Are We Living Through The End Of An Empire?

Are We Living Through The End Of An Empire? - Second Thought
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[@zacka9438]

As a non American I really do hope America becomes just another normal country that cares for its own citizens and not bombing farmers thousands of miles away.

[@michaeladkins6]

I saw a video on Henry Kissinger and his love of bombing over decades.

[@dimitrimorisset566]

Until another country takes on the mantle and the cycle begins anew haha

[@sticks-eat-stones]

As an American, I second this

[@redixdoragon]

@@sticks-eat-stones Third

[@rayevinn]

I feel like almost everyone except for maybe conservatives are all fed up as well. I hope everyone decides to finally do something for good

[@manwithdominantclaw5320]

Imagine if, when Rome declined, instead of just fracturing and resulting in new nations, Rome had the ability to end the planet by attempting to cling to power, either by consuming so hard they cook the place, or through spite with a ridiculous arsenal of nuclear warheads

[@CyberKid-fm4li]

Dude how about f*ck Rome, Britain and America? It's that simple...

[@maskttr]

this is the US isn't it

[@CharlieKell]

imagine...

[@Pomeray8]

See, this is always a hilarious example because Rome stands, and Italy is still here as one of the largest economies. China has had a continuous government for 2500 years. Egyptians still exist. Whatever "fell" there are still 7 billion people here. So...who cares? Fuck all empires anyway.

[@grmpEqweer]

Sounds about reich.

[@the_track_enthusiast]

My father, who came from Egypt, always referred to America as Rome, and would occasionally say, “ the Romans are crazy “. He meant the money printing, the loss of morality, and acting as if nothing can stop their reign, and was very right.

[@Clintsessentials]

💯

[@keithhunt5328]

Egyptians talking about morality hahahha

[@ramy1190]

Did we invade other countries and bombd them to the ground that I'm not aware of???​@@keithhunt5328

[@Queenofimps.1627]

As an American, I agree with your dad.

[@ge2623]

And Egypt is such a bastion of freedom, liberty and morality.

[@hadirmaamouri4204]

there's a famous Arabic poem that says basically : ''The nations endure only with their ethics. When their ethics are gone, they too will be gone. '' America's fall was always inevitable

[@upturnedblousecollar5811]

There's a certain irony that China gets more-free every day and the USA is going in the other direction.

[@Fujitagalog]

ofc

[@Sasuke-d8l]

You guys stole Indian stuff and call it Arabic like Number & maths, you really think you guys calling earth flat can invent something?

[@Mindi-df6mn]

Idk if you’re arab. But if you are, can you tell me what the quote is in arabic. Icouldn’t really think of any when trying to translate this😂

[@hadirmaamouri4204]

@@Mindi-df6mn I got you bro الشاعر أحمد شوقي: إنما الأمم الأخلاق ما بقيت # فإن هم ذهبت أخلاقهم ذهبوا

[@alma7621]

America is like a Titanic. Too big to turn, too slow to react, too proud to recognize We had already hit the iceberg. Above all there are not enough life boats for everyone.

[@greenluxi]

sad but apt analogy.

[@JoseSanchez0795]

Good! 😊

[@decrox13]

No, it’s just a powerful country that everyone is extremely jealous of. It is not “falling”. You could’ve said the same thing 50 years ago

[@sofia01ht]

@@decrox13who on earth is jealous of the US? Lmao if anything it’s quite the opposite America is the most developed 3rd world country with no real culture other than consumerism.

[@societychaos3433]

Bravo

[@thecreatornooj1328]

the worst part of this is that the solutions to prevent collapse are actually simple, they just require 1) a lot of work and 2) for the greed of the powerful to be culled and 3) For a certain part of society to admit that there are problems that need dire solutions. So we are fucked.

[@calebrobinson6406]

Governments are failing to govern which gives right wing nutjobs a foothold. Trump is basically a death throe

[@wheressteve]

Yes, we are.

[@dani.lepore9410]

Why would you fight to preserve US domination in the world?

[@alexricky87]

Yep, the media and our education system works together to create stupid people, an "empire" cannot sustain a large population of stupid people.

[@kimwelch4652]

Actually, this collapse is not easy to solve for humans because it is caused by ecological overshoot or an overpopulation of high resource utilizing humans. We overshot thanks to our use of oil in the same manner as fertilizer dumped into the ocean produces a red-tide. There is no practical or moral way to resolve that issue within time to avoid a collapse. We probably overshot at around 4 billion people and now we are at 8 billion. Due to erosion of the biosphere, the carrying capacity of the Earth is probably now down to at most 3 billion. Current projections show us not reaching 9 billion before resource collapse causes severe population collapse -- something that has probably already started. Adaptability is inversely proportional to the level of specific adaptation. We cannot adapt to the environmental changes we caused until we lose our specific adaptation (i.e., our global civilization).

[@user-oc9vr1ko6d]

I have lived in the United States my whole life, but over the last few years i have seriously considered leaving. If you seriously step back and look at things, everything is so crazy and toxic

[@TheRecklessMetalhead]

Not to mention that these overly patriotic Americans are still defending the US like it's "special" or "the best." Blind patriotism is like religion, to be honest.

[@ea42455]

Just like the multi-millionaires of Hollywood that vowed to leave the US if Trump won in 2016... and didn't... You'll go nowhere.

[@torres8988]

where would you go to though?

[@Italiangirlnj747]

Yes

[@Italiangirlnj747]

​@torres8988 there r other places usa is not end all b all duh

[@Hexsmasher2099]

_"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That's dead... forever.”_ Helmut Zemo, Captain America: Civil War (2016)

[@weggygaygay9940]

That's from a fucking marvel movie?

[@tuaregcreative]

America is the last human ruled government, GOD’s KINGDOM ruled by JESUS CHRIST is the final that will never be passed to any other. It’s almost here have you registered as a citizen?

[@justinsinger2505]

@@weggygaygay9940civil war was genuinely a really good movie. The captain america movies ended up being highkey introspective about America. Winter soldier talked about government overreach and spying. Civil war was about how empires like the avengers can fall by being taken apart from inside.

[@think_amphibian0766]

Stfu😂😂😂

[@DerrickThompsondeebo]

And yet, Rome resurrected under another system with many of the same problems and pitfalls.

[@MatanteDodo]

The mention Asimov's Foundation resonates with me; one paragraph that always stuck with me was when the character pointed at a broken elevator sign and said "this is the empire declining". The person he was talking to thought he was exagerating, but he went on to explain: if low cost but highly visible repairs are being neglected, what do you think happens to the high cost invisible ones? If infrastructure is decaying, the empire is already falling.

[@JSmith-pb6fw]

Sort of like the "Broken Windows" theory of policing?

[@RooneyMac]

There's a flyover bridge in town that keeps getting closed down to one lane for repairs every couple of years, and it's still cracking and busting up. That's the flyover bridge in town, that anyone could pass underneath and see how bad it gets. The two bridges for the same four-lane highway less than a mile east crosses high over a river, has not gotten such maintenance and repairs, but you can look from the side and already see cracked concrete, missing chunks, and exposed rebar. What's even more stupid, is that fewer residents take this four lane federally funded US hwy route between the two towns, and more traffic goes down the rickety old two-lane county road that can't handle that hwy traffic, and there's also a bridge there that crosses the same river, high above it, and not even a quarter mile downstream! And you don't even get to look over from one bridge to the other to see how bad it is getting, even tractor trailers tear down these county roads and the "no truck traffic" NEVER gets enforced, they just refuse to cuz "nowhere to pull them over, it's unsafe to" but will pull those same trucks over in the middle of the town, in the middle of the street, closing that whole lane down but oh they'll also pull YOU over on the county roads 😒 if you can't pull one over, don't stop anyone then

[@Drumz_of_Liberation]

This is a banger, I'm stealing this. I went out of town a few weeks ago and was driving through an unfamiliar city, and what really struck me was just how dilapidated things were in a wealthy so- called "center of commerce". I had a hard time putting my visceral feelings about this into words until just now.

[@noahboucher125]

Crumbling roads, bent rails, using the same 747s for 40 years. Running retail stores in bloated, run down buildings from pre-2008 with leaky roofs. The only new things we make or repair are weapons.

[@ernststravoblofeld]

I noticed years ago, that roads were getting worse, but people were complaining about roads less. It's just not news anymore.

