Strong bullies are not easy to deal with without stronger authorities imposing common sense... it is a wild regime were the strongest impose their will without significant consequences
this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2025
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What the rest of the world is mainly doing is jockeying for position while watching America rapidly lose global reserve currency status.
It is happening far more quickly than I think the vast majority of people without privileged information imagined. Trump wants a weakened dollar and is getting it. No one wants this to happen overnight; the instability this process is allowing and will cause is risky enough. Everyone wants to avoid simmering global conflict erupting into WW3. Well maybe Putin is up for it, I don't know. The US is a belligerent ally, and has the biggest military in the world so it is about treading lightly and hopefully preparing.
It is about minimising risk, eating shit giving in to Trump's pathetic demands for fealty, while preparing for the new economic order to emerge. America cannot pay its military without everyone trusting it enough to buy its debt. America cannot pay its debts without its military supporting the dollar. So it is a tricky unwinding of decades of geo-political norms. The world cannot wait to see who America votes for every four years for global stability, so it is done. It is clear to me that very few Americans I came into contact with online ever appreciated this balancing act, or how important their vast military spending was to their country's wealth post ww2.
I feel bad for the average non-Trump voting American because as a Brit I can tell you that there is always resentment that plays out once a country loses that reserve currency status. A people can make a mistake, but a second Trump vote is unforgivable. It is America throwing itself off a cliff economically, over the longer term. Billionaires are clearly getting stuck into filling their boots - this collapse is going to make some people very rich.
As a Trump-hating American working in defense, I always tried to tell people that our economic dominance was enforced with the barrel of a gun. Friends working in international relations would also reference books like "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" that also pointed to usage of the CIA and international lending terms to enrich ourselves at the expanse of the 3rd world, especially Latin America. I completely agree that a capricious, bi-polar US is an untenable world leader.
But in general, it's very hard to get most Americans to care about our relationships and interactions with the rest of the world, much less acknowledge the ways we are dependent on it. There is some US-centric vanity involved, as well as some stubborn ignorance due to never interacting with the rest of the world at all. But I think in part it's also due to the hyper competitive nature of simply trying to live in the US, such that there is no brainspace for anything not directly affecting you. Stressors include corporate expectations that everyone should live to work, so many people a few paychecks away from losing their homes and lifestyle with no social safety net, the struggle to afford to live in areas with good schools for your kids, etc etc. In some ways, I'm hopeful that losing global pre-eminence could make life easier for us, especially if it brings about government reform (I don't mean the MAGA version of this, obviously).
China, the obvious successor to American influence, assuming a more commanding role on the world stage is a mixed bag. On one hand, they certainly prize stability above almost everything, and an authoritarian state run by technocrats indeed seems more effective at addressing climate change than a Corporatocracy that profits from destroying the planet. On the other, there's not even acknowledgement of unethical practices (e.g.: labor conditions in Chinese companies in DRC, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) when there is no free press. As the US spread it's influence and democracy after WWII, I kind of worry that the entire world may be forced to get in line with the CCP.
well, here in canada, we kinda don't want war atm.
what are they going to do? look at what happens in the UN when the US and Israel the only ones who vote a certain way and nobody gives a shit
Here at South America we are still starting to come to sense that the usa has been ruling over us for quite a while. There’s not much we can do. Some countries are just at a level you have those votes that are 150 to 1 and the one wins (USA).
One method would be a global alliance against fascism.
Because our leaders are pussies. If we all league against them we could raze the country in no time
It always comes back to Logistics, Coordination, Consistent Daily Action, & Collective Power
Keep getting more people active wherever you can and I will continue the same
We all got this!!! The more people active consistently and connected to each other online along with in-person the better off we all will be. The more that gets completed, and easier it makes it for us all
Nukes.
They are sanctioning themselves.
so much winning for US citizens.
Yay! I'm a winner! Wait...
Because it is kind of an act. The US is restructuring for a strong China and the other western countries support that.
There is no way that US billionaires can be blamed for controlling politics to exploit workers but then are incapable of removing Trump.
Other countries are learning how to separate themselves economically from the US more.
Because the US is the biggest market and they'd rather make money then do the right thing.
most of the rest of the world - "someones got to be my exit-liquidity, might as well be the american working class"
Countries need to reduce their dependency on the US first:
- The US is the strongest force within NATO, so with Russia getting more aggressive, Europe and Canada need to quickly build up a stronger army.
- The US is NATO's largest supplier of weapons, so Europe and Canada need to invest in their weapons industry.
- The US is the worlds largest manufacturer of CPU's and GPU's. While there are non-US alternatives, these are not as good and are designed for custom build electronics rather than desktops, laptops and servers.
- Most international payments go via the US (even a lot of international payments within Europe). Countries need to persuade their banks to find new ways to do international payments, but the current system is pretty advantages for the banks, so they are reluctant to agree.
- Most cloud infrastructure is in the US. Other countries will need to move their data out of the US.
- The US is a large provider of humanitarian aid, and the largest exporter of food. Poor countries will have to find a new way to get those resources.
TLDR The USA is the most powerful country in the world, and the world never prepared for a time when the USA would be led by a fascist asshole.
Someone need to convince the US to invade the US in order to give the US some #Democracy™
I heard the US has oil.
Don't you worry. Civil War is still on the horizon. Gotta see how 2026 goes.
