For anybody looking for attribution, this comic no longer exists. It was called Pictures for Sad Children, and it’s essentially lost media now after the creator had some issues and took everything (including IA backups) offline.
this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
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Oh my god I didn't know it was still up anywhere. I regret not getting a copy of the book way back when but I was a student and had no money. It was a very good comic.
Do you know if that's all of it? According to wikipedia, there was a book that someone was mailing around to anyone who wanted to read it and eventually people scanned it.
Holy damn I just couldn't stop reading.
Omg yessss
Ahhh thanks for this!! For years I've specifically tried to find a comic about a cloud... Very simple but really affected me emotionally. Just a drawing of a cloud over and over with captions like "this is a cloud I drew" "I hope you like it" "I hope it makes your day better" or something.
99% sure this is the author. I thought I was going crazy since nothing ever gets deleted from the Internet, so I also appreciate the explanation.
About to dive into the archive someone else posted now to find i that cloud.
What? That was one of my favourites :(
i always find these kind of statements and comics weird, because like.
If the plane is your own, this would also signal the sound of protection and defense, which is an objectively good thing, if we're classifying dying due to a plane as a bad thing.
There are two sides to the coin and i guess this is either shitposting memes, or people never think about the fact that like, you can also just have a military.
I can't remember the exact title, but I think it's by Robert Blake. But the line is something like "a terrorist to me is a freedom fighter to you".
Definitely two sides to most things.
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter
Most people don't like living near even civilian airports. Active duty flights would've usually happened nearer to the front, and modern flights often happen from aircraft carriers anyway.
Much more common for people to hear are shows of force, like the States do for holidays, airshows, and large sports games.
The comic is making fun of the fact that an airshow idolizes machines of war. Not all airshows focus on military craft, but most of them do, often being held at military airbases.
As cool as they are, it's good to remember that those machines are instruments of death, and often used against people of no immediate threat. Regardless of the necessity, I don't think that's something to cheer for.
modern flights often happen from aircraft carriers anyway
Eh, no?
Aircraft carriers are ridiculously complicated and expensive, hence even the us only having around a dozen or so? Russia famously has none. Great Brittain has like 2 or so, France like 1?
Its been a while, I don't remember the exact numbers, but the number of aircraft carriers in the world would be in the very low dozens because they're damn near unaffordably expensive.
The beyond vast majority of modern flights still happen from airports
I had meant flights of U.S. planes, but you're right, they usually use and establish local airfields, and probably only use carriers where that's too slow or impossible.
Also, none have been lost in battle since WW2.
They're basically mobile island outposts at this point.
tbf that's mostly because they're really fucking loud, all of the time. Military air fields are probably quieter for longer periods of time lol. Although still rather loud im sure.
Active duty flights would’ve usually happened nearer to the front, and modern flights often happen from aircraft carriers anyway.
to be clear, this wouldn't matter, we're talking about airshows, most people living near the front lines are going to be gone anyway. And even if we were to grant this point, it still wouldn't diminish my statement. national pride is a weird thing.
The comic is making fun of the fact that an airshow idolizes machines of war.
i mean sure, but im pretty sure humanity has always idolized the military and it's armies, as well as it's ability to project force. It's the stable of basically every great empire. Humanity seems to have an inherent connection with the ability of projecting force. It would be evolutionary advantageous, so that's probably why.
As cool as they are, it’s good to remember that those machines are instruments of death, and often used against people of no immediate threat. Regardless of the necessity, I don’t think that’s something to cheer for.
i mean sure, but morbidity is the calling card for a lot of things, the dahmer netflix series for example. Should we be treating that the same? Like to be clear, i don't disagree, but every time you pick up an angle grinder do you really need to think about how many people have been horrifically inujred by it and pray to the grinder gods for you safety? Or should you just be conscious of how you use the tool, and be careful with it.
and often used against people of no immediate threat.
also idk about this statement, maybe for the case of like the russian artillery units for example. I doubt that f-16s have been primarily used on like, someones dog. More than people of actual consequence. It's also really vaguely defined, which doesn't help.
