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?

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    3 years ago

    u/4evaronin - originally from r/GenZhou

    I constantly see people defending the US to no end and tons of propaganda,

    Are you aware that they just passed a bill (America Competes Act) where they detailed the setting aside of hundreds of millions of dollars just for anti-China propaganda? Also, have you heard of Operation Earnest Voice? If not, look it up. There’s video evidence and stuff.

    These guys are the OG wumao for real.

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      3 years ago

      u/vilester1 - originally from r/GenZhou
      300 USD million annual plus a one off 500 USD million. That’s a lot of money to play with.

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      u/themutedude - originally from r/GenZhou
      Holy shit thanks for sharing. The projection is real.

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      u/Specialist-Sock-855 - originally from r/GenZhou
      Wait did that bill actually get passed in both house and Senate? Last I read about it, the house passed it and the Senate has been jerking itself off since then, as is tradition.

      That doesn’t mean it won’t pass; actually the funding might keep growing bigger and bigger as the two chambers continue kicking it back and forth.

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        3 years ago

        u/Comrade_Corgo - originally from r/GenZhou
        That would just be money specifically allocated for propaganda. They still have plenty of other sources to draw from, for example funding given to the National Endowment for Democracy.

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    3 years ago

    u/Bubbly-Walk-5615 - originally from r/GenZhou
    Of 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.

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      3 years ago

      u/Next-Increase5847 - originally from r/GenZhou
      could 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?

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        u/telefune - originally from r/GenZhou
        It 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.

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        3 years ago

        u/I_want_to_believe69 - originally from r/GenZhou
        A 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.

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    3 years ago

    u/spellbanisher - originally from r/GenZhou
    USians are materially and psychologically devoted to American exceptionalism, which entails white supremacy and empire. The more empire deteriorates the more vigorously and viciously Americans will cling to their mythologies. The fact that people are going batshit crazy is evidence of declining empire. They can feel and see that things are falling apart, that material realities doesn’t match their ideologies, but they are too invested in the idea that American is the greatest thing that has ever existed to question their assumptions. So they must constantly conjure up ghosts and demons to explain the discrepancy between reality and their ideology. Thus liberals have made Putin into an all-pervading malevolent force manipulating the very fabric of American and global culture, politics, economy, society, etc. And you can’t even keep up with the conservative delusions. They invent a new conspiracy every week.

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    u/MisandristMinx - originally from r/GenZhou
    Yes, almost definitely. The world has lost almost all respect for the US at this point.

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    u/TheEasternSky - originally from r/GenZhou
    Not the end. But their hegemony is obviously declining.

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      u/Kaluan23 - originally from r/GenZhou
      At an accelerated rate lately, I think that’s the key takeaway.

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    u/poslepoludnya - originally from r/GenZhou
    No one knows the day nor the hour in which the US empire shall crumble. Decline? Sure, but is this the end? Doubt it, many empires survived a whole lot worse

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    u/Master00J - originally from r/GenZhou
    Remember, the average age of empires is 250 years old, and America is coming up on its 245th birthday soon. Might celebrate Fourth of July just to remind myself of the inevitable day

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      u/stealthjackson - originally from r/GenZhou
      Can you provide some sourcing for the average empire age being 250 years? The only place I’ve seen this claim is part of a meme which used selective and nonscientific methodology to come to that number.

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        u/Master00J - originally from r/GenZhou
        Actually not 100% sure, just dug around and apparently ‘Sir John Glubb’ noted empires had an average life span of 250 years the book ‘The Fate of Empires and the Search for Survivial’

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    u/Facehammer - originally from r/GenZhou
    The US empire is on its way out. It won’t go quietly or with dignity, but it will go.

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      u/pope-ron-paul-II - originally from r/GenZhou
      the UK at least got universal healthcare out of their imperial retreat. i suspect we will get nothing but ash

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    u/greenslime300 - originally from r/GenZhou
    A lot of this is speculative. The downward trend of prosperity, international relations, and domestic support has been very obvious, but the question of what the “end” looks like is up for debate. Could happen via civil war in a few years, could be a slow falling away over the course of 30 years. Could be a great depression worse than the 1930s that they simply can’t bounce back from economically.

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    u/ADangerousPrey - originally from r/GenZhou
    The vibes in the US right now are wild. People I talk to of most political stripes seem to sense that things are out of control and the state will not have the foresight or the resources to intervene before something violent happens.

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    u/MyLOLNameWasTaken - originally from r/GenZhou
    The steady state right now is terminal decline and with alternatives coming to the fore, China/Russia, the US has to make moves but is so ensnared by contradiction it only deals more damage; which it moves to correct causing more damage, repeat.