[@oldtownscouts3712]

Crumbling infrastructure, rampant corruption, military stretched over multiple conflicts, and severe inequality fit the bill for the US right now pretty well

[@User-jr7vf]

I don't think your military is streched over multiple conflicts. See, one of the pillars of your military might is the group of allies that you have all around the world. In every conflict that has participation of the US, other countries will support the US militarily. This is why the US can wage war anywhere on the planet but other countries can't. Just think about all those American military bases sorrounding China.

[@Aveius__]

What ​@@User-jr7vf said, plus the sheer budget the US military works with. They easily have the means to deploy some resources everywhere. The US civil society paying for it though, at the expense of other public services? That one is very much stretched, with clues including the wealth gaps and modern poverty.

[@jensenraylight8011]

i don't know why but, US is great at attracting greedy people, unregulated greed, profiting at the expense of other people, we saw this again and again, stock market basically already crash numerous time now, Housing basically already controlled by the corporate mob. also, we saw new greed based scheme like FTX, Crypto, NFT, Tech startups, and it crashed one by one. they all share a common pattern, unchecked greed at the expense of other people. and those "other people" end up being homeless, confused of what they did wrong, not knowing that somebody must pay for all of those speculation loses, and that somebody is them, and it could be you as well everyone only thinking about themself and never once thinking about the consequences, of how it will impact other people i'm amazed that US is still considered the superpower country despite the people there are destroying Value left and right, a country full of narcissistics speculators

[@rails723]

Agree, I stumbled on this writer named Chalmers Johnson who drew these same comparisons, I can't un-see it now.

[@timesup6302]

Inequality will always exist.

[@petertselios]

fun fact: The United States and Israel were the only countries who voted that food was not a human right. There were 5 others that didn't vote in the UN but America and Israel were the only two who actually didn't. (this was voted on in 2022 btw)

[@keeplaughing8181]

link?

[@lilidoesvlogs8369]

Food is not a right, it is an obligation.

[@IforgetMypassword]

​@@lilidoesvlogs8369 the humans rights are the the rights without which we cannot live. Food and housing are also one of them no matter what america thinks.

[@nikobellicthelegend80]

That's why they are starving Gaza to death

[@josephpruitt2067]

@@IforgetMypassword food is a necessity, not a right. Cavemen didn't run around telling the animals they ate they had the right to do so, they earned their food You can't apply the "human right to food" in a context without a government, therefore it should be a citizen right, not a human right. Having a right to food means you have a right to *receive* food from the government. Nobody has any right to demand someone else gives them food.

[@ezydoesit993]

Growing up in the 80/90s In Brazil, I used to think that US was a great country, as a grew up, studied and travelled around the world, USA became the one country I would never want to o live.

[@ChoppyJames]

Good stay in Brazil and wait til trump comes in office then u won’t even be able to come live here if u wanted to😂.

[@poisoned_city_lights]

​​@@ChoppyJamesthat's not the flex you think it is, you do realize you come from a family of immigrants too right?

[@tenntye6064]

@@ChoppyJamesyour wrong

[@caiooliveira4019]

Infelizmente, muita gente ainda vê os Estados Unidos como o melhor país do mundo

[@Rasupubegasu]

@@ChoppyJamesNothing ever lasts forever.

[@eyyy2271]

Another thing that absolutely fucked us is our urban planning. The moment shit hits the fan, this country will be unsalvageably fucked, especially when people are stranded in their isolated suburbs without food…

[@innocentnemesis3519]

Omg, don’t get me started. Car based infrastructure, stroads and suburbia is the definition of unsustainable. Not to mention the speculation and boom-bust cycles inherent to for profit, commercial real estate development.

[@spitfire3311]

All of our infrastructure is on its last legs.

[@GhostoftheTenthEye]

better get to be okay with walk everywhere because those roads will be filled with cars so we wont be able to properly utilize them either

[@expojam1473]

Yep totally on the same page with you there

[@colbyboucher6391]

You know what the best part is? The people living in suburbs have started clapping back, and literally all they can say is "but I want to, though."

[@reall6229]

Another thing worth mentioning too is that the world today moves at a MUCH faster pace than the world two thousand years ago did, or even just 200 years ago did

[@miguelll__]

yea it’s kinda insane to think about

[@IsureamFalling]

Yeah dude , we live in a hyper active Society , which is why you’re tired all the damn time

[@themayhemera3046]

yeah - like a thousand year empire is equivalent to a 400 year nation I would say

[@dipster5307]

My father always said the same thing, he isn't that old but he always talks about how the world is moving ridiculously faster than it did back in his days.

[@kyle6781]

Even just 50yrs ago

[@hameratahir]

No empire has lasted forever. Now is the turning point.

[@diosdelcielo]

Only one last fore ever.....God's Empire..

[@hexhub3826]

​@@diosdelcielo Amen

[@TonyEnglandUK]

@@diosdelcielo God is a supernatural babysitter for adults who are afraid of the dark.

[@heavyflamerheresy2581]

Say that to the scots

[@TonyEnglandUK]

@@heavyflamerheresy2581 Why the Scots?

[@christonngoveni8438]

Not to mention the world today moves at a faster pace, a single event has a potential of changing everything. Empires come and go as power consume the leaders, and weight gets heavier.

[@SciFi2285]

It is not a question of whether the American empire will fall. It obviously will. The more important question is how it will fall. A slow decline in living standards? Partition into smaller states? Civil war(s)? Environmental disaster? People no longer believing in the mythology that unifies the imperial project?

[@khrapov]

Exactly. Another scenario: USA might start World War 3.

[@unicorn4031]

All of the above.

[@tangledfish]

All of the above? I mean America has been going through a 5 decade long decline in living standards already. Also the standing and power America gained at the end of the cold war barely lasted 2 decades before the cracks started to show, now the globe is rapidly reorienting away from American hegemony. The environment is doing more and more damage to American prosperity every year and not even the people running the country believe in any kind of imperial project any more, they're just lining their pockets.

[@nobodyspecial2053]

If our ruler had their way? Thermonuclear armageddon.

[@AmericanNope]

The imperial project while becoming increasingly inefficient and corrupt in its operations both domestically and internationally has suffered from the same fate many of the worlds empires did. A priority of money over humanity. Unrelenting greed by its leaders, the banking cartel, and the other industries that rule over its political system in the shadows. What was once Americas strength has turned in to its largest problem.

[@dantheman9185]

The US can definitely be compared to Rome. Corruption at the deepest level was one of the factors that destroyed it. It won’t be an invading force that destroys America.

[@theboard3476]

I agree 100% The blatant corruption in all levels of government is disgusting. They aren’t even hiding it anymore. Along with the decline of standard of living and rise of costs, it’s just a powder keg waiting to blow.

[@diollinebranderson6553]

​@@careyfreeman5056facts.

[@Bruteforce765]

​@@hydra7427Rome had a long history of immigration. Etruscans, Gauls, Illyrians, Iberian, Germans, Goths. Many of them would become Roman citizens and migrate to Italia. This was happening since the days of Augustus. What you're reffering to is Millions of armed Goths crossing the border and settling on Roman lands. They were not loyal to the Emperor and would have their own kings. Yes, this was a reason but blaming it all on migrants is stupid

[@-ReHaven]

@@hydra7427we found the racist

[@ArthurSanford3706]

The USA is the only country that can defeat the USA

[@woulfe42]

That’s why I left the U.S 3 years ago to live in the Balkans. I’m finally happy in life and have free time to live life. Never looked backed.

[@Tast-1934.]

Really? I heard life in the Balkans are pretty bleak?

[@anoninii]

It's full of wild beauty and there rules a stronger sense of family and community, priorities change after growing up.. this must be refreshing after the US ​@@Tast-1934.

[@viru-666]

Do you have any advice for someone trying to leave?

[@Ochreification]

@@viru-666 I do... Learn the local language. I've lived in Spanish speaking countries, but I speak Spanish, so no problem for me. I've also lived in Albania, and though I learned some Albanian in my time there, I never did get anywhere close to fluent. And I was effectively illiterate. Also, if you speak the local language, the local people will be much friendlier and welcoming.

[@slkjess1206]

@@OchreificationLanguage is a major green flag. Trust.

[@moonsharn]

“If you think this story has a happy ending… you haven’t been paying attention”

[@mungo8715]

What irritates British people is that clearly the US has learnt from none of Britain's mistakes, bar one: Not calling it an empire

[@michaeladkins6]

Britain doesnt learn from the US either. we elected a pompous lying con man as president. Uk said, we have one like that, lets make him PM.

[@foxpro3002]

The irony

[@politika8087]

The US is in denial that it copied Britain.

[@corneliusmaze-eye2459]

but really it's still an empire, even if its a secret one.

