I saw a Tweet that was a reminder that the Soviet Union collapsed two years after they left Afghanistan.
I am also reminded that everything happens faster today because of the speed of communication driven by the internet and social media.
Given everything that’s happened:
What ally will trust us and have our back?
What enemy will fear us and not want to fuck with us?
What institution has not destroyed its credibility?
What citizen respects the laws and institutions left in this country?
I think only reason we haven’t plunged into anarchy yet is the American middle-class is doing everything it can to hold onto some sense of normalcy in the chaos.
But it gets harder to do that by the day.
How do you hang onto normalcy when you’re being told that to leave your house and get a bite to eat you have to wear a mask and carry proof that you’ve been vaccinated and are up to date on your boosters, that you have to acknowledge 2+2 does not equal 4, and that men can get pregnant and that father chest feeding his child is perfectly natural, or some goon in all black can beat you unconscious with a skateboard and the police won’t stop them because they’ve been defended for your safety.
You can’t.
I don’t see us pulling back from this brink.
I really don’t.
I hate to be a downer, but I can’t think of a period in history that got this bad and turned it around without it becoming a total violent shit show.
Collapse is like that. Slowly at first and then all at once.
The Soviet Union collapsed due to the corruption and lack of leadership of its elites. There was no substantial organization underneath to provide for its people.
The US will collapse due to incompetence of its elected elites who will attack ‘patriots’ when protests start regarding the failed national leadership and the attacks upon the citizens civil rights. Once they (government) start attacking deplorables it will not take long to see the hollow dominoes start falling.
The politicians will be the ones boarding helicopters from the roof of the Capitol and White house.
With what destination?
Don’t they all have houses in NZ and the Bahamas?
NZ would be a good choice; it seems to be the new North Korea, locked up tight at the whim of the political bosses.
I’m going to venture that Jacinda isn’t going to let them in, and why should she? It’s not like those useless twits offer anything of substance.
As for any ideological similarities, they’re in that zone where they’re just close enough to be utterly despised and rejected by the Kiwis.
Helluva chopper, with range to reach (NZ)(Bah). Trans-shipment points, might be points of vulnerability.
Be a pity if Joe-Bob tampered with the av gas.
Canada under Justin Beaver is a more likely destination.
corruption and lack of leadership vs incompetence of its elected
Plus we know there’s massive corruption in our system. So, isn’t that REALLY splitting hairs?
At least we don’t have to read mean tweets from Trump. The man the Democrats and the media will blame when it all comes crashing down.
It’s sad and depressing alright because it feels like this decline was choice, either through action or inaction. We cast aside fundamental principles (e.g. like don’t fight wars of choice with no clearly defined goals) in favor of what was shiny and new (e.g. diversity uber alles), figuratively speaking.
On the other hand, watching the Taliban, armed mostly with small arms, absolutely roll over Afghans, armed with billions of dollars of US hardware, gives me some hope that Washington could never successfully project hard power in middle America. It’s a small comfort.
Short term, I don’t think what happened in OEF will have any role to play in our demise here at home. Our presence on the world stage will be diminished for sure.
The 2022 midterm election will be the litmus test. Historically, the house and/or senate should shift back to Republican control. And especially this time around with the shit show we have now. If that doesn’t happen, or if there are questions about election integrity, confidence will be gone. The left will continue the slide into socialism and authoritarianism. 2024 would probably be a lost cause as would be most elections after that. Can we turn it around? Maybe. The question is where is America’s breaking point? I’ve always though its when your average middle American family is pushed out of their comfort zone. CRT, covid mandates etc…I think people are starting to push back. Let’s see what happens in NYC now that the commie Deblasio has instituted his “papers please” policy. If people roll over for that and it spreads across the country then we may be doomed.
A high risk scenario would be a Red China attempt to invade Taiwan. If they do that and destroy TSMC, or effectively shut it down by communist incompetence, that means no more PCs, no more smartphones, for at least a couple of years. Imagine the economy of the US, and CA, or WA, or Austin, TX in particular, for that scenario.
You mean I couldn’t get a new phone, every time a shinier one comes out? Or Amazon/Walmart will stop delivering Chinese junk? Oh, hell no, we gotta do something!!!! ;-))
No, you couldn’t get a new phone or computer when your old one breaks after 13-14 months because it was engineered to last only a year.
Even if you keep yours for 5 years because they happen to last that long, at some point you’ll want a replacement. Just as you want to replace your car at some point.
More than 90% of high end chips, which is a term that describes the sort of processor chips found in smartphones, PC style computers of all types, and Apple computers, are made by TSMC on Taiwan. The technology involved in this is insanely complicated. The key machines in the production line are made in just one place in the world (Holland, with optics from Zeiss in Germany). Making them run right is hard, witness the fact the previous Intel CEO lost his job because Intel couldn’t do it. What are the odds that Taiwan, conquered by the communists, would still be running such a factory at its current capacity? Your typical communist apparatchik can’t run an outhouse reliably, let alone a steel mill — both of which are child play in comparison.
The Biden admin may well be the Stalingrad of the American Left wing.
It’s easy for wannabe Machiavellis to forget that to be an effective dictator, one must at least present a show of tough competence, and be able to back the propaganda with some actual results.
The current collapse of competence shows that the insiders basically believe that the admin is doomed, and are not even really going through the motions. An actual leader* could help them revers this, but they don’t have any at this point in time. Obama, Nancy, Hillary, Kamela- none of them got the chops to do it.
*Leader, like person with real leadership skills. Not a diversity hire, over-promoted hack, the popular guy’s ambitious wife, or some guys ho.
The Soviet Union Ended.
Russia Went On.
America Will Go ON. Maybe we can even get back to the America of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution plus the Bill of Rights.
The USSR ended, the member countries continue. I think Texas will be just fine. As long as we can block illegals from the fascist states from coming here. Of course, when we start enforcing the rule of law, individually, they will move back out or be buried. Win win.
Saved this off the Internet, nearly 20 years ago: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Evil_empires_bumper_sticker.png
“Historically, the house and/or senate should shift back to Republican control. And especially this time around with the shit show we have now. If that doesn’t happen, or if there are questions about election integrity, confidence will be gone.”
At that point there will be a number of people, perhaps a substantial number, who decide that to obtain the leadership the country needs, and they want, “means other than voting” will need to be employed.
As for “will America exist,” probably, but just as America of the 21st century operates quite differently than America of the 18th century, it is probable that “things will be different.”
Maybe very different.