So to be fair, I've read the original comic, and it probably was just focusing on the negative aspects of airshows.
What a lot of people get from this (including me) is the absurdity of military shows. Air shows are less ridiculous because planes are capable of some incredible things, but it's still unsettling. Like gun shows or parades of duty.
We have advanced many of our societies to such a point that we might be able to do away with weapon worship entirely, so I think it's sensible to be uncomfortable with venerating the trappings of dictators and despots.
I kind of agree that militaries are still necessary, but there's a big difference between an unfortunate but necessary thing and a celebrated thing.
The difference between an F-15 and an angle grider is that the F-15 is intended to hurt people. Pulling an angle grinder out of your coat isn't as intimidating as pulling out a knife, even if the angle grinder could do more damage. Yet both angle grinders and most knives are tools used to create. An F-15 can only destroy. It can't carry passengers, can't fight fires, can't deliver supplies, can't advance science, at best it can do acrobatics while being incredibly expensive. It's nothing more than a weapon.
To be entirely fair, even without military aircraft the U.S. would meddle in international affairs. The air force doesn't specifically enable these killings or infrastructure damage. It is however a popular and representative method of international war, and I don't think that's something to celebrate.
Always a struggle for me. I saw Canada's demo CF-18 at an airshow a few years back and was having simultaneous thoughts of "so this is why we can't afford clean water for our indigenous communities" and "HOLY SHIT IT SOUNDS SO COOL".
Frequently those problems could be solved for the cost of a single aircraft.
You can't afford clean water for indigenous people because they couldn't buy one fewer aircraft.
You needed all 138.
Can't afford clean water for indigenous people when you want to exterminate indigenous people.
You don't need planes for that. You just need a systematic foot on their necks. You know, like we do for the rest of the poors.
We can't afford another plane because we need another highway first.
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I see military spending as a necessary evil, it's like paying your insurance policy against the evils in the world. There will always be someone with a stick willing to beat someone weaker than them. So you could theoretically spend that military money on something "more useful", but if all your friends do that as well, you won't be able to enjoy that nice world for very long.
Also, people usually highly overrate how much a country spends on defense and underrate how much is spent on social security. Where I live, in Belgium, with a similar military budget as Canada (in terms of % of GDP) they did a survey once and asked people to estimate how many euros out of €100 of tax money went to the military and other things. People on average thought it was €6.1 to the military and €17.4 to social security. In reality the proportions are just €1.3 to the military and €37.5 to social security.
So I guess what I'm saying is: it's okay to enjoy the cool noises without guilt. You paid for it, it's necessary, and at least they're providing people with some entertainment now.
Canadians and Belgians can probably feel okay. As an American I'm disgusted by the waste. But that's kind of our bag and there's a long list of things that we waste money on.
America is a very unique case with these metrics, but its wortj noting most of our allies can also skimp on defense for the same reason. Whether thats worth it or not is a more political question
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I live sandwiched between military bases of all branches. I've lived with the sounds of warplanes and target practice most of my entire life.
These bases cut swathes through tribal lands, leaving whole areas uninhabitable due to live ordnance.
I knew some kids from the reservations and I'll never forget how casually they'd say with every blast they're reminded that they're occupied.
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It's ironic, the pinnacle of human engineering in our war machines. But these technologies wouldn't exist if they weren't created for the war machines in the first place. Sad.
There's definitely an interdependancy there, but don't discount the incredible complexity of some cool civilan tech: James Webb Space Telescope, Mars rovers, ISS, the old Space Shuttle. Even mundane things like ocean-based oil rigs are chock full of amazing engineering.
GPS is literally from the concept of nuking the USSR. Thank your ass the cold war happened the next time you get lost, it's the only reason you aren't lost now.