[@krynosisdreamer1421]

As an American this is so obvious to me it hurts to see. As so many can't seem to grasp the parallel.

[@flovv4580]

History repeats itself, because humans don't learn. Different era, different country, same mistakes.

[@CoolieGyalSammy]

But the SAME PEOPLE if you realize. These people are moving from country to country, doing mass genocides, and claiming those countries as their own. It's BIZARRE!!!! So its LITERALLY HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF. They need to be stopped. Simple.

[@clange50]

Humans cannot govern themselves. We are our problem.

[@ge2623]

Times change, people don't.

[@PaulSmith-gi5bf]

That's not entirely true, we haven't always been like this and we won't continue for ever. Much has changed since we first started forming societies. Society has gotten worse as inequality rose, but over time things have also improved in several ways, you can't deny that things are a little better now than in feudal times. If capitalism doesn't completely cook our race alive, I think we will be led to socialism after capitalism has reached its lowest points worldwide, every system has its expiration date and capitalism seems way beyond its golden era.

[@timzitzelsberger3200]

Humanity works against humans😢 it never made sense to me still a mystery today it seems like we can wait forever for somebody to do something right or even close they say humans are intelligent this might be true but sense and wisdom are barely existing as long as there's a dollar behind it it will never work also we try to teach our children to learn from their mistakes yet we are the worst example

[@patrick5729]

Whoever made this, I'm not American nor a socialist, and I only stumbled upon this, but this may be one of the most relevant videos I've seen in youtube.

[@JamesEhler]

Not relevant at all once you realize that he is only stating opinions without any explanation of how any of his statements are true. The glowing light in which he paints China is a big tell of why he has the opinions he does.

[@Antimonious]

@@JamesEhler He is not staing opinions. He literally backed every statement he said with cold hard evidence. You are the evidence of everything he said.

[@zbk343]

​@@JamesEhler Right..amerucan so mauron

[@JamesEhler]

​@@AntimoniousMaybe you could enlighten me then? Because so far your rebuttal to my statement questioning the video's relevance and the creator's opinions to not be as the OP had stated is essentially, "Yea-huh! It's true because he said it's true and now I say it's true, so it's true! And you questioning it is more evidence of it being true! So there!" I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you, but outside of your little socialist/Communist circle, just saying that something is the way you/the government says it is, without any evidence, ain't gonna cut it. I know socialists/communists like to operate that way, that things are the way that they say that they are and must not be questioned, but in the real world that will only get you so far. Socialists and communists must operate that way because they can not ever present any real evidence to support their preferred system of government as being superior to capitalism, because socialism/communism is fundamentally flawed at its foundation and therefore will not and can not ever truly be a viable system of government. Evidenced by the fact that there has never been a country to ever successfully operate a socialist/Communist form of government. Therefore, those who advocate for such a system of government, while simultaneously slamming capitalism, are forced to present evidence that they have skewed to support their argument, most of the time by presenting it in a very particular way and/or without necessary context to put it in its true light. They also are forced to convey their opinions as factual, when they are in reality, only their opinions. So, maybe some examples of the "cold hard evidence" you speak of? And an explanation as to how I am somehow also the evidence? I'll wait.

[@Antimonious]

@@JamesEhler I’m not reading all that 😂😂.

[@bigharp0949]

I lived in New Orleans from December 2021 to January of this year. It’s NOT still underwater but from what I’ve seen and lived through, infrastructure was never permanently fixed. If it rains really hard one day, majority of the streets will flood. The sewage system and waterways including the roads were not built correctly. On top of that, you have corrupt people in high places, including on the police force. Not to mention the constant murders and bad traffic. They put a bandaid on top of all of that and have Mardi Gras, the Saints, Pelicans and the French Quarter. “Let the Good Times Roll.”

[@Ochreification]

"If it rains really hard one day, majority of the streets will flood." New Orleans has always been like that, even before Katrina, one good thunderstorm and you've got 4 feet of water in the street. The city is literally below sea level, which is why that happens, and why Katrina was so devastating. Now as to the rest of the problems, like you said, Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

[@serafinacosta7118]

It is kind of odd. I’ve read the local online rag “Renovation in Print “ and it seems to me folks from the North are snapping up old structures such as shotgun houses and giving them a new life through renovation and preservation work. I heard half of tilsentown moved out of SoCal to NOLA and Atlanta. I guess you have the inner track on public works spending , only the new arrivals haven’t cued in on the memo.

[@andybeyer2230]

Man, you saved my ass. I almost forgot to think about the Roman empire today.

[@SecondThought]

I got u 😎👉👉

[@bazah23]

Fr😂😂😂

[@yuugenr7549]

It's an unwritten law and an unwritten crime not thinking about the Roman Empire and the warring states period of China and its unification. As your senior I shall forgive you this time.

[@birisuandrei1551]

​​@@yuugenr7549 I think you mean the warring states period of Japan.... China's most famous historical era is the Three kingdoms era. There's nothing special about China's unification, it happened a dozen times in the past already.

[@yuugenr7549]

@@birisuandrei1551 Nothing special? What significance did Japan's warring state period bring that's greater than China's warring states period? Did you even know that china is the only civilization that has been great more than 3 times in the recorded history of our earth? No other civilization has been great more than once not even the Romans. The Romance of the 3 kingdoms period is also quite famous yes but without Qin shi Huang unifying china that would not have happened. Japan's history is minuscule compared to china, Japan's warring states period lasted about 100+ years(Sengoku period) ironically named after China's warring states period(happened centuries before Japan even existed) that arguably lasted 500 years because of spring and autumn wars combined. The art of war was written during China's warring states period, bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation took place, popularizing hanfu(Chinese clothing) copied by Japan and Korea, taken inspiration by romans, China was called Zhongguo and was considered the centre of the world politically and culturally. When Qin shi Huang unified china after 500 years of civil war he made sure the whole empire followed 1 emperor, 1 flag, 1 measurement system, 1 language, 1 writing system, 1 currency. These ideas and applications were copied and inspired worldwide.

[@AWPtical800]

As an American, I can see that we’re on the way out. It would just be nice if we as a whole woke up to that and took steps to fall with grace… though all I expect from this country is nothing but spite as it goes through its death throes.

[@BenLiuChungHin]

It isn't too late nor the end if the US actually wants to collaborate with the world, instead of holding everyone at gun point for dominance. Problem is that your population is too radicalised and short-sighted to see this or to learn how to cooperate for mutual benefits.

[@BunkerSquirrel]

I watch right wing media regularly, both corporate and individual KZbin accounts, and it’s depressing how warped their view of reality is. I wish for a great awakening, but I don’t think it’ll happen in our lifetimes, and if it does finally come, it’ll be too late. The damage will be done and the best we can do is pray our legs will cushion the fall

[@BunkerSquirrel]

@@BenLiuChungHinthat’s exactly why it’s too late. Everyone lives in a bubble and can’t see the other side. Our political system feeds on division.

[@growingsage]

​@BunkerSquirrel our (USA) society feeds on division. Everyone has to compete. You shouldn't want to live with your parents at a certain age even if you can't afford it. Workplace intrigue is rampant. Even relationships are about who *should* make more money instead of working together. Too many facets of American society are focused on hyperindividuality instead of mutual benefit. And thos chickens are coming home to roost.

[@andrewaguilar3127]

and they’ll find a way to blame the citizens.

[@WassaMatterU]

Of all the empires which suffered collapse, the citizens of Radio Shack suffered the most.... :|

[@Mad_Intalect]

"Radio Shack," I shouldn't have found that so funny but damn...LMAO.

[@ahmedrazick4946]

"An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war." - Charles de Montesquieu

[@TagaPag-qk3sn]

Has there ever been an empire not founded by war? It’s kind of in the nature of empires to be imperialist.

[@pao5567]

​@@TagaPag-qk3snthe habsburgs built their empire through strategic royal marriages and inheritances

[@aycc-nbh7289]

@@pao5567But it isn’t like they had colonies or rule in Spain, etc. I don’t know what Spanish permanent residency or citizenship laws are like, but where I’m from, a requirement for citizenship is a renunciation of allegiance to any other state.

[@aycc-nbh7289]

@@JJ-tu1kgIt doesn’t mean they had to answer to Vienna’s rule.

[@AndrewManook]

Quite a few Eastern empires@@TagaPag-qk3sn

[@prosefessional2387]

“We’ll see” is an absolutely terrifying statement in regards to how the US will proceed

[@vibinzim2796]

My biggest fear is that they throw a temper tantrum like a little kid and nuke the entire planet

[@probablyahuman1]

@@vibinzim2796 oh, they wouldn't nuke the whole world. they only need one to send everyone on this planet in to chaos.

