The Sunset Empire Shudders and Shakes | 67 comments (67 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: The Sunset Empire Shudders and Shakes (4.00 / 7)

To focus more on the actual topic, I see why you argue the risk of "wasting our blood and treasure on reckless foreign adventures while ignoring the rotting foundations of our domestic economy", in particular to a US audience. However, as empires fall it is not the worst. But not the best either.

Best would be to pull out, draw troops home before they are run out.

Worst would be catastrophic over reach. Doubling down in order to fix existing problems. Before modern warfare this often meant that the king and the army marched away and died in foreign lands. With modern warfare it has become a matter of total destruction of the ability to wage war, and with nuclear arms it is potentially the total destruction of, well at least higher forms of life.

Right now, there is no movement towards drawing down, but to soon to say if it will end in some nuclear gambit. One can hope that the US empire gets its Gorbachev evnetually.

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by A swedish kind of death on Mon Sep 2nd, 2013 at 01:11:18 PM EST

Re: The Sunset Empire Shudders and Shakes (4.00 / 3)

If we are lucky, the catastrophic collapse comes via a sudden interruption in oil supplies which lays the foundation for a new power coalition that breaks the hold of US oil producers on national political power.

If it comes in some nuclear gambit, that would suck in a real big way.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Mon Sep 2nd, 2013 at 04:54:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

A decision flowchart ... (4.00 / 3)

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Tue Sep 3rd, 2013 at 08:20:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Sunset Empire Shudders and Shakes (none / 1)

The British and French empires could be wound down without total collapse of the colonizing power largely because of the protection afforded them by the new hegemon, the USA. Who could and would provide such a service to the USA while it wound down its empire? Possibly Russia and China. Were the USA to undertake such a farsighted policy they would be regional beneficiaries. But the likelihood is that dickheadedness will continue to reign in the US polity and they will be forced into an adversarial role in the interests of US domestic politics.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Sep 4th, 2013 at 01:48:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Sunset Empire Shudders and Shakes (4.00 / 3)

The US empire could be wound down to the benefit of the US domestic economy because it is a big drain, and a hindrance to tremendous opportunities for positive collaboration with the economies of Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular.

But not to the benefit of the current core vested interests of the status quo, so the policies that can be advanced in that direction at present would be those that fly below the radar of the top 0.1%.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Wed Sep 4th, 2013 at 02:13:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Sunset Empire Shudders and Shakes | 67 comments (67 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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