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Brexit pales in comparison to the damage that has _already_ been done to the US federal government. The dust just hasn’t settled yet so most of it not visible r

Brexit pales in comparison to the damage that has _already_ been done to the US federal government. The dust just hasn’t settled yet so most of it not visible right now.

rayiner 2y ago
[flagged]
- MVissers 2y ago
  And the Chinese will pick up the pieces in Africa and other places.
  - rayiner 2y ago
    Which is good for those countries. In my home country of Bangladesh, China is helping build infrastructure. While the U.S. was bankrolling left wing social and activist programs to destabilize the government (and ultimately contributed to the recent overthrow of the government, which will derail a decade of consistent growth).
    - philipwhiuk 2y ago
      But really bad for American world view, force projection and so on.
      - rayiner 2y ago
        What “American world view?”
    - insane_dreamer 2y ago
      Chinese actions come with the same global political ambitions as the US foreign aid has. Don’t be naive as to their ends.
- enraged_camel 2y ago
  It’s instructive that you mention only USAID. Based on past conversations, you were born and raised in Asia, right? So maybe you have an ax to grind. What about all the other agencies that are being gutted?
  - rayiner 2y ago
    It’s more than that I’m Asian. The same arrogance and disregard for popular sovereignty in other countries that you see at USAID/State/NED has metastasized and been turned inward. “Deplorables” is how Acela types see Iowans and Bangladeshis alike. As the parent of a kid who got put in a “BIPOC” affinity group, I’m thrilled about the cuts to DOEd and the hammer coming down on teaching race consciousness (https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa-v-harvard-109506.pdf https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa...). My dad spent his career in public health. He did things like convince villagers in Bangladesh to trust hospitals instead of midwives. So I’m thrilled to see cuts at NHS and CDC, which torched public trust by making exceptions to Covid lockdowns for protests. Those people are just bad at their jobs—everyone in public health knows you don’t do shit like that. I can’t wait to see what Tulsi does to the intelligence services that lied us into the Iraq War, and what Kash does to the FBI that investigated conservative parents as domestic terrorists. These agencies are full of disloyal people who think they know better than the public, and few people are going to lament them getting canned. As a train nerd who took Amtrak every day to work for two years I hope we fire every manager at Amtrak. I hope the social security checks keep coming. The FAA and FCC generally seems to do a pretty good job. That’s about it.
    - Barracoon 2y ago
      The Tulsi that pushes Russian disinformation? That should do well for rooting out lying. Also some facts: Intelligence services did not lie us into the Iraq war - politicians did. Politicians manipulated intelligence reporting to fit their narrative. Since you seem to like conspiracy theories, it should be obvious that this was so Halliburton, the company vice president Dick Cheney was CEO of, could profit from government contracts. Guess what CEO will now profit from government contracts due to all the lying from the current slate of politicans. And by conservative parents as domestic terrorists, I assume you mean the people convicted of crime due to their actual criminal actions on Jan. 6?
- insane_dreamer 2y ago
  The damage to the US’s global influence and stature. Whether that’s morally a good or bad thing is a separate question. There is no question the US has screwed over a lot of countries. But be aware that the Chinese will step into the void as they already have in Africa. And those countries may find themselves out of the frying pan and into the fire. As bad as the USA is (and it’s pretty bad) it’s still better than China (though at the rate it’s digressing this may not be true for much longer).
  - rayiner 2y ago
    But why should Americans care about any of that? Do you think the Chinese care what we think of them?
    - Sabinus 2y ago
      Because America is on Earth and the state of global politics does affect the US, her prosperity and her people.
insane_dreamer 2y ago
Not sure about that. Brexit was irreversible. We can potentially begin to reverse this in 4 years time. But yes it could take decades.
- croes 2y ago
  Regain trust is hard and the US allies have lost it.
  - insane_dreamer 2y ago
    True. But remember that Bush similarly broke European trust with his "war on terror", and Obama was able to repair those bridges. But yeah, it's worse this time around.
    - biofox 2y ago
      There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once... shame on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again!
      - nozzlegear 2y ago
        Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.
- ICameToComment 2y ago
  You sure there will be a change allowing a reversal in four years? I doubt that this kind of steamrolling power will be contained by law or institutions. They came into office while blatantly disrespecting law and institutions in the first place. There will be not enough left to get back to last year's state of affairs. This is not going to be a short hiccup. This is changing the world and the path of the future and I hate to witness it happening.

