt8x0)

[Uriel999]

honestly, don't read too much into it. He's a kid. Kids don't know shit. I for instance am a completely different person than I was 10 years ago at 15. People change and grow up.

[Kotin]

The scary thing is that many many adults would agree.

[jmdrake]

Yeah. He doesn't care about foreign civilians. But put the whole thing in perspective.

Why are we in Afghanistan? Is that our country? No. So why are we over there helping them?

Yea!

Q: How do we stop terrorism?

Kid: Shoot their leader in the head.

So far so good.

Q: But what if another leader pops up?

Kid: Well we take our Blackhawk jets to Afghanistan and bomb them so nobody can go over there.

The "glass parking lot" solution you hear so many wingnuts calling into right wing talk radio say.

Q: But what about civilians?

A: Who cares about them? They aren't Americans!

I hate to say this, but he has a more mature outlook than a lot of adults. At least he realizes what we are doing right now has nothing to do with terrorism. And he's smart enough to realize you can't win a "war" or terrorism by killing people unless you're willing to kill everybody. What he doesn't realize is that his solution besides being immoral is also impractical. (There are billions of "potential terrorist leaders" in hundreds of countries around the world and at some point you risk even "allies" (rivals) like China and Russia jumping into the fray on the other side.)

His problem is that he hasn't been shown any other options to "fighting terrorism" other than war. (Such as realizing our own government created the problem through blowback and/or started the terrorist organizations ourselves.) In the simplistic world view the media feeds us his "solution" kinda sort makes sense.

[nobody's_hero]

He should be right about the age to pay for it all when he grows up, so he has plenty of opportunity to change his mind.

[ExPatPaki]

and people say Muslims teach their kids to hate. :rolleyes:

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

and people say Muslims teach their kids to hate. :rolleyes:

Welcome to the machine.

[TheBlackPeterSchiff]

The scary thing is that many many adults would agree.

So true,.

[jmdrake]

and people say Muslims teach their kids to hate. :rolleyes:

I doubt anybody taught the kid this. (Well, maybe movies and violent video games did). And I don't see it as hate as much as apathy. He was asked how to solve the problem of terrorism. He gave an initially logical answer "Shoot the leader in the head". He wasn't prepared fully for the follow up question "What happens if they get a new leader". Now some people would have answered "Shoot the new leader in the head". He logically realized that wasn't going to work because the person questioning him could just say "And what about the next leader"? His "problem" is that he has no other possible solutions. Is he supposed to figure out "Stop creating terrorist through clandestine operations and/or stupid foreign policy that creates blowback" all by his lonesome? Is he supposed to figure that out when the popular culture of movies and games says that you defeat violence with more violence? And am I the only one who picked up on the fact that the kid wonders what we're doing over in Afghanistan anyway?

Learn from this kid. Understand why he thinks the way he does instead of condemning him for thinking that way. Realize how close he is to accepting a non interventionist foreign policy if nudged in the right direction. Then once you realize this, learn how to nudge people his parents age. Liberals can't accept non interventionist foreign policy because they think we need to save the rest of the world from itself. Conservatives can't accept non interventionist foreign policy because they think we need to save ourselves from the rest of the world by "fighting them over there before the fight us over here." You have to answer the questions of "How to keep America safe" and "How to help people in foreign countries" without foreign intervention to reach both groups.

[Heimdallr]

Lord Thunderin' guys, he was saying that while laughing! He was obviously kidding, I used to say stupid shit like that at age 10 ALL THE TIME. I'm just concerned if these views actually become, y'know, serious.

[Batman]

His intellectual development is complete at this point. The only thing both parties are waiting for is for him to turn 18.

[Vessol]

honestly, don't read too much into it. He's a kid. Kids don't know shit. I for instance am a completely different person than I was 10 years ago at 15. People change and grow up.

Kids are extremely intelligent. They absorb so many things like a sponge.

Children are the mirror to our own society, as can be clearly seen here.

[Heimdallr]

Kids are extremely intelligent. They absorb so many things like a sponge.

Children are the mirror to our own society, as can be clearly seen here.

When I was around his age, I used to think that if we didn't like someone, we just blow the hell out of 'em. War wasn't serious to me. Then I grew up.

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

When I was around his age, I used to think that if we didn't like someone, we just blow the hell out of 'em. War wasn't serious to me. Then I grew up.

See I'm weird. The cartoon I remember most that taught me about the awful cost of war was Robotech which came to US stations when I was 13. It showed people dying and there were more than enough instances in all 3 arcs where characters question why they are fighting and what its all about. I think more children SHOULD be exposed to that kind of 'entertainment' that doesn't glorify war.

[Vessol]

When I was around his age, I used to think that if we didn't like someone, we just blow the hell out of 'em. War wasn't serious to me. Then I grew up.

I'd say that attitude has a lot to do with how you were raised, not necessarily by your parents, but by the culture you live in.

As I said, children are mirrors to their their culture. That's what disturbs us the most.

[Heimdallr]

I'd say that attitude has a lot to do with how you were raised, not necessarily by your parents, but by the culture you live in.

As I said, children are mirrors to their their culture. That's what disturbs us the most.

Oh yeah, absolutely, but you have to realize how lightly I and many of my friends took that point of view. We didn't neccessarily think about it seriously, it was just sort of what Medal of Honor told us. I'm just saying, all kids think in that simplistic way.

The guy might grow up to be a huge neocon, but he might actually, once he gets into his teenage years, assess his political beliefs and reach the conclusion that he is anti-war.

I agree about the mirror statement though, that is very disturbing, but more of as a reflection of society. I'm just saying that I'm not really worried about the kid growing up to be a bloodthirsty imperialist maniac. Kids don't have a "political" part of their brain, assessing issues in a serious manner and forming a real opinion takes maturity, which the kid obviously dosen't have yet.

[dannno]

Q: But what about civilians?

A: Who cares about them? They aren't Americans!



(cont..)

Q: So what are your thoughts on Sarah Palin



:D


That was the funniest part, imo

[bigronaldo]

That was actually a pretty cute video (the whole thing that is).

I'm in agreement with Uriel999 though. I wouldn't take that kid too seriously. I think the point (or at least how I perceived it) was to show how kids react differently to viral videos than adults.

Most kids are simplistic and don't fully understand things that are more than one layer deep. Then again, neither do a lot of adults.

[Knightskye]

(cont..)
Q: So what are your thoughts on Sarah Palin

:D

That was the funniest part, imo

Yeah, it was surprising he doesn't know who she is, but wants to bomb Afghanistan into pulp and come home.