[@gregorsamsa2271]

​@@vibinzim2796Don't give them ideas.

[@lukesmith8896]

​@@AL-lh2ht A liberal democratic society with a mixed economy operates inevitably in the interest of the capitalist class and is thereby capitalist. When you say that the US is not a capitalist society, and state that a capitalist society is somehow incapable of simultaneously being a liberal democracy and mixed economy, I imagine you are implying one or both of two things, 1) that liberal democracy affords power to the people, who are mostly working class, and thereby the state is controlled by the working class, as opposed to the capitalist class, so thereby the society is not capitalist, and/or 2) that US society is not truly capitalist due to regulation and state provided services. As for the first, Although ostensibly liberal democratic rights and elections would seem to naturally put the working class in charge, due to the allowance of the personal ownership of profitable property, this allows the capitalist class to form, ossify, and become the one with the most resources at its disposal, and in order to retain its power, and for individual capitalists to successfully compete against each other for their own success, they must necessarily act in a manner that harms the vast majority of workers, through lowering wages, spending less on ensuring safe working conditions, and most contrarily to the supposed ideals of liberal democracy, they exercise their vast resources (often in collusion with each other) to ensure that the state works in their interest; through milder means like bribing(including lobbying) etc. which ensures that politicians must attain corporate approval and funding to have a chance at winning elections; or if subtler methods fail, through utilizing their vast resources, as they have done many times before, to overthrow liberal democracy and replace it with direct corporatocracy, at least until anti-capitalist ideas have been washed out of the people's minds. As for the second (and this meshes well with the first point) the reason capitalism is regulated by the US state, is because it benefits the capitalist class. As the discontent that capitalism inherently causes causes the working class to fight back, the capitalist class must, in fear of eventual strikes, boycotts, or Revolutions, allow temporary concessions to the working class, often through the apparatus of state regulation, also, the economic crises which are also inherent to capitalism cause great risk to the capitalist class, and they often set up the state so that it can bail them out of their future troubles. If these regulations make it so that the you don't consider US society capitalist (i.e. with the capitalist class in charge), then the term 'capitalist' becomes totally meaningless anyways, and your preferred term, "mixed economy," entirely takes up its mantle.

[@fillosof66689]

Them tankies have bewn crowing about the inevitable collapse of the West since before their totalitarian darling had collapsed. 😂 The presenter ignoring the ever more evident decline of China or the rise of India, a fully capitalist new power on the block, friendly to the US, says a lot about his credibility. Although the side he pick in Israel-Hamas war is even more telling.

[@doggieclaude]

What you said about infrastructure - so true. I used to visit the States regularly in a previous job and I was really struck by how rubbish your infrastructure is compared to Europe or the Far East. Even down to having to sign for card purchases on a weird screen with a pen, when the rest of the world just waves for contactless or uses a PIN. We moved to contactless in the early 2000s, whereas I visited the US in 2015/2016 and it was still a weird pen thing. And there was a man stamping passports and no biometric gates, it took forever. Everything is clunky and old.

[@Jm-fn5nd]

Idk about all that... They don't even accept credit/debit cards in a lot of places in Europe. I had to use cash a lot. Here in the US even street vendors take cards.

[@bubblelady8528]

ahh yes 2 small examples. Who the hell told you we don't have contactless or pins? Have you ever thought about security measures??

[@josephpruitt2067]

@@bubblelady8528 Thats what I'm thinking lol. Typical euro snob comment from OP tbh.

[@jordanplays-transitandgame1690]

Mad euro spotted lol. Cope harder

[@gokaren420]

We are very up to date. So much I don't even like all this smart crap. I feel sorry for senior citizens and always try to help them out when I see them struggling. Our stuff isn't old and clunky....but sometimes old and clunky will still work when smart stuff won't

[@Just4Kixs]

'The closer the collapse of the Empire, the crazier its laws are.'

[@FatimaKhan-qk7bu]

Although I have never been to the US, the entire trajectory of my life has been tied to US foreign policy and its meddling. Sometimes, it’s actually painful to look at US politicians and feel like they are signing your death warrant with every press conference, every election, every new law. It is terrifying to think that such unstable and spiteful rulers have weapons of mass destruction. I don’t see how the US wouldn’t be obligated to use them if it feels significantly threatened by another superpower. I just hope there’s enough humanity left by then to stop it, although from the current political climate in the US, it seems unlikely. I hope that if the US does fall as a global empire, it falls with grace and becomes just another normal country. It would be best for the rest of us.

[@badaoe3stratsonly130]

If the US does fall. Then you're still going to be beholden to another foreign super power. The two most likely candidates are India and China. China is aggressively trying to take over America's role. Its pressuring other economies to switch from the US dollar to Yuan. India on the other hand is presenting itself as a responsible heir to America's grip on power. And as an attractive counter weight to China that's not actively hostile to the west. Its asking for power with an open hand. You'll still be beholden to the foreign policy and meddling of outside powers. The only difference is that you'll either be tied to the decisions of Parliament of India, or the Politburo of the Chinese communist party. Time will tell which side takes control.

[@aliciafraser1835]

You people bring about the US need to start cleaning your own backyard of your own shit. Tired of all the sooner talk from one own people as is, don't need people like you trying to take advantage of our current position in the mud.

[@sombrerogalaxy1]

@@badaoe3stratsonly130Chinese aren’t trying to take over. It’s not because they are nicer than Americans, it’s because they know in today’s world, American style hegemony (nicer way of saying world dictatorship) does not work. Nobody has that much resource to control everyone and everything. It’s bound to fail.

[@johnd.5601]

America also destroys the citizens. I was born here and I really wish I could leave here. America is trying to rebuild slavery. My biggest concern in leaving America is. I believe all other countries hate Americans. The government robs us of everything that they can. They steal our retirement savings and tax us into the ground! The American government does anything they can to destroy any happiness or even if you're feeling content. The American government wants misery. They work us into the ground , and when you get hurt, they blame you and take your home away! America has killed any feelings of family! America is all about looks. It's always talking about the good and how they're helping and we are lucky!

[@stoodmuffinpersonal3144]

I don't know what you're going through. My Canada, and our British ancestors (and the modern iteration of their country) are part of the problem. But. I still get this. It feels like the American right control our politics, and my fanacial security, more than my own country. And I just. Don't know what to do. But saying I'm scared when Im privledged even among my Fellow Canadians/ settlers. When, I indirectly benefit from the evil war machine of the US? Compared to what you guys deal with? I just. None of it seems right. None of it makes sense, or seems okay. I just don't know how to end it.

[@rogerp566]

The fall of the Radio Shack empire is a truly tragic event.

[@CraigKeidel]

​@user-lk7cv8vg7rRight? Not enough people lamenting the actual loss of Radio Shack. GameStop, Toys R Us, Bed Bath & Beyond? Fuck em. But give me back my goddamn Radio Shack.

[@psy2mentor]

What for you might have been a tragedy was, for me, a boon! I was able to purchase hundreds of their old signs for pennies on the dollar and will soon be launching "DIO SHACK," a chain of superstores devoted to unauthorized memorabilia devoted to heavy metal god Ronnie James Dio! From the ashes of one empire rises another! 🔥🤘🔥

[@CraigKeidel]

@@psy2mentor I don't even like Dio and I think that's genius

[@djangokill65]

Radio Shack still lives on in our hearts and minds.

[@PhantomLord]

I have imperial artifacts in my possession (cables and converters) that still work to this day!

[@sheldonhchambliss1385]

America is on its way out God bless America

[@serafinacosta7118]

I would not be such a doomsayer , but the standards have fallen and there is a lot of work to put it back together. Get yourself some Ralph Nader religion. He preached his whole life about consumer and citizen activism.

[@erickanter]

@@serafinacosta7118 Sorry that wont do squat.

[@pasarasaki9007]

That's just passing the buck again. The problems are inherent in the system of Capitalism we have, it's nothing citizen anythings or consumer anythings can fix. The gov't has to reconcile with its failings, fix its corruption problem and end pursuit of short term gains in favor of the long game and stability, or it's over. That was basically the point of the entire video. Despite what pundits or politicians say, it's not the individual who is failing America, it's exactly the opposite; we're just seeing the long term symptoms of the actual problem becoming more and more explicit.​@serafinacosta7118

[@keyontyler]

Long live the people this nation never served us anyhow

[@deviantmultimedia9497]

If the US does fall, you will know EXACTLY how it feels to get served. Make no mistake about that.