Someone need to convince the US to invade the US in order to give the US some #Democracy™
Granted but its for ICE
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The US is the strongest force within NATO, so with Russia getting more aggressive, Europe and Canada need to quickly build up a stronger army.
Strongest single nation, yeah, but then you address Europe as if it was just one nation, when our combined military might is much more than any single nation is thought to have.
For instance think of how much we Finns fought Russians, when we started with practically nothing to defend ourselves with. Currently we have the largest (and most accurate) artillery in Finland and NORDEFCO and EU defense initiatives. So we got the top of Europe locked down pretty tight.
The US has the largest defense budget and is the most powerful navy, obviously, but we know what to do in our woods. Things even the infamous US marines kinda suck at sometimes. A group of conscripted cooks took down a helicopter of landing marines, that sounds worse than it is, basically the marines just landed and the well camouflaged food group took positions and won the battle or smth some years ago. Now I think it's been the US helping us, idk how different the Baltic Sea is to ocean operations, and Idk jack shit about navy either as am army. https://yle.fi/a/74-20153073
Anyway wanted to paste something and the older article was now behind paywall so that's just hyping up Finn US cooperation in helping bust the Russian shadow fleet
Luckily military protocols and treaties aren't as easily influenced by politics as well, politics. I mean, they are, obviously, but there's usually just a hint more reason being utilised. That's what I loved about being in the army. So simple.
For instance think of how much we Finns fought Russians, when we started with practically nothing to defend ourselves with.
I'm sorry, but now I need to tell you my favorite joke about Finns! I promise this one isn't racist! (Of course as an Estonian I know a few semi-friendly semi-racist Finnish jokes too, but I'm going to keep those to myself)
In the Winter war, a large Russian platoon makes camp near a forest in Finland. As the long northern night starts taking hold, they hear a voice from the forest: "Come and get meeee, I'm all aloneeee!"
The Russian commanders discuss this and decide that they can't take a risk, so they send ten men out to counter the one. None return and an hour later they hear again: "I'm still alone! Come and get meeeee!"
They decide that the Russian army must not be mocked this way and send a hundred men. None return again. Once they hear the voice a third time another hour later, they get pissed and send a thousand men.
One man returns, scared for his life, all bloody. He yells out: "Don't listen to him! There's two of them in there!"
Yeah I've heard this one before and I like it.
Lemmy being as small as it is and me liking this joke as much as I do, I may literally have replied it to one of your comments before. If not on this account, then on my old lemm.ee account perhaps
May be, may be. But also the whole "one Finn equals ten Russians" meme has been around longer than living memory.
A group of conscripted cooks took down a helicopter of landing marines
kinda reminds me of this: https://www.theage.com.au/national/collins-sub-shines-in-us-war-game-20021013-gduomk.html
during war games one of australia’s collins class submarines (diesel electric, quite dated at this point) managed to “kill” a los angeles class nuclear submarine (several times over?) when the US sub was also aided by 2 destroyers
I can't read the article, but I remember reading about this on reddit a long time ago, and I think the general consensus was that while the diesel sub might've been dated, it was quieter and thus the US sub had fewer instruments it could rely on for detection.
Goes to show that sometimes there's no objective better tool, but different tools excel at different jobs.
Oh yeah a Swedish sub did a similar thing to the largest US aircraft carrier, iirc. Simulated torpedos ofc but they're as good as real ones in terms of "we got you"
Yup.
100-mil gotland class sub "sank" a 6.2 billion dollar aircraft carrier.
We Finns haven't been allowed to have subs for a while, and I'm army, so I don't know much about those, but it's the same principle yeah.
The American strategy overlooks certain things sometimes. Trusts too much on technology and not enough on training.
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Canadians are not buying America's shit, and are unlikely to resume that habit anytime soon. It doesn't take effect immediately, but when you compound it with the other ass backwards trade policies you're living under now you will all be suffering greatly within a year.
So will everyone, mind you.
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The same has happened in something like 25 % of countries, and they haven't gotten sanctioned for that.
Most of our diamonds and cobalt and cocoa come from countries that have similar problems as USA now does.
Send the man a Luger, to be stored in the bunker under the Epstein ballroom
Because they are too powerful as an enemy. If they were the size of denmark, they wouldnt get away with anything.
The entire economy of the western world is also extreamly connected to the US. Our pension funds invest in their tech stocks, our financial systems use the dollar.. And a lot more things that i dont even know.
America is pretty much running the western world. Like it or not. :/
They also spent almost all their money on weapons and high tech support systems. Their "defence" budget is larger than entire Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest_military_expenditures
Just look at these numbers. America, almost 1000 billion dollars. China, 300 billion, Russia 150 billion, everyone else much much less.
Its a crazy country.
Yup. I changed my fund to one that has as few US stocks as possible this spring. All the sensible ones are ones that contain different index ETFs, so I went one with as little S&P500 exposure as possible.
But this is just me and my five digits worth of euros. I can't convince a meaningful amount of people to switch. If a million people did the same, it would be tens of billions in US stocks liquidated. It would be beautiful.
I actually dont think its gonna crash. People here disagree, but im used to that. Still think it wont.
Well the AI bubble might collapse. But I don't envision a run on the stock market like the one that started the great depression either.
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Trump has inspired more trade side deals between countries than any US President in history. It will take 5-10 years to notice but it cannot be reversed and the US will feel the result of an isolationist economy like once Great Britain.
Canada is signing new trade deals every month with not the USA.
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