chapotraphouse

Westerners look down on the Romans

The Roman Empire is fellatiated by the Western Zietgeist as an origin point that "western culture/values/civilization" can be traced back to. It was a cruel shithole slave empire that mass murdered jews (literal antisemetism) and according to His Holiness St. Bhagavan Shree Matt Christman (SAW) provided the framework for the same anti-human "private property" laws that exist today in the West.

Wider point still stands thoughbeit the USA is a stupid country

Westerners look down on the Romans throwing clothing and jewellery into funeral pyres, decrying how hysterical they were.

I'll be real. I've never heard anyone even utter one murmur of such acts to the point I didn't even know they did such a thing.

Generally, what few depictions of the romans that make it into the collective unconsciousness tend to be positive in wider Yankee society. Even the most common negative depictions of them are usually played off humorously, such as their aqueducts being lined with lead therefore they all suffered lead poisoning just like us! (A common 'fun' fact you'd have most likely learned - either directly or cultural osmosis - if you were among the late boomer, gen X and early millenial.)

If you're a common Yankee prole you're more likely to learn about the "barbarity" of some regional Indian funeral rites as a form of "subtle" justification for British colonization and imperial conquest of the Indian subcontinent, than you are of learning of the wanton acts of cruelty the Roman slavers inflict upon their captives.

Of course with the era of multi-media, voyeurs of Roman extravagance have an ever-overflowing troth of slop to feast from, so there's a chance that some chunk of the West is actually aware of that Roman funeral act. But being honest they're probably in some form of perverted pleasure over that knowledge and posses a twisted reactionary desire to bring it back.

Firefighters in areas with regular forest fires don't have "surplus" equipment

They definitely do? Surplus is more than just extra shit sitting in storage until you need it. You gotta maintain that equipment, which requires people, time, and money. If the equipment isn't maintained it would be just as useless as not having it at all. Obviously there is a line somewhere when it becomes too costly to maintain surplus equipment and it's better to get rid of it.

I'm not saying LAFD is run well or defending any of this shit, but to call people morons (kinda ableist btw) over this is silly and you're wrong anyway

That’s what a whole lot of the right-wing outrage is

‘can you believe liberal LA did with their firefighting stuff’ completely ignored the root cause of the problem and why the fires have been so destructive

While neither the LACFD or the LAFD have mentioned equipment shortages hampering their efforts fighting the January 2025 wildfire outbreak, the LACFD did say that the combined fire departments across the Los Angeles area lacked the personnel necessary to quickly suppress this week’s major wildfires.

“There are not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a Jan. 8 press conference. “The L.A. County Fire Department was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four, especially given these sustained winds and low humidities.”

There is currently a fundraising campaign to help the LAFD acquire equipment, but that equipment is not the same type of equipment as what the LACFD said it donated to Ukraine. The campaign seeks to raise money for emergency personal fire shelters, hydration backpacks and wildland brush tools.

Excerpt from the article linked. This seems like a non-story pushed by reactionaries. Not sure that extra hoses and nozzles would have done a lot without extra fire engines to go with them.

lol