[@seneca2403]

I became homeless during the economic crisis, and even though I'm housed now, my social class (and not my former professional status) matters more than my life IRL. Thank you for acknowledging [how 2007 was also very difficult.] (Edited for clarification.)

[@timothyswartz4775]

2017? U mean 2007-08 economic crisis?

[@seneca2403]

@@timothyswartz4775 He acknowledged how 2007. Sorry. I will edit.

[@lesslycarthan956]

I've been homeless since 2003 people forgot Bush Cheney 2000-08 crushed the poor fire stations police departments were cut short gas was $5 a gallon the $1 billion dollar bailout was in 2007 the Iraq war Afghanistan war Bosnia surrounding Iran all this Obama inherited.even after his 8 years I started to recover in 2016 just to be washed away in red State Georgia keeping $7.25 minimum wage options out Obamacare and Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy and gerifications bye affordable housing enter billion dollar Mercedes Benz stadium. Poor people out the cities in extended stay hotel's with a straight off the monopoly board $50 a month luxury tax.

[@amberfun9148]

Glad you’re still hanging on ❤

[@Tera_B_Twilight]

In 1980 (I was ten years old) I realized that my quality of life as a middle classed child in the USA was better than royalty in some countries or at other points in time. And it occurred to me that I was living through what could be the apex of our entire civilization, and if that was the case, what came in the future would most definitely be... worse. I hate it when I'm right.

[@lovecraftianwalrus4490]

I wouldn’t say 1980 was the apex of western civilisation, but I do agree that it was probably the apex of American society

[@alexw8821]

Ok. I hope you don’t hurt your arm patting yourself on the back too hard.

[@lovecraftianwalrus4490]

@@JJ-tu1kg for western civilisation, the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. Because that was the peak for Europe and other western countries. America is the only major western nation to peak well after this. Think of all the greatest western writers and thinkers. There was an enormous amount in the late Victorian era. Far more than post World War Two for sure. Architecture was at its best as well.

[@yt_nh9347]

you're a m0ron that didn't invest in himself or assets properly, you were born in the 70s with plenty of opportunities to get rich from investing in now multi billion dollar companies and/or property that was cheap. Don't blame anyone but yourself

[@JohnClarkW]

@@lovecraftianwalrus4490 Nobody can sell me on being at their peak prior to penicillin being widely available ( generally marked at 1945 ).

[@shaneforte8775]

Love the quote about capitalism, "why does it have to be rescued by socialism so often?"

[@upturnedblousecollar5811]

The trouble with that is that Socialism has to be rescued by Capitalism, too. We all know the answer - work together.

[@Growmap]

I cannot imagine what whitewashed version of socialism is being taught in schools today. Socialism leads to mass starvation because raising food is hard work and long hours. And only people with some potential reward will work that hard. Please study history. Start with the Holodomor Famine.

[@Dennnis10B]

One wise man told me many years ago," Did you stop and think that maybe it wasn't supposed to last forever?"

[@bbbartolo]

At 80 years old, I've personally observed various increments of our decline: the deliberate sabotage of free public education; corporatocracy and effective deregulation of most industries; the ownership of Congress by J Street; the increased flood of money into politics thanks to conservative court rulings; the pursuit of short-term profits at the expense of any long-term corporate responsibility; the dominance of our arms industry over foreign policy; ownership of media by self-serving corporations; breakdown of resistance to monopolies, duopolies, and corporate price-fixing; overseas manufacturing and the transition to a service economy; increasing cynicism among Americans about political participation. I'm sure I've forgotten a few.

[@Alll2017]

Nixon, Bush .. result now .. free market liberal approach failed. Democratic socialist model has performed well in other countries. Risk now for liberals is fascism .. to keep their model they need to wall out the rest of us

[@nwatson2773]

I give it until the end of the century! #2100 collapse

[@jeffs4483]

Forgot healthcare.

[@jamariiion]

@@jeffs4483and racism

[@ey67]

I'm 74 and have seen it unravel as you have described. Sickening 😡

[@AGirlofYesterday]

Self-delusion seems to be our greatest enemy. If those in power (and honestly, a lot of average people too) didn't bury their heads in the sand, but clearly saw the decline and took appropriate steps to turn things around, we might still slip downward -- but we wouldn't be imploding so disastrously. Nor would we, as you point out, go to desperate and vicious extremes to cling to shreds of our power. Like starting wars or brutally sacrificing the weakest among us. Wake up, America, and regain your humanity. When we turn against each other... it's over.

[@alexjeffrey3981]

It's not a matter of getting "good leaders" - whoever is in the white house and other positions of power is beholden to the system. It's the system that needs to change - even the best leaders will still need to bow to corporate and military-industrial interests or be unceremoniously isolated and ejected from their position.

[@AGirlofYesterday]

@@alexjeffrey3981 I never said it was a matter of getting 'good leaders.' I said our collective society needs to acknowledge our decline, not remain in denial. That's the first step.

[@alexjeffrey3981]

@@AGirlofYesterday "if those in power didn't bury their head in the sand" says "good leaders" to me. Those leaders are incentivised to act how they're acting now. You'd need to change the incentives to change the outcome, but that's a much harder thing to do and means stamping out legalised corruption.

[@AGirlofYesterday]

​@@alexjeffrey3981Thanks for explaining to me what I meant, and for further enlightening me to the fact that the entire system is corrupt. You certainly set me straight!

[@alexjeffrey3981]

@@AGirlofYesterday well what you were saying was like the complete opposite to what I said, so yknow. But whatever, it's all good! Have a great day 🙂

[@leifmanson7599]

I grew up in an Ontario town founded by United Empire Loyalists and named after a hero of the War of 1812, where opposition to the American Empire was the heritage from the outset. Yet we have become vassals of the USA in order to preserve our own dominance over sparsely inhabited indigenous land. We too, will share in this decline.

[@LaSorciereFeuillue]

Watching US implode for years from afar. Wishing all amazing Americans a new country that cares for you, rise like a phoenix from the ashes ❤

[@simplesimon8255]

Why?

[@TheRascal767]

Another thing that was a major factor in the fall of Rome was there inability to adapt to new ideas when Rome started they used some of their own ideas but also significantly borrowed ideas from other nations. Eventually they started to think they were the best and no one was better than them, clinging to old systems that were proving non functional yet were Roman so they were “better”

[@rcjdeanna5282]

Countries and cultures that have slaves never advance in technology or inventions or hardly anything. We're stagnating that way now...people can't even sew or cook or fix things.

[@maaruz1979]

Very American attitude

[@SethSinclair]

@@maaruz1979that’s why he typed it, and it’s actually not true. Also copying other nations 💀 I don’t see why that’s required of any nation, doesn’t mean your better but you are separate countries,

[@brycesikes3981]

@@rcjdeanna5282 That's just simply a lie. A slave in America made Peanut butter and Rome advanced every society it touched by building roads and aqueducts everywhere. It childish to think everything its just so simple as evil and good / black and white when its always somewhere in the grey. You say we are slaves now but I bet you never been whipped and separated from you family, given a new name and expected to work quietly till you die. Only the most spoiled entitled child could come to such a lazy point of view.

[@idontknoq4813]

@@SethSinclair what are you talking about.

[@ryokinor6223]

“The Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that once believed they were eternal.” ― Percy Bysshe Shelley “When avarice takes the lead in a state, it is commonly the forerunner of its fall.” ― Alexander Hamilton “How oft, in nations gone corrupt, And by their own devices brought down to servitude, That man chooses bondage before liberty. Bondage with ease before strenuous liberty.” ― John Milton

[@AndrewThoesen]

“Oceans rise, empires fall” -Hamilton

[@SpayAndNeuterChristiansNow]

Christian Amerikkka! Bend over!

[@EXSkywarp]

Got another one for ya! "The fall of an empire begins with a peasant's hunger."

[@slimpickens01]

What is it you wanted me to reconcile myself to? I was born here, almost 60 years ago. I’m not going to live another 60 years. You always told me ‘It takes time.’ It’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time, my brothers’ and my sisters’ time. How much time do you want for your progress? -James Baldwin

[@GirlScoutC00kiezZzMmhhmm]

I hope so. Maybe the next Landlords will be cool af?

[@gokaren420]

Me too. No North Korea bs

[@upturnedblousecollar5811]

Next up is India or China, take your pick.

[@donatelloDoesmachines13]

@@upturnedblousecollar5811 For sure dont want China.

