The US has around 800 overseas military bases. They all take money and personnel and are at risk of being attacked. If one is attacked, oh boy are they in for it! Who? Well when three buildings in NYC collapsed after planes crashed into the, we killed a million or so in other countries. Were they responsible for the attacks? No. The US wasted trillions of dollars and made a lot of enemies.
Those overseas bases are our pretty efficient way of having an empire, but we are now in an Information Age. It's hard enough keeping our own public from knowing what we are doing, but it's pretty much impossible to keep the rest of the world from finding out, and that's the bit that really matters.
If our focus remains on controlling other countries we will soon have: crime problems, drug problems, suicide problems, depression, ADHD, divorces, the lack of focus will spread through most of society. An ex Vice President even said he didn't care about America but about some corruption-ridden country in the middle of Eastern Europe where we wanted to site some missiles. When an empire takes more military power and focus, and gives more trouble than it solves, then it is time to dump the empire and survive.
As far as empires go, there probably hasn't been as efficient and cost effective way to handle one than the way we're doing with overseas military bases without assuming sovereignty and responsibility for those other countries. However unless we reduce our actual military commitments, we can't give up those bases. And I've noticed there is no appetite to reduce our military commitments. In fact, the latest craze seems to be acquiring more and more military commitments...without actually increasing our military ability. I would think that's not going to end well, but I'm not in charge.
Right now, the big and very good army of Ukraine, with all the weapons we can supply, is losing to Russia which has only 7 percent of our GDP. The US public is being kept in the dark as much as possible about our failure, but we are not going to have to explain anything to the rest of the world because they already know.
The end of an empire a lot of the public might think means being over-run by the Visigoths, but it would be wise to follow the example of Great Britain, which being an island did not suffer that fate and nor should we. Britain simply turned into a pretty powerful nation and acted as host for countries which wished to join the British Commonwealth, a voluntary trading zone. And the problems since then have been largely of their own making.
For the US public to get rid of things that harm us, we have to get rid of the lies that tie us to the garbage that is bringing us down. We need to stop talking about 'helping the sovereign nation of Ukraine' because there are only half as many people living there as before, so it's a funny kind of 'help'.
We could start by shooting down the repeated lies: (Vietnam made a brutal and unprovoked attack on the USS Maddox) - 'Whereas these attackers are part of deliberate and systematic campaign of aggression that the Communist regime in North Vietnam has been waging against its neighbors and the nations joined with them in the collective defense of their freedom;' . War in Afghanistan . War in Iraq . Wars in Lebanon, Kosovo, Libya, Syria, half a dozen others... "The Russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity..." All of these were nothing more than transparent lies to get the public to go along with the weapons makers need for more wars. If it was possible to get politicians to tell the truth then it might be apparent that our empire is only helping certain people get rich, and far more people in other countries and also in the US are suffering as a result of the wars needed to keep the empire.
There's a basic question to address, and that is why the US feels Ukraine has a right to allow NATO weapons into the country right up to the border of the Russian Federation, and that includes nuclear weapons. And while so many people on this forum are saying that would never happen. But when it happens people switch rules and say: 'Ukraine is a sovereign country and can do anything it wants within it's own borders'. And then if Cuba has some missiles from the USSR, then the US can blow it to smithereens, and the same if for example Iran was developing a nuclear weapon. But for Ukraine to threaten Russia is perfectly OK. To believe Joe Biden you have to keep two entirely different sets of rules.
That Bidden speech on Feb 24 2022 was a really big lie, even bigger than his lie about coming in the top part of his class at college, and all his other lies. But Feb 24th appears to be the lie to top all lies: "The Russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity. This is a premeditated attack...Etc. ..." Vladimir Putin had invoked UN article 51 for the special military operation, and had very good reasons. But the US kept the entire basis of the operation from the public and repeatedly said he acted without any justification, or need, And there's a rumor going around to distract the public, that inside Pres. Putin's mind is a desire to take over all of Europe, which is stupid. In fact Pres. Putin was completely dedicated to making life better in his own country, until the US came along and decided to make war on Russia.
An empire is where you have a group of countries that are ruled by a single country or government. Which countries form the US empire?
especially if we outsource the handling of data to places like India.... talk about a national security risk
"The Russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity. This is a premeditated attack...Etc. ..." that is true, did you hear Russia propaganda that says otherwise?
Well who could've guessed that Russia had access to the revolutionary and unbeatable military technology of ...minefields. It not like they've ever done that before
Firstly it includes the countries that are leaving the US run financial system, the countries joining BRICS. But for more insight read: 'The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' by John Perkins. It is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man with more recent material added. We aren't doing anything particularly evil, just a more subtle version of the British Empire.
And that is why we can learn from the decline of the British Empire. My understanding is that basically it went wrong when Britain, the world's leading naval power, which could hold out forever against a war on the continent, decided to join in what looked like another Franco Prussian War and then rapidly got itself destroyed in battle. Stayed in the war and then had a long stationary war and so on. Had a debt to the US Britain could never repay. Then in World War 2, the US insisted on payment in land and the US gained control of a huge oil rich area in the Middle East. So what went wrong? My guess was firstly military overreach, trying to match continental nations in a land war, and then also overspending. Britain was very poor through the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s, so couldn't afford to join or start any more wars. (!).
What went right? Britain adjusted. Being an island, it meant that unlike Rome it would not be overrun by Visigoths Et al, so it became a fairly strong, second tier but still powerful, republic. The verdict is to stop before you get destroyed or run out of