Brexit pales in comparison to the damage that has _already_ been done to the US federal government. The dust just hasn’t settled yet so most of it not visible right now.

rayiner 2y ago

[flagged]

MVissers 2y ago
And the Chinese will pick up the pieces in Africa and other places.
- rayiner 2y ago
  Which is good for those countries. In my home country of Bangladesh, China is helping build infrastructure. While the U.S. was bankrolling left wing social and activist programs to destabilize the government (and ultimately contributed to the recent overthrow of the government, which will derail a decade of consistent growth).
  - philipwhiuk 2y ago
    But really bad for American world view, force projection and so on.
    - rayiner 2y ago
      What “American world view?”
  - insane_dreamer 2y ago
    Chinese actions come with the same global political ambitions as the US foreign aid has. Don’t be naive as to their ends.
enraged_camel 2y ago
It’s instructive that you mention only USAID. Based on past conversations, you were born and raised in Asia, right? So maybe you have an ax to grind. What about all the other agencies that are being gutted?
- rayiner 2y ago
  It’s more than that I’m Asian. The same arrogance and disregard for popular sovereignty in other countries that you see at USAID/State/NED has metastasized and been turned inward. “Deplorables” is how Acela types see Iowans and Bangladeshis alike. As the parent of a kid who got put in a “BIPOC” affinity group, I’m thrilled about the cuts to DOEd and the hammer coming down on teaching race consciousness (https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa-v-harvard-109506.pdf https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa...). My dad spent his career in public health. He did things like convince villagers in Bangladesh to trust hospitals instead of midwives. So I’m thrilled to see cuts at NHS and CDC, which torched public trust by making exceptions to Covid lockdowns for protests. Those people are just bad at their jobs—everyone in public health knows you don’t do shit like that. I can’t wait to see what Tulsi does to the intelligence services that lied us into the Iraq War, and what Kash does to the FBI that investigated conservative parents as domestic terrorists. These agencies are full of disloyal people who think they know better than the public, and few people are going to lament them getting canned. As a train nerd who took Amtrak every day to work for two years I hope we fire every manager at Amtrak. I hope the social security checks keep coming. The FAA and FCC generally seems to do a pretty good job. That’s about it.
  - Barracoon 2y ago
    The Tulsi that pushes Russian disinformation? That should do well for rooting out lying. Also some facts: Intelligence services did not lie us into the Iraq war - politicians did. Politicians manipulated intelligence reporting to fit their narrative. Since you seem to like conspiracy theories, it should be obvious that this was so Halliburton, the company vice president Dick Cheney was CEO of, could profit from government contracts. Guess what CEO will now profit from government contracts due to all the lying from the current slate of politicans. And by conservative parents as domestic terrorists, I assume you mean the people convicted of crime due to their actual criminal actions on Jan. 6?
insane_dreamer 2y ago
The damage to the US’s global influence and stature. Whether that’s morally a good or bad thing is a separate question. There is no question the US has screwed over a lot of countries. But be aware that the Chinese will step into the void as they already have in Africa. And those countries may find themselves out of the frying pan and into the fire. As bad as the USA is (and it’s pretty bad) it’s still better than China (though at the rate it’s digressing this may not be true for much longer).
- rayiner 2y ago
  But why should Americans care about any of that? Do you think the Chinese care what we think of them?
  - Sabinus 2y ago
    Because America is on Earth and the state of global politics does affect the US, her prosperity and her people.

insane_dreamer 2y ago

Not sure about that. Brexit was irreversible. We can potentially begin to reverse this in 4 years time. But yes it could take decades.

croes 2y ago
Regain trust is hard and the US allies have lost it.
- insane_dreamer 2y ago
  True. But remember that Bush similarly broke European trust with his "war on terror", and Obama was able to repair those bridges. But yeah, it's worse this time around.
  - biofox 2y ago
    There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once... shame on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again!
    - nozzlegear 2y ago
      Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.
ICameToComment 2y ago
You sure there will be a change allowing a reversal in four years? I doubt that this kind of steamrolling power will be contained by law or institutions. They came into office while blatantly disrespecting law and institutions in the first place. There will be not enough left to get back to last year's state of affairs. This is not going to be a short hiccup. This is changing the world and the path of the future and I hate to witness it happening.