[@ManBird999]

​@@upturnedblousecollar5811so we have to choose between no toilets or population declining uyghur haters? I supposes 0 toilets will have to do since they actually belive in democracy

[@officialanimeedits]

As an Indian I promise you , AMERICA GOT GODDAMN 5000+ NUKES, nobody coming after y'all trust me , no outside force today can destroy or even lay a finger on America , all will be from within👍🏻​@@ManBird999

[@damcmadlad2975]

Anarchy is like a forest fire sometimes in order for something better to rise up you need to burn somethings down at the start

[@gotenks5633]

9:23 Ive felt the USA was doomed for a while now, but Im sorry, nearly 5 trains fall off the tracks EACH DAY?! How in the hell is nothing being done about that!?

[@phileas007]

well you see, it's kind of like natural selection. The weak and unfit trains fall off, the stronk and well suited ones persevere and procreate until no trains have to fall anymore.

[@gscsilvavaladares7065]

Yeah , you are right , this should have caused economic noise suffitient to be addressed( I am not that good writing in English)

[@TheRealKopkip]

Costs money, and my boss wants a boat.

[@CraigKeidel]

The rail union tried, but Biden backed the rail companies 🤷‍♂️ Then 2 months later East Palestine happened.

[@athos1974]

The politicians are all owned by corporations and special interest groups. They will do nothing to fix any problems anymore because that costs money.

[@Atoll-ok1zm]

The question is whether or not the US will go at least somewhat gracefully, or if it will drag the whole world down with it.

[@iPlayOnSpica]

If referring to history, it is like asking whether the US will fall like Rome or dwindle like Britain.

[@Atoll-ok1zm]

@@iPlayOnSpica with Britain I'd guess part of the reason they were as willing as they were to dwindle was the US having largely the same geopolitical interests, as well as strong cultural similarities. The empire changed and traded hands more than it truly died and was replaced. Though that is a lot of supposing. Regardless there is nobody for America to pass the torch to. The only one that really could take it is China and they seem to have no interest in building an empire.

[@matthewmartin7391]

@@Atoll-ok1zm not a physical or conventional one. But a digital one, don’t be fooled they are building an empire, surveillance based one

[@BunkerSquirrel]

As arrogant as our culture is, I don’t see it ending peacefully. But I do hope it does

[@BunkerSquirrel]

⁠@@Atoll-ok1zmtheir actions and policies in the South China Sea, Taiwan, and the Belt and Road Initiative seem to say otherwise. They feel eerily similar to American geopolitical meddling and infrastructure establishment in the Middle East. Hope you’re right but they do seem to want to be the dominant world superpower, and reap all the benefits that come with it.

[@user-je5do6jn2f]

The Magic 8-Ball says, "All signs point to yes".

[@user-uu1gk4ed1c]

",it may take a hundred years...think 10

[@Naturewalkingthrough]

Reminds me of a phrase I read in a video game “it seems that all the backstabbing and broken promises are catching up.”

[@PhatTony92]

Yes we are. Just like Rome wasn't built in a day, it didn't fall in a day.

[@angela_merkeI]

To be exact: From Augustus becoming emperor in 27BC to the end of the Roman Empire in 1453 it took 1480 years for it, 1962 if we include the republic and 2206 years if we include the (disputed) founding of the Roman Kingdom.

[@aldairveles3801]

Got my popcorn ready when CW II comes up there. It's the best scenario for the world given many countries could self-determine themselves. I really hope this happens asap.

[@stonedare]

Residential Real Estate was snatched up by BLACKSTONE, not BlackRock. They both suck but thought I'd just point that out.

[@jeffs4483]

There is no fixing this system because our problems are baked into it. It's incorrigible. Our only option is for a peaceful, slow decline into dissolution.

[@alanrosete3855]

Your best, not only

[@gchijioke12]

The other option is to lash out and double down, which is what we are currently doing - which will only hasten our demise.

[@Pomeray8]

I regularly travel, and while 95% of people have been pretty cool it's obvious America has given up on itself by and large. The 'ghettoes' of cities have been redlined and looked like they have from 70 years of disinvestment. Instead of reinvesting, America has started a Drug War and built prisons (always money for that and endless wars). Industry left rural America in a similar mess. I love cities and countryside equally. It's heartbreaking seeing how POOR the country is, and both have their middle classes dwindling at this point. Several "problem" or "dangerous" cities have been surprisingly cool to visit despite what has been systematically done to break them: baltimore, detroit, cleveland. They all have so much to offer, so much culture, so many parks and beautiful architecture. And, because of endless disappointments people will be really resilient, genuine, and real with you. America has all the money, but refuses to do what needs to be done to lift everyone up. Cities that I mentioned have been trying to reinvest in themselves despite their legacies. Cleveland is at least trying to rebuild poorer areas and retain people without driving up costs of living. But I don't see much concern for the working poor. Chicago used blockbusting and redlining to continue segregation. It's such a cool place, shame on this ugly practice and how it has ruined neighborhoods and tarnished its WHOLE reputation (it is very north and south divided down to its funding, which is stupid because north, south, and west chicago It's worst parts bear these scars. Some of them have tremendous archetecture and cool things to see (like a botanical gardens). But, i get the impression that that great city holds itself back because there is a hope under the surface that the poor and black people will shoot themselves into oblivion and real estate will come in and begin gentrifying at least parts of the west side for cheap and reap the profits. Corruption is top to bottom rampant because America isn't a country: it's a business scheme. We just haven't caught on that the entire economy is a scam on multiple levels. Money needs to be retained in localities so its surplus can be reinvested in maintaining them. When money flees a locality, so does its quality of life.

[@nunyabizz50]

and this slide will continue until about 20 million stand up and forcibly put a stop to it, sadly I don't see that happening

[@down-to-earth-mystery-school]

Capitalism is a narcissist, as long as you are valuable, they’ll pay attention, then throw you away to pursue a new ‘supply’. It’s never enough, as they attempt to fill a God-sized hole inside…

[@ZweiZwolf]

Those "problem" cities have one thing in common, and it's their population distribution being significantly more melanized than the American population as a whole. I can't ever see things improving, because America was built on exploiting generational slavery. For America to "fix" those problems, it would be tantamount to paying slave reparations, and that won't ever happen.

[@Violent_Wolfen]

Most of what you described came from the country's hatred of black people.

[@Ezekiel43]

This post was more interesting than the video.

[@calci2679]

All I can think of is our crumbling road bridges.

[@moonsharn]

“In the game of thrones you either win or you die”…. That quote is soooo true for the global leaders in rl. If US stays on its current trajectory, you’ll look like Afghanistan in the coming years. The rising powers aren’t going to let you guys back down to a quieter lifestyle… they’ll eliminate the competition completely. Either directly or through the use of militia groups

[@grmpEqweer]

7:35 The poor and the chronically ill (I'm both) are expendable. Never realized how many _individual people_ agreed with that before covid. It's not just the capitalists, it's a whole lot of people.

[@down-to-earth-mystery-school]

I understand, I’m both poor and disabled. I often get enraged at our leaders, who make decisions based on short-term gain, instead of human well-being. Hang in there, know that you are not alone🙏🏼

[@Asrahn]

Capitalism fundamentally creates a eugenicist culture where markets get to act as the calipers to measure people's worth. Solidarity, and know that you are not alone in this struggle.

[@Hubcool367]

To me this is the biggest tragedy of every societal ill. Sure, the "democracy" is kind of a sham, but ultimately, the only reason the leaders, the whole system stay in place, is because the people at best "allow" them to, at worst fight for them. It really is what the vast majority of people want, somehow; the disgusting values of the elite are mostly, overwhelmingly condoned by the masses.

[@ingehanson]

@@Asrahn Not just capitalism, socialism and communism gets rid of the poor and disabled as well. We call it "love" and pay for assisted suicide or for abortions for babies with some detected problems.

[@nwatson2773]

Add in the elderly

[@abra238]

Another good metric is how we've flipped on the trend of the next generation being better off economically, socially, and the health of the planet they inherit.

[@healingsoul13]

ONE thing that will not help is another tax cut for the rich. That "trickle" never made it.

[@joshuag7207]

7 months later and things are even crazier.

[@luminyam6145]

Yes, this is the end of empire. I am glad you are addressing it. I read somewhere that the Greek philosophers realized it was the end of their own empire and in their writings they mourned and grieved. It is heartbreaking being at the end, because nothing can stop it. It seems to be the way of the world.

