Not the poster, but I’m going to assume they say so because: “Middle East has lots of sand = sandbox” with the additional layer of meaning of “sandbox” as a place where children play and make stuff up, implying (perhaps) that the Middle East tends to be the place where the wealthy and powerful “play around,” treating the people who live there (and the war machine they bring to it) as toys for their (sick) amusement. At least this is how I read it.
Yes, I’m saying that using the term is obviously problematic as it has been used to devalue the space in dozens of countries and the lives of millions of people. This commenter made this comment as though they’re critical of US imperialism but reproduced its enforced understanding of these regions.
Not the poster, but I’m going to assume they say so because: “Middle East has lots of sand = sandbox” with the additional layer of meaning of “sandbox” as a place where children play and make stuff up, implying (perhaps) that the Middle East tends to be the place where the wealthy and powerful “play around,” treating the people who live there (and the war machine they bring to it) as toys for their (sick) amusement. At least this is how I read it.
Yes, I’m saying that using the term is obviously problematic as it has been used to devalue the space in dozens of countries and the lives of millions of people. This commenter made this comment as though they’re critical of US imperialism but reproduced its enforced understanding of these regions.