RIP pictures for sad children
I'm really torn on this one. They were a great comic that reached a lot of people and then the creator went on all these rants about not really being depressed and it was all a show(and I swear they then retracted that but Wikipedia doesn't seem to have that part listed). Then they burned their books and swore off creating and wanted everything removed. But then the book burning was even staged.....
For someone who claimed it was all an act, it sure seemed like coming clean was a mental breakdown in itself to me. Like they had imposter syndrome, but then the irony was yeah, you are as dysfunctional as you "pretended" to be and just demonstrated it to everyone. There was no imposter.
That's all to say I wish they'd kept creating and hadn't left like that. Hadn't basically said "this all sucks and shouldn't exist". But oddly, it is fitting. I'll give them that. Viewed as a whole, it's almost poetic.
ETA: I found a summary of the drama that included a mention of them retracting their claim of being depressed. I swear it was blog post called something like "I lied about lying about having depression", a follow up to "I lied about having depression". In the second post they claimed coming out as not depressed was in itself fake and I believe part of some art piece/experiment. The OP of the linked post adds a few details I'd missed. I don't disagree with their posit that it was all an art project and Campbell isn't a real person. I've certainly considered something similar in the past.
https://www.reddit.com/r/comics/comments/a4t8s0/pictures_for_sad_children_a_summary_and_thoughts/
ETA2: Found an even better writeup with some more current details. There's this gem tho:
Two days later, Veil posted again: “I’VE BEEN PRETENDING TO BE PRETENDING TO HAVE DEPRESSION FOR PROFIT AND I’M SORRY.” A day later: “IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PRETEND TO DO OR SAY ANYTHING AND MY COMICS HAVE NEVER BEEN ABOUT DEPRESSION.”
https://www.inverse.com/input/culture/pictures-for-sad-children-webcomic-simone-veil-interview
This sort of thing is so... annoying.
An art exhibition of a fake person having a breakdown who has imposter syndrome that itself proves the depression isn't art to me. It doesn't make me consider the world, or my place in it. It doesn't evoke nihilism or humility or philosophy. It's just... annoying. Marketing depression. Dishonestly.
I say this as someone with treatment resistant chronic major depressive disease. As someone who was first hospitalized for suicide in middle school.
Compare this garbage with hyperbole and a half and their honesty and their struggles and their openness and it's...
Burning a copy of a book you sold to someone when they dare to email you asking for it? Fuck that.
Thank you for your comment. I thought of Hyperbole when I was writing mine. I have the same feeling about how they handled their struggles in a much healthier and constructive way. I've sent people their post on depression before to help explain my own feelings. I'm glad to know it resonated with others as well.
Campbell left a really bad taste in my mouth. It's one of the few times I've been successfully able to completely sever the art and artist. I love the work, but kinda deplore Campbell. I don't really want to give them any credit because they don't even want it themselves.
I really like airplanes, especially the historic ones. The speed and sound is amazing. The engineering and skill in building and operating those aircraft is top-tier.
However, the airshows often extoll the fear and damage the aircraft can do to their targets, especially the modern ones. Really not interested in the bodycount or terror these aircraft inspire, but plenty of people enjoy the flex.
The allied forces planes (all made by america by the way, the lancaster is a british knock-off of the B17) were killing the members of the Axis forces, like the ukrainians and the Italians and the Germans that became nazis
What on earth are you on about?
The 40s ones are based because it was fascists getting bombed
Kurdish villagers... interesting choice. The people that Saddam Hussein dropped chemical weapons on. Those warplanes helped free them from Hussein's oppression. That lasted until ISIS took over. Then those waprlanes helped the Kurds in fighting off ISIS.
I think the comic is trying to make a point but completely failing at it because the writer doesn't know anything about history... even recent history.
Uh... the most recent history involves Turkey using US-sold jets to bomb Kurds in northern Syria.
Yeah Trump fucked them over, because he's a dishonourable coward. Good thing he'll never be President again, right?
Hey now.
It's just old fashioned artillery they drop on the volunteer civilian aid workers in Kurdish Syria.
Maybe I'll live to get to say Rojava one day instead.
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