> “Serbia (proper)” is doing a lot of work in your argument.
Yes? That's my entire argument? That Serbia proper saw nothing even remotely war-like until 1999?
> I was talking about Serbs, not a line on a map.
No you weren't. You said "we (Serbia)", not "we (Serbs)". That's an entirely different claim. You then spend the rest of your comment talking in third-person, which is all I needed to know to make these generalisations:
You don't carry the name of your uncle who died on the battlefront, I do. You didn't pass through dozens of demolished houses on your way to school, I did. You (very likely) never saw a landmine with your own eyes, I did (on multiple occasions). You didn't grow up with a "crazy uncle" a house from you that to this day suffers from a severe case of PTSD, I did. You don't have to live your life knowing that an extended family member of yours hung himself instead of facing justice for what he did to Bosniak civilians, I do.
For you it's just a bunch of stories you've heard about second-hand. You didn't live through that, you didn't experience that, we did. The worst thing you experienced was a two months long air campaign, which as far as civilian casualties go doesn't even compare to like the tiny town in Bosnia I grew up in, let alone Bosnia as a whole.
Sit this one out and stop talking on behalf of me, a Bosnian Serb.
You’re assuming a lot about someone you know nothing about, which proves how young you truly are.
I also lost an uncle and an aunt in the war. My wife lost countless family members during the 90s. My family was halved and we buried grandparents, uncles and aunts in both world wars. None of that is second-hand to me.
You don’t know where my parents are from or what they lost, or what I have lost. You decided all of it from one word in a comment. That's a bold assumption. As you grow older, you'll learn not to assume. Not everyone tells their grief in the first person. Some of us chose to put it behind us and not lead with it, which doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Your loss is real and I’m sorry for it. But you told a stranger he “saw no death” and “experienced no grief” without knowing a thing about him. That’s deciding whose pain counts based on where someone lives now, the same thinking that made the 90s possible.
Nobody in this region has a monopoly on grief. I hope you have people around you to help carry yours, as it seems you should relief some of your pain. I hope in ten years time, you will look back at this thread differently.
Yes? That's my entire argument? That Serbia proper saw nothing even remotely war-like until 1999?
> I was talking about Serbs, not a line on a map.
No you weren't. You said "we (Serbia)", not "we (Serbs)". That's an entirely different claim. You then spend the rest of your comment talking in third-person, which is all I needed to know to make these generalisations:
You don't carry the name of your uncle who died on the battlefront, I do. You didn't pass through dozens of demolished houses on your way to school, I did. You (very likely) never saw a landmine with your own eyes, I did (on multiple occasions). You didn't grow up with a "crazy uncle" a house from you that to this day suffers from a severe case of PTSD, I did. You don't have to live your life knowing that an extended family member of yours hung himself instead of facing justice for what he did to Bosniak civilians, I do.
For you it's just a bunch of stories you've heard about second-hand. You didn't live through that, you didn't experience that, we did. The worst thing you experienced was a two months long air campaign, which as far as civilian casualties go doesn't even compare to like the tiny town in Bosnia I grew up in, let alone Bosnia as a whole.
Sit this one out and stop talking on behalf of me, a Bosnian Serb.