u/askingquesti0ns - originally from r/GenZhou
Title. It seems like the US is becoming desperate for power and generally decaying; citizens are becoming more class conscious, leftism seems to be rising, etc.
But at the same time I constantly see people defending the US to no end and tons of propaganda, especially on Reddit’s front page. It seems like people still indulge in russophobia (especially recently) and especially sinophobia and believe all state talking points. People are defending Biden not doing what he promised, defending being exploited and lied to. I could go on.
Overall, I see more people that are still defending the US and bootlicking daily (especially during this war) compared to people who gain class consciousness. What do you think?
u/Bubbly-Walk-5615 - originally from r/GenZhouOf course, people are going to always double down on the idea that US hegemony is going to last forever, the material ramifications of US’s collapsing empire are quite scary if you’re living under it and people don’t want to consider the possibility, they may even advocate starting WWIII in response out of the belief that if they don’t their world is over if they’re not in control anyway, so just end it all.
But I’ll tell you who aren’t really going to care about maintaining the image of former glories, it’s the western bourgeoisie. As soon as the profit motive is bigger in developing countries, they will abandon the nations they ruined like rats fleeing a sinking ship for cushy advisory jobs in Russia, India, China, any developing economy that values presumed western economic/industrial know-how (or they just buy their way in with property ownership), where they’ll live out their days decrying their former homes and how it was left in tatters by lazy, entitled plebs unlike the can-do passion for money making like in the developing nations they’re advising and pulling a profit from again.
u/Next-Increase5847 - originally from r/GenZhoucould you elaborate what would happen if the US hegemony collapses? I’ve heard things related to the decline of the US dollar and how living standards would “drastically decrease” for americans. How does that work and why?
u/telefune - originally from r/GenZhouIt took was a pandemic to show how weak the us economy is at the seams. It doesn’t have to be a sudden viral outbreak, it can be a conflict coming to a head, which I see happening with China mostly. When the world finally decides to ditch the dollar as a world reserve, that could cause an inflation crisis. It could be an extreme change in oil prices. Whatever it is, the us government is already way over it’s head in debt to GDP. It is hardly in a position to stimulate the economy without printing devalued dollars or raising taxes. They’ll do the former first almost certainly. When the fed talks about raising interest rates, that alone makes billionaire and headgefund money panic. They’d rather let it devalue. Austerity will be the crisis.
This crisis will be for working people. It implies unemployment, further wage stagnation, or effective decrease actually. A frutrated people radicalize, so expect a rise in fascism, and violence. It seems like this is alredy happening. My thoughts here aren’t really organized but I could continue.
Also keep in mind, that if it is happening, you won’t see it on Reddit’s front page. Look around an the desperation, I think it’s been happening for a while.
u/I_want_to_believe69 - originally from r/GenZhouA huge consequence that is not spoken about enough is banning Russia from SWIFT and oil sales. It is going to push Russia towards using Chinese financial systems. The US dollar is strong because it is the main currency used in oil sales around the globe. Without the petrodollar US currency could fall by 50%. So if Russia and China both start using the yuan for petrochemicals it could threaten American hegemony in the financial market. With the growth of the belt and Road initiative you’ll see more of the global south starting to use the Chinese currency and financial system as well.
This will cripple the US in a way that no army ever could.