this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2025
606 points (99.7% liked)

History Memes

1173 readers
1259 users here now

A place to share history memes!

Rules:

  1. No sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, assorted bigotry, etc.

  2. No fascism (including tankies/red fash), atrocity denial or apologia, etc.

  3. Tag NSFW pics as NSFW.

  4. Follow all Piefed.social rules.

Banner courtesy of @setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world

OTHER COMMS IN THE HISTORYVERSE:

founded 7 months ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 7 hours ago

The theft from the output of one's labor under threat of starvation and death is an insidious form of violence.

It's ideal to attempt harm reduction but when all possible non violent methods have been exhausted, violence is the remaining method of harm reduction.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 23 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

"violence is not the answer" coming from the people commiting it.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 18 points 9 hours ago

"all political violence is wrong"

detains community leaders in concentration camps

"we should talk things out in the marketplace of ideas"

censors all discussion of wealth redistribution, even the most tame acts like raising taxes on billionaires just a little bit

"violence has no place in our lives"

invades a nation in the global south under flimsy pretexts

[–] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

most people i know who are pacifists are trust fund hippie types who've never had to struggle or fight for anything and think everyone should just sit around and smoke weed and live a minimal life from the income on their investments.

[–] atcorebcor@sh.itjust.works 10 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

The winners of wars write the history books. There are so many peaceful small wins that we don’t share enough. Violence does not have to be the answer, but we lack the imagination to believe this because we are not being taught the peaceful ways. Not even in movies and games.

[–] fishy@lemmy.today 2 points 4 hours ago

You can't beat stupidity and hate with kind words and intelligent arguments unfortunately.

[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world 35 points 20 hours ago

Reminds me of this gem

[–] DylanMc6@lemmy.ml 12 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

violence may NOT be the answer (because force is NOT the answer), but if we CAN'T settle our fight with peace, then we must reluctantly use force. seriously!

[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 5 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

An old quote comes to mind, "war is just diplomacy by other means"

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 1 points 5 hours ago

Peace through superior firepower

[–] buttnugget@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago

I think reading history honestly only confirms this point. Violence is not the answer if by answer we mean the proper remedy to conflict. It’s what we’ve done, but it’s not a good idea.

[–] KawaiiBitch@lemmy.world 12 points 20 hours ago (2 children)
[–] djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 8 hours ago

You can be nice, but there are people who exist who will take your kindness and then go commit a genocide. Those people should be your enemies.

[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 8 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Shut it Thorfinn Karlsefni.

[–] KawaiiBitch@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I was expecting many things but this, this ain't fucken one of em. What the actual fuck am I looking at. Why is Mikus cousin getting her mouth and jaw flesh gripped like meat flaps.

Y'know what fuck it going to go watch some random shit have fun with thine waifu bait homunculus.

[–] KawaiiBitch@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] KawaiiBitch@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 2 points 5 hours ago

This gif is making me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

"If war never changes, then men must change."

  • Ulysses, Fallout New Vegas
[–] DylanMc6@lemmy.ml 1 points 17 hours ago (2 children)
[–] NotANumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 hours ago
[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

(This is a verbatim quote, but that would be the accurate thing to say, yeah.)

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

In archaic language (which Ulysses certainly is using in the game), men refers to all human beings.

[–] absentbird@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

'man' and 'men' started as gender neutral terms, like a shortened form of 'human'. The prefix for male humans was 'wer' and for female humans 'wif', which is where we get the words werewolf and wife.

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 62 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Violence is always a bad answer.
Sometimes its the least bad answer of the options available.

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 2 points 5 hours ago

Great parenting advice.

[–] bob_lemon@feddit.org 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is especially true when violence is also the question.

[–] WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Or just manipulation.

From the streets and gangs, to the businesses, to the cops and feds... They all have something in common, manipulation for power/control. That's the opposite of living for humanity.

The most important thing I've learned in life is that it's always the same game, whether it's illegal street life or business or politics... It's all always the same evil game. And the players of that game always try to make or force you to play it.

If there was an honest war for humanity, it would be a war against all of those that play that game.

But the truth is... No one cares about anything but trying to escape the reality of being human and they will play the game with all its false promises because it's easier than facing the fear of the actual presence of honest reality.

Actual reality is like a horror movie.

[–] crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 41 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Violence may not be the answer, but it's always an answer.

[–] AreaKode@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago

It isn't always the best option, but certain people sure seem to want to make it one of the only options left...

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

Isaac Asimov, Foundation

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 4 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

"Those that makes peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable."

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 1 points 5 hours ago

The tree craves fertilization!

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Did he propose a workable alternative (actually asking)? Not that it invalidates the point one way or the other, just wonder if he had some "system" he preferred.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 hours ago

I believe it was along the lines of "actually solve the problem".
There's so many diverse causes of violence that there's not one solution or alternative. Resource shortage? Find a way to fix it. Land shortage? Find a way to use what you have more efficiently.
If you can't solve the problem you're by definition not competent.

I don't believe he thought the incompetent should meekly roll over and die, but rather that violence was a failure to solve the problem correctly. If you find yourself in a position where you need to do violence it's not because you had no choice, but because you didn't know what that other option was.

It's worth remembering he was one of those people who said exactly what they meant. If he meant that violence was unacceptable no matter what he would have said that. He was a pacifist in the "what if we don't invade Vietnam?" sense, not in the "I will let you beat me rather than raise my hand in anger" way.

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

It's been a long time since I read Foundation, so I'm not sure if there's specific context provided right around the provided quote. The entire series is about an organization trying to mitigate the collapse of a galactic empire, and how its goals are primarily achieved through guile and subtlety, rather than trying to win wars.

[–] itkovian@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (8 children)

That just tells me how often we fail to find the right answer and then continue going ahead like violence is the right answer. It's an indictment against us as a whole.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

That just tells me how often we fail to find the right answer and then continue going ahead like violence is the right answer

Okay, so what was the right answer to say... Hitler trying to take over the world?

[–] itkovian@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Not this again. The indictment is against Hitler. Hitler decided to go to war and commit genocide instead of going to therapy, maybe. Can we please just stop with the whatabout-ism?

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

It's not whataboutism, it's a legitimate point. I agree that Hitler was the problem and at fault, but that doesn't change the fact that for the rest of the world the 'right' answer to the Hitler problem was in fact violence.

[–] itkovian@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Sorry but there is an assumption implicit in your argument that tyrants like Hitler are somehow not human and are exceptional and not really a part of humanity. Well, they are.

There is this quote that I absolutely love

"No tyrant could thrive where every subject said no. The tyrant thrives when the first fucking fool salutes." -Steven Erikson.

I repeat, it is really shameful of us that we are far too often the fools to salute.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Sorry but there is an assumption implicit in your argument that tyrants like Hitler are somehow not human and are exceptional and not really a part of humanity

Never claimed or implied that. So don't really have anything to respond to here as this is all entirely unrelated to what I was saying.

[–] itkovian@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Perhaps I am failing to make you understand that in my mind, Axis and Allies are a part of one larger group, humanity. Hitler starting the war to conquer Europe is a failing of humanity, in this case failing of Germans to stop Hitler from sparking the war. I am not saying that Allies responding in kind, with violence is failing. It was only appropriate. They most likely were left with no other choice.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 hours ago

It was only appropriate. They most likely were left with no other choice.

Therefore, on the individual level there are in fact times when violence is the answer, even if that's just because it is the only answer remaining.

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›