[@usbackcountry]

Its not true that nothing can stop the American Empires fall. There is still a smal hope if Trump is not cheated of his Presidency once again in 2024. However, if the present Administration, Military Industrial Complex and Medical Industrial Complex is allowed to continue its present course then I think you are correct, and without a doubt America would fall fast in to a Venezuelan level.

[@lennyface5540]

Source?

[@luminyam6145]

@@lennyface5540 Read about the Greek philosophers. I am not your dictionary.

[@lennyface5540]

@@luminyam6145 yeah well you made a non fiction claim and couldn’t find a resource on it but ok buddy

[@ubitubee]

@@lennyface5540Aristotle complaining about people like you, for example

[@benjifiji2019]

The roman empire became a church, the brithis empire became a bank, so it stands to reason the the american empire would become a corperation. It allready is to some extent

[@grmpEqweer]

Corporations are authoritarian in nature. Fascist if the culture goes bad, as fascism has cult elements to it. (It's extra spicy death cult authoritarianism)

[@pao5567]

Nah the Church isn't the successor to Rome. Born much later than Rome and in Palestine, founded by jews, historically promoted workers and consumers rights and opposed slavery. Sure, they have their many, MANY skeletons in the wardrobe (from the support to the Spanish Empire to the Inquisition to the opposition to democratic revolutions in the 1700s and 1800s to still present homophobia, just to name a few) but it wouldn't call them an empire

[@BigChap117]

Spot on.

[@Tomorrison28]

It is definitely a corporation

[@jonralph8843]

The thing with falling is this, the higher you stand or place yourself above every other person, the greater your crash. The crash of the American empire won't be like others before it. It will be spectacular and it's already started.

[@gracchusbabeuf9868]

Don't worry that much, because in the worst case scenario you will become something like Canada.

[@survivingthetimes]

Oh my god. Anyone over the age of 40 or so who can't see that America is rapidly collapsing is as blind as a bat.

[@doggieclaude]

America was last "great" in the 80s, at least in terms of infrastructure and opportunity for Americans to be financially secure. They were still doing nefarious shit around the world of course, but the rot hadn't set in at home

[@MLIVCH]

I’m 30 years of age and I’ve been very concerned with our Country especially the past 5-6 years. It’s a joke tbh and I’m getting my citizenship somewhere else now just for backup

[@tbewin1z143]

or they profit from the downfall

[@archieg8009]

Under Biden things are beginning to improve and we now have the opportunity to heal as a nation. If Trump wins the next election, that'll be the nail in the coffin for the US.

[@Cyndogg085]

​@@archieg8009😂

[@CYGNIUS]

Since 2018, I've said that the US government and economy will collapse in on itself within 20 years. The past few years have really solidified that in my mind.

[@niavellir7408]

why 2030?@@SilverRiMiX

[@tyleryoung306]

I don't think it will collapse. There are too many factors and failsafes. If it were to collapse, the whole world pretty much goes with it... I predict it going the route of the UK. Where it slowly loses its hegemony, but generally maintains it's economic output, and goes through cycles of social unrest, economic downturns, and upswings, over decades to come. Should another world war happen, that would massively accelerate it's decline in hegemony. But no one wants that. The US biggest challenge to its hegemony is China, and ironically, China requires the US to maintain a relatively strong economy to maintain its economic standing. The world is much different than it was during the cold war, with nearly every countries economy being integrated with one another, it's very hard to predict which direction things go, and more often than not, the most extreme predictions are always way off from what actually ends up happening.

[@chancefoxhauck475]

What do you think is the "jenga" moment? (if there would be one event that sounds the end of)

[@CraigKeidel]

​@@chancefoxhauck475Petrol shortages, whether it be naturally occurring (say, an environmental disaster at Jamnagar or Paraguana refineries) or man-made (South Korean refineries being destroyed in conflict or an oil embargo by OPEC)

[@peter5966]

I think that as long as the dollar will be universal exchange currency, US should be fine or at least will be holding on as superpower

[@israsayed]

music to my ears.

[@mmerrydeath6673]

A refreshing take. It fills my heart with joy to see a voice that isn't buying the cult of the 2 party system

[@amybly1400]

I told a class that about 3 million people lost their homes in 2009, and that this was a big reason for the increase in tent cities. They were shocked. I was shocked that people didn't even fucking notice, but now I see it's because people just dont WANT to know.

[@chrisp308]

Yup I was one of them...

[@shuenshuen]

​@@chrisp308how are you doing nowadays?

[@chrisp308]

@@shuenshuen well let's just say at least in this bubble I won't have a house to lose 🤣 but thanks for asking. ❤️

[@shuenshuen]

@chrisp308 damn man, that's pretty heavy actually. Best of luck to you 🙏🏻

[@nunyabizz50]

and its about to get a whole lot worse and the US government is not going to do anything whatsoever to help. For those of us that still have a house and basic income I suggest you dig in

[@Vosovogalsyncope]

Yes lets keep fighting over who is a democrat and who is republican while the people running the country wanted us segregated at one point of their lives.

[@theedspage]

The Republicans and Democrats are both awful and must be voted office immediately and subsequently, and never see an official office ever again.

[@ge2623]

Simple and age old "divide and conquer" tactics.

[@royalindiann]

TRUE!

[@stevendaniels5775]

I want to say thank you to Second Thought and JT. In our “doomsday” atmosphere of a world that seems untenable at best, you offer an inspiration of change and possibility and I for one am grateful.

[@autumnrain7489]

my whole life me and everyone around me always wanted to move to the us for school but now that i’m here im not so sure this was the right move. i think im ready to go home

[@timothyblack4333]

I worry about our survival as a country. But The world WILL keep on spinning without us, I have hope that the rest of the world will keep Humanity going. Good job guys

[@holidayturnpike]

The 3D animation of the heliocentric model is not real 😂😂😂😂😂 The ground is not spinning

[@tenntye6064]

@@holidayturnpikewhat the hell are you on about

[@tylerdoss7644]

​@@tenntye6064 he's just a loser troll

[@n.h.moreno]

A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: It will be painful.

[@CraigKeidel]

"Don't fucking dance"

[@ErutaniaRose]

If I were to rebuild the US, I would want to fight for equity and eco-friendly systems. Down with capitalism, and down with consumerism.

[@pretty.propali]

I would say that after Nettys speach to Congress... Empire is DEFINITELY crumbling

[@smooveboyc403]

I truly feel something terrible is coming and we need to be prepared for whatever it is

[@bythewaterwithlove]

Absolutely.

[@antediluvianatheist5262]

For the rest of the world, the terrible thing is the USA, and it's already here.

[@MindfulMoments1444]

WW3, that's the only thing that hasn't happened. If it happens, our leaders caused it.

[@TheRecklessMetalhead]

As a lower-class American (non-patriotic), I have been feeling that for years. If broke forever, then I don't know what to do, and god, I need to save up my bank and get out of this mess.

[@alwwqe]

ww3

[@ClassicalTraining]

10:48 THIS. How many deaths and years of suffering will it take for us to realize that Capitalism needs to be gone for good? People! We need *solidarity* ! ✊️✊️✊️

[@kalasatwater2224]

It has begun

[@JamesGrant-mm1mj]

In what way was the dissolution of the Soviet Union illegal? That's an odd statement to make. It was another collapsing empire, similar in many way to the United States.

[@ASSARAPTUS]

It didn't collapse on its own in a vaccum but from external sabotage in many angles by capitalist nations who made it their mission to kneecap it without starting a global nuclear war

[@eeeertoo2597]

Pretty much what the other feller said

[@petersaysthings]

That was the only thing I found strange about this video. I'm in agreement with everything else, but that kind of suggests that the USSR was good. Stalin starved and killed so many of his own people. I sincerely hope we're not idolizing the Soviet Union here.

[@upturnedblousecollar5811]

@@petersaysthings Stalin's purges were an abomination to humanity but to concentrate solely on that horror is like tainting the USA with Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Vietnam War as if those horrors summed up America in its entirety.

[@wtfdadduorp4619]

A quote I've been saying for years " when Americans have to EAT each other Americans to survive...then we will change"

[@aubreejobizzarro1208]

I say let’s start with the rich for the first course 😋

[@niavellir7408]

amen@@aubreejobizzarro1208

[@icemike1]

Where have you been that's the American way

[@dbz9393]

I mean more than 50% of the US is on or below the poverty line, so not far off

[@erikkennedy8725]

The rich have been eating the poor for decades here, figuratively at least

[@Xokzu]

As an American, I despise my own country

[@Xokzu]

@@asdv-gm4yy …companies not increasing wages? 🙄

[@berrywerryjwuice]

That's part of the plan to make America fall. Make its own citizens hate it and destroy it from the inside. Love your country. Men and women died to make the life you live possible right now. Above all, pray. Read the Bible sometime and spend time with Lord Jesus and God. Keep an eye on Israel - she is the timeclock of the world. Lord Jesus is coming back soon and God's wrath is coming.

