It's over. It was fairly good while it lasted. What's most surprising is how easily it all imploded. One demagogue, a snake oil salesman, a person completely free of any scruples and morals, willing to tell however many lies it would take, and a population in which sizeable chunk was receptive to a Pied Piper's vile tunes.

In the future, volume upon volume will be written about this period, not so much focusing on Trump but on how all the millions of people with 6 teeth got tricked into fighting for the people with 6 yachts.

'The rise and fall of US hegemony'

https://www.ft.com/content/5a9fed66-57fa-4f7b-bce9-f5519bd1d84b

https://archive.ph/Vj9OC

""Today, on the eve of its 250th birthday, the US and the world order it created are in crisis. In the US, the administration is corrupt, incompetent and, most important, hostile to the norms and values that animated the founding fathers. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed liberation from tyrants. Donald Trump wants to be one.

Xi Jinping can smile."

5 minutes ago, BLMFem said:

In the future, volume upon volume will be written about this period

Still, American exceptionalism.

The USA were a brutal genocidal force taking land from native people just coming out of the stone age, then a minor imperial power in the footsteps of the british, never actually managed true democracy, had some industrial success due to the incessant divisions between the Europeans, and -- for a short time -- lived far beyond their means and status in the world due to China being slow in its development uptake.

Looking at its supposed military dominance, this was already a very expensive failure from Vietnam onwards, down to being a total laughing stock now to people with small boats or Kalashnikovs.

China is awake now, and the USA immediately starts to fall, imploding due to its devastating lack of education and unearned hubris. In the end, it was mainly the Americans who believed they are superior, and madman Trump is just the last and not even overly important of very many symptoms of this disease.

One might say, even with political madmen, the Americans were not able to do a proper job.

In summary, not much to write about it, its 250 years were but an (uninteresting and regrettable) blip in human history and soon not more than a cringy footnote of failure in the world's history books.

Edited 52 minutes ago52 min by jts-khorat

3 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

Still, American exceptionalism.

The USA were a brutal genocidal force taking land from native people just coming out of the stone age, then a minor imperial power in the footsteps of the british, had some industrial success due to the incessant divisions between the Europeans, and -- for a short time -- lived far beyond their means and status in the world due to China being slow in its development uptake.

Looking at its supposed military dominance, this was already a very expansive failure form Vietnam onwards, down to being a total laughing stock now to people with small boats.

China is awake now, and the USA immediately starts to fall, imploding due to its devastating lack of education and unearned hubris. In the end, it was mainly the Americans who believed they are superior, and madman Trump is just the last and not even overly important of very many symptoms of this disease.

In summary, not much to write about it, its 250 years were but an (uininteresting) blip in human history and soon not more than a cringy footnote of failure in the world's history books.

The entirety of human civilization has been formed by conquest.

2 minutes ago, blaze master said:

The entirety of human civilization has been formed by conquest.

Not wrong, but what have the USA truly achieved even in this regard?

They could massacre Native Indians with their bow and arrows, but the Spanish arguably could do that already better.

They fought in World War II, true, but they mainly watched from the sidelines until even the Soviets looked like better fighters. Their "superior" weapons technology is basically German in origin to this day, without any major invention breakthrough since World War II (at least, if you do not count making stuff simply "bigger" as an invention).

In Vietnam, they did such a bad job, that from then on nobody -- neither the Afghans nor the Iranians -- had any respect for them.

The OP said, much will be written about this. I do not think so -- as soon as the Americans have imploded, all interest in them will wane rapidly to nothing.

Edited 47 minutes ago47 min by jts-khorat

16 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

The USA were a brutal genocidal force taking land from native people just coming out of the stone age, then a minor imperial power in the footsteps of the british, never actually managed true democracy, had some industrial success due to the incessant divisions between the Europeans, and -- for a short time -- lived far beyond their means and status in the world due to China being slow in its development uptake.

Why would someone from Germany dare criticize another country of genocide? Are you even self ware?

9 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

They could massacre Native Indians with their bow and arrows, but the Spanish arguably could do that already better.

Just the German massacred the jews, poles, etc?

16 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

Looking at its supposed military dominance, this was already a very expensive failure from Vietnam onwards,

Well, yeah .. tho' Gulf War I went OK. But, more importantly, the US was instrumental in kicking Germany's butts in WWI and II. So, stick that in your sauerkraut and suck on it.

12 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Well, yeah .. tho' Gulf War I went OK. But, more importantly, the US was instrumental in kicking Germany's butts in WWI and II. So, stick that in your sauerkraut and suck on it.

We need to remind him what we still occupy his country.

32 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

Their "superior" weapons technology is basically German in origin to this day, without any major invention breakthrough since World War II (at least, if you do not count making stuff simply "bigger" as an invention).

This just isn't true at all. Stealth tech is not a breakthrough? Among the others listed.

Post-World War II, the United States military drove the development of nuclear weapons, missile technologies, precision munitions, computing and the internet, and stealth technologies.