2025-03-26XThread

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I’ve thought about this too. My conclusion is that the architects of American Empire spent so much energy obscuring reality that their heirs believed the illusion. The heirs think the postwar US is still a “democracy” or a “country” rather than the greatest empire of all time. And that it can somehow return to the prewar state without a huge decline in living standards. But, obviously, this is not the posture of a people that merely wanted to sit humbly behind their own borders: For decades the US was set up to be the hub of a global empire: - Military bases - UN headquarters in NY - Delaware multinationals - Global universities - Regulatory harmonization - Dollar reserve That was the US business model. Not manufacturing exports. But monetary empire.

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@balajis From a European perspective it's funny to see that most US libertarians (and probably conservatives) don't understand the scale of what you have outlined in your post. The 20th century world architecture is a system designed by the US, for the benefit of the US. But after encountering numerous Americans who cannot comprehend this and are solely focused on costs, I understand why the American empire is in decline. As a German, my country is probably one of the top 3 beneficiaries outside of the US, so needless to say, the decline is affecting us heavily. But Germany, like every other country, will adapt to the decline, which will be accompanied by a shift away from the USA. There seems to be little understanding for the chain reaction that the reorientation of Europe/Asia/Africa towards Eurasia will trigger. Thanks for bringing attention to this issue.
janbertram ↗