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Like Magneto, Scar In Fullmetal Alchemist Was Right

What people often forget, of course, is that Magneto, unlike the lovely Sir Ian McKellen, is a mad old terrorist twat. No matter how he justifies his stupid, brutal behaviour, or how anyone else tries to justify it, in the end he's just an old bastard with daft, old ideas based on violence and coercion. I really wanted to make that clear at this time.

That bad day was the death of 16.5 million mutants in an hour but it came and Wolverine took his head.

Ignoring how hilariously ridiculous the title of this is, I agree with this except that Scar targeted alchemists uninvolved in the massacre of his people, making him not very right quite a few times. Magneto on the other hand is correct in assuming their are no innocent lives since all of humanity will eventually become a mutant, thus making the mutant issue everyone's issue.

In the end, I would like to get off my soapbox by pointing to the character who learned the correct lessons from both. Cyclops was right.

Kamen Rider Black Sun was an interesting show as it came to the conclusion that the only way to fight fascism and a totalitarian state is terrorism regardless of the death toll. It ends with a battalion of radicalized child soldiers being trained. It´s stand in for Shinzo Abe also ate homosexuals and the homeless. Amazing stuff. Japanese fans who hated the show literally call it "woke" on Amazon.jp.
The Darwin Incident´s anime can´t come soon enough. The first openly political anime since Genocidal Organ in 2017?

I do not know what possessed the ANN staff to approve this piece, but here we go.

I'm an Israeli. I'm very critical of Israel's actions in the war, even as I understand, and agree with, some reasoning behind them.

I can only assume the author has never found themselves related in any way to a serious conflict, aside from just being American.

I did.

Once you are exposed to the things we, humans, are willing to do to each other; once you see other humans stop at NOTHING, and I mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G, to achieve their goals - that's when you should consider whether Magneto or Scar or anyone else calling for genocide is "right".

Because that's what choosing violence means - like it or not, you cannot stem ideologies, or oppressed people's fight without killing all of them.

I do not want to choose that, and so I must "find" (as if my actions have even the slightest impact on any kind of policy) other ways - even if it means embracing people who wish to harm me.

That is because "people" are not a monolithic body, and they can change over time.

Anger, violence and hatred are not quenchable by force without giving up any semblance of humanity.

I understand this is a comic and manga discussion, but for whatever reason I ended up taking it personally.

Peace.

I'm an Israeli. I'm very critical of Israel's actions in the war, even as I understand, and agree with, some of the reasoning behind them.

I can only assume the author has never found themselves related in any way to a serious conflict, aside from just being American. i did

. Once you are exposed to the things we, humans, are willing to do to each other; once you see other humans stop at NOTHING, and I mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G, to achieve their goals - that's when you should consider whether Magneto or Scar or anyone else calling for genocide is "right".

1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War: This was the first major conflict that broke out immediately after Israel's declaration of independence in 1948. It resulted in Israel controlling most of the former British Mandate of Palestine, while Jordan occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip.

1967 Six-Day War: In this war, Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem from Arab forces. This significantly expanded the territory under Israeli control.

First Intifada (1987-1993): This was a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It involved civil disobedience, demonstrations, and some violence, leading to clashes with Israeli security forces.

Second Intifada (2000-2005): Also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, this was a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence, including suicide bombings and Israeli military operations.

2008-2009 Gaza War (Operation Cast Lead): Israel launched air strikes and a ground invasion of Gaza in response to rocket attacks by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza.

2012 Operation Pillar of Defense: Israel launched airstrikes on Gaza after a surge of rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel.

2014 Gaza War (Operation Protective Edge): Another major conflict between Israel and Hamas, lasting 50 days and resulting in over 2,000 Palestinian and 70 Israeli deaths.

2021 Israel-Gaza Conflict: Tensions escalated in May 2021, with Hamas launching hundreds of rockets into Israel and Israel conducting airstrikes on Gaza, leading to over 250 deaths, mostly Palestinian.

The lesson you're supposed to take from Magneto is to not become the authoritarian bigot while fighting against bigotry. The problem is that people fall into that trap over and over because it's so easy to justify. Why should you have to be the better person in the face of the people who've wronged you or even fight to deny your right to exist?

I thought about leaving this out, but since you touched on the fact that the writers made Magneto a Holocaust survivor, It's not a coincidence they made that choice for a deeply angry man that preaches about the genetic superiority of his race. But once he's repeated the crimes that made him, his victims aren't going to care why. Then back around we go.