[@bythewaterwithlove]

Then you should leave and never come back

[@sangamregmi8608]

you should leace bro ..

[@NightmareNate7]

I agree F this country. I was born in America and I am not an American. I won't be fighting to save this garbage country. If I had the money I would gladly leave and denounce my citizenship.

[@rosashanina84]

This is by far the most necessary channel on the internet

[@tonyjones1560]

Years ago, I read that the Roman Empire collapsed so slowly that most people didn’t recognize it as such but the most common question asked of oracles was, “Should I run away?” It’s difficult to ignore the signs of collapse in progress in the USA. Perhaps a new American oracle might be asked, “Can I make it out of here in time?” or “What should I do if I can’t leave?”

[@concamon1364]

As much history that we have access to study, as popular of a phrase "history repeats itself" is ... Our leaders still can't learn from the past and work towards more productive, long term goals? It's absurd at this point.

[@BunkerSquirrel]

You’re assuming they’re not doing it on purpose. Short term gains at the cost of long term viability. It’s practically the slogan of Capitalism

[@책쪼아먹는학헌]

If so called leaders learned a lesson from their history than history wouldn't have repeated itself. Period.

[@drewm9903]

@@책쪼아먹는학헌 The problem is they do know from history, they are just psychopaths with no regard for human life so they don't care if history is "repeated".

[@ThatCamel104]

​@@책쪼아먹는학헌you think they're stupid or something?

[@peelsherrif0995]

I personally feel that we are experiencing a collapse similar to the bronze age collapse. That time, it was just the near east, this time it’s the whole world.

[@eugeneng7064]

So when will the Sea Peoples hit us?

[@ValsAccInTheHizzy]

Please elaborate as I find this thought rather interesting?

[@Parciwal_Gaming]

A bit much. It isn't as bad but it might be the beginning of something as bad...

[@marijnyboy8402]

​@@eugeneng7064no this time its poseidonists

[@orabi3091]

​@@ValsAccInTheHizzy The Bronze Age Collapse is a historical term that refers to a group of empires collapsing in the late bronze age around 1250BCE. Many historian argue what caused the collapse and many thought that the sea people were responsible for that because they raided these empires. The reason why the sea people are believed to have raided and attacked these empires is because of a huge climate change that caused these people yo leave where they were living. However, the climate change had already hit these empires hard as these people raided them. There are many reasons for what happened including many wars and these empires inability to to take actions to stop this collapse. But, the term is mislead because the Egyptians, Babylon and Assyrians survived the collapse and it was only the Hittites and Mycenaean Greece empires that collapsed which shows that it was inevitable but these two failed to do what was necessary to survive. So the term is Western because we only care about Greece since we think it's part of the "western culture" even though it is actually in the east but it was the most western one back then, and 1000 years later they did democracy so...

[@tru7hhimself]

there are plenty of signs for decline in europe too. you don't notice when living there, but you do when travelling. you go to india or vietnam or thailand once then again 5 years later and you barely recognise it. there are motorways where there used to be dirt roads, a new airport was built with twice the capacity of the old one, one third of all tourist attractions you want to see are currently being renovated, the modern "commie blocks" look nicer than your average european residental building .... while you've visited there two times, at home politicians are still discussing how to build a bridge that should have been completed 10 years ago. plans to build a second runway for your airport are being scrapped, new parts of motorway that were planned 20 years before they were being built now collect many pools water on the asphalt when it rains (which i had only ever seen in poorer countries and never at home since i was born). you are not the first to draw comparisons to the fall of the galatic empire in foundation. the 2000s are going to be the century of asia.

[@djangokill65]

Its just late stage capitalism.

[@august9265]

I believe that the increase in polarization of politics as well as the general decrease in trust the American people have in their own government will play a role in the downfall of the country. Nothing good ever comes from a bad relationship between the people and their government.

[@upturnedblousecollar5811]

Google and its offspring KZbin are the Big Brother that Orwell always warned about. They're watching and recording everything Internet users do - especially in America - and censoring you if you say something that the company doesn't support politically or economically.

[@jessiebates1574]

I love the stimulating comments here. You’re all thoughtful & brilliant.

[@FredlocksAsher2012]

well thought out video love the works bro,.

[@MohammedNatheer]

Love how you put things together

[@Sabciaszek]

As a specialist in the history of the Roman Empire, I appreciate your treatment of the topic 🫶 I'd like to add just a couple of things. The first one is the fact that the Roman Empire did not really collapse. It lost its influence in the West, but the Eastern Roman Empire survived for another millennium (see the works of John Haldon). About the resilient states... the problem I see is that a resilient system does not need to be beneficial for its participants. In other words, states don't need to care about the wellbeing of their citizens in order to be resilient. And this is seriously scary.

[@BetaKeja]

To an extent they do have to care about their wellbeing, but only inasmuch as they need to care about the resilience of their power. And as inequality grows, rulings classes need less and less to concern themselves with the wellbeing of their citizens in order to maintain their power.

[@chailavender7997]

Either way, it was no longer the mammoth that it once was. It shrunk to an elephant then to a baby elephant then to something completely different like a an ant.

[@thewanderingsloth432]

except that they spoke in a completely different language (they even called themselves "Romanoi" which means "Romans"... but in Greek) and it didn't comprise the very city it took its name from, so I'd argue that by the time the western empire ceased to exist, the eastern one had already become something completely different. Thus the need to label it with another name. Plus, it also lost much of his territory to the arabs and then the turks so while it is true ther was a "roman empire" for another millennium, it was not so roman and not such an empire... @@captain_improbability5690

[@exu7325]

A Roman Empire that doesn't own Rome, where the people spoke Greek?

[@Sabciaszek]

@@exu7325 Precisely! :D

[@eliza6971]

Someone pointed out that the French Revolution took about 10 years and ever since then, things made a little more sense. I was lucky enough to visit Egypt in 2012 and even though it was during the revolution, people still got up every morning and went to work every day. They still had holidays and weddings and everything. Obviously government is crucial for some things (if someone actually enforced rules of the road in Cairo, ambulances might be able to reach hospitals in time) but the real nation is the people and I think we tend to forget that.

[@sufiameen6093]

I enjoyed your comment. Its very thought provoking. 🤔

[@user-dw5ns8ul3k]

That why American politicians are dividing people via tribes mindset, they know that.

[@jimbowling8528]

Civilizations are characterized by generational cycles of good times (highs)and bad times (lows), like waves approaching a beach. Each generation is shaped by its predecessors and shapes the generations that follow. However, the 'hidden' bottom of the wave form - the social stressors (like increasing inequity, resource depletion, top heavy social structure, disinvestment, over-reach, etc.) build up over successive cycles and end, not in rebirth, but in collapse. More like a series of swells approaching a beach than a perpetual motion machine. One of the best overviews of the issue I've seen. Thanks.

[@pumuckl33]

Yes it is collapsing. The collapse used to be slower when I was a kid, but accelerated after 9/11. The country is divided and problems go unsolved while people suffer.

[@pumuckl33]

Needs way more than a good leader, but even if that where all that was needed, the people can't seem to elect one or demand that the parties do better. Too many political hacks, cronies or people that can hardly remember their own names. Surely the country can do better than that.

[@astonprice-lockhart7261]

The collapse is achingly slow yet days, weeks, months and years all are passing by even quicker for me. I think I'm depressed which only makes sense in such a human manufactured world but in truth I'm far to tired to even be depressed. Just want to state this is not a cry for help. I'm balanced still but so many aren't. Anyway thanks for another great video. Also I believe the euro is worth more than the American dollar right now just to add randomly.

[@RealBradMiller]

I think the Germans have the perfect word/state you may be feeling: Weltschmerz. It means to be world weary, or tired of the human condition or state of things.

[@astonprice-lockhart7261]

@@RealBradMiller Yes thank you. That sums it up perfectly.

[@saikinist]

@@RealBradMiller why does German have so many words describing *very* specific feelings? I am always impressed whenever I hear a new one

[@fettypaige4551]

@@saikinisthaus means house too. They have words for everything. Aveederzane!

[@elen5871]

​​@@RealBradMillerthey got a word for cassandra syndrome? because being right all the time sure is giving me hells of weltschmirtz or whatever