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Americans might not know their number is up explicitly, but they can smell it. The days of US hegemony are numbered. In one way or another, people get it. Why e

by hkt 2y ago

Americans might not know their number is up explicitly, but they can smell it. The days of US hegemony are numbered. In one way or another, people get it. Why else would they want to Make America Great Again? It is an inherent recognition of decline.

pishpash 2y ago
Yes and no. The MAGA revolution is internally carried by the lower class not associated with and uninterested in geopolitics. In fact they believe in exceptionalism and don't understand why they feel exploited and don't know who is doing it. However it would not be possible politically if not tolerated by the upper class who is smelling decline (of their wealth), because competition has moved into their part of the value chain, so they do two things. One, they now support protectionism to shield from competition. Two, they wish to exploit the lower class harder, so they point them outwards to avoid a physical revolution or an amicable redistribution. If you want to explain MAGA you have to understand it's a convenient alignment of the upper class and the lower class for different reasons.
- Workaccount2 2y ago
  I am deeply curious to see how people on the left will digest Trump if he doesn't get reined in by congress/wealthy people. I think a lot of them are going to be caught flatfooted if he gets his way with taxes (no income tax under $150k, no tax on tips), and if he gets his way with global trade restructuring (on shoring of blue collar work). Trump is currently causing an earthquake on behalf of the middle-lower class. Maybe blue tinted glasses prevent them from seeing it, but right now he is definitely doing the opposite of "entrenching the power of billionaires and the elite". Unfortunately, I believe that this is a severe miscalculation on Trumps part, as the "kill the billionaires" class seems to be much more fueled by anger than by rational understanding.
refurb 2y ago
I’d say it’s the opposite. So much of the US government has been focused on maintaining the global hegemony, US citizens wellbeing was sacrificed. Trump was elected in reaction to rising global hegemony, or at least the effort put to maintain it, not the end of it. To say US hegemony is numbered doesn’t make much sense. The US economy has only pulled headed further from any Western rival, and China’s economy is stumbling to the point it’s questionable if it can grow enough before it’s population starts shrinking. Russia has been stagnant since the 1990’s. If anything, US ability to project power is greater now than any time in the past.
- watwut 2y ago
  > If anything, US ability to project power is greater now than any time in the past. Absolutely not. It caved to Russia in the first place, it is weak against Russia. It WANTS to project power, but while doing so, it is showing itself crumbling into itself.
  - K0balt 2y ago
    The US unwillingness to project power is a direct result of its current leadership. The US capability to project military force is, for better or for worse, pretty extreme in the global context. The ability to support a protracted conflict would depend on the support of the population, but it’s unwise to think that the current administration is a reflection of potential. When the court jester carries the sword, it’s a blunt and careless rod, but that same sword in the hands of a master is an instrument of lethal precision. The sword remains unchanged.

by hkt 2y ago

pishpash 2y ago

Yes and no. The MAGA revolution is internally carried by the lower class not associated with and uninterested in geopolitics. In fact they believe in exceptionalism and don't understand why they feel exploited and don't know who is doing it. However it would not be possible politically if not tolerated by the upper class who is smelling decline (of their wealth), because competition has moved into their part of the value chain, so they do two things. One, they now support protectionism to shield from competition. Two, they wish to exploit the lower class harder, so they point them outwards to avoid a physical revolution or an amicable redistribution. If you want to explain MAGA you have to understand it's a convenient alignment of the upper class and the lower class for different reasons.

Workaccount2 2y ago
I am deeply curious to see how people on the left will digest Trump if he doesn't get reined in by congress/wealthy people. I think a lot of them are going to be caught flatfooted if he gets his way with taxes (no income tax under $150k, no tax on tips), and if he gets his way with global trade restructuring (on shoring of blue collar work). Trump is currently causing an earthquake on behalf of the middle-lower class. Maybe blue tinted glasses prevent them from seeing it, but right now he is definitely doing the opposite of "entrenching the power of billionaires and the elite". Unfortunately, I believe that this is a severe miscalculation on Trumps part, as the "kill the billionaires" class seems to be much more fueled by anger than by rational understanding.

refurb 2y ago

I’d say it’s the opposite. So much of the US government has been focused on maintaining the global hegemony, US citizens wellbeing was sacrificed. Trump was elected in reaction to rising global hegemony, or at least the effort put to maintain it, not the end of it. To say US hegemony is numbered doesn’t make much sense. The US economy has only pulled headed further from any Western rival, and China’s economy is stumbling to the point it’s questionable if it can grow enough before it’s population starts shrinking. Russia has been stagnant since the 1990’s. If anything, US ability to project power is greater now than any time in the past.

watwut 2y ago
> If anything, US ability to project power is greater now than any time in the past. Absolutely not. It caved to Russia in the first place, it is weak against Russia. It WANTS to project power, but while doing so, it is showing itself crumbling into itself.
- K0balt 2y ago
  The US unwillingness to project power is a direct result of its current leadership. The US capability to project military force is, for better or for worse, pretty extreme in the global context. The ability to support a protracted conflict would depend on the support of the population, but it’s unwise to think that the current administration is a reflection of potential. When the court jester carries the sword, it’s a blunt and careless rod, but that same sword in the hands of a master is an instrument of lethal precision. The sword remains unchanged.