Hyperreality

Israel’s also an important weapons manufacturer and importer.

If the deal Israel has with the US explodes, China would be more than happy to fill that void. Sell them some more weapons, import some fancy missile tech, etc. Their current stance belies years of cooperation, including weapons deals. Something the US was pressuring them on. (I say current stance, but they just blocked a cease fire, so it may be that they’re already making the pivot).

Not as if they actually give a shit about human rights of Gazans, despite the propaganda.

In international politics morality always comes second to real politik. There are no good guys.

Pity China and Russia are blocking an immediate cease fire.

“oh, I know that language too!” from someone. And… They don’t.

Prime example: according to numerous surveys more Dutch people speak French well than Belgians.

Belgian is half French speaking, French is taught in Flemish schools from an early age, and many Dutch/Flemish speakers work in predominantly French speaking Brussels, and/or have French speaking friends/relatives.

But it’s understandable: a Dutch person thinks their French is great if they manage to order something in a French restaurant while on holiday and have the waiter understand them. That’s more than enough for their purposes. A Flemish Belgian thinks their French is bad, if they’re unable to write a letter in French which respects rules like those about accord COD/COI (Elle a pris des photos. Les photos qu’elle a prises. Elle est allée prendre des photos. - Hope that’s correct)

That and Dunning Kruger. If you have little competence in foreign languages, you don’t know enough to know that you don’t know enough.

Oh, great. Vulnerable children and desperate parents searching for prescription medication on the black market. What could go wrong?

Mission accomplished.

I always find it interesting how being stressed or unhappy because of something like high medical debt is framed as a mental health issue, rather than as a normal reaction to living in a sick hyper-capitalist society.

But hey, I suppose medicating the symptoms is more profitable than tackling the causes.

He will allow the USA to become much more independent and cut off paying for other nations’ wars. He will allow the USA to become much more independent and cut off paying for other nations’ wars.

Kowtowing to countries like China and Russia, allowing them to win strategic victories, will make them more powerful and give them more influence on US politics. Ie. the US would become less independent.

You don’t become more independent by telling countries like China that you give up.

In the case of Ukraine, they’re one of the world’s top exporters of grain, which is in part why food prices have been rising globally.

We don’t need the rest of the world.

You do. The world has globalised. At least 40 million American jobs are directly reliant on exports. The rest of the world also produces stuff like oil. Fuel prices would skyrocket.

A lot of unprofitable stuff has also been moved overseas. It would cost money to make it in the US. Many resources are also rare in the US. Stuff like rare-earth elements. Good luck importing from countries which have signed deals with China, because they’re the new super power. Combined with de-dollarisation this would also cause massive issues, rampant inflation for example. You think it’s bad now? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Our military can stomp out any invaders.

No one needs to invade the US. It’s cheaper to simply buy a candidate or blackmail him. This allows countries like China to push through legislation which favours their business and strategic interests. Eg. dropping support for Ukraine or dropping support of Taiwan so that China can take control of advance chip industries.

In the long term, the US would find it hard to sustain a huge military budget when facing economic turmoil and a debt crisis. Especially in relative terms. China has a population of 1.4 billion. If the US withdraws from the Asia-Pacific and Europe, they’re likely to become part of the Chinese sphere of influence. A country of 300 million, will inevitably be pushed around by a power bloc of 3 billion.

Of course, none of this will convince a Trump supporter, because most base their support on emotions not reason. And once they find they can’t afford to fill up on gas, or groceries, they’ll blame anyone but themselves.

I don’t think a system that’s focussed on rehabilitation rather than punishment would be popular with American voters.

Countries that do focus on rehabilitation in western democracies, often hand out less long sentences and treat their prisoners relatively nicely. Their own cell, tv, etc. Still prison though, being robbed of your freedom is punishment in and of itself. On average that leads to better outcomes, lower recidivism, …

But on a case by case basis, discovering someone who committed a heinous crime was let out after 10 years? Sure, often monitored, evaluated, and with stringent conditions. Sure, only if the chance they’ll do it again is very low. But still. It doesn’t feel right. Same thing with nice prison cells. Show the average American a Norwegian prison cell, and tell them it houses a rapist, and they’ll be understandably offended. Think it isn’t fair. Which it almost certainly isn’t, but you don’t lower the chance of repeat offending by sticking someone in a cage for ten years.

Also, I do wonder if these kinds of prisons are possible in a country without a semi-decent social safety net. If jail’s better than being homeless, and homelessness is rampant, people will commit crimes just to escape. You end up rewarding criminals, because jail is comparatively nice compared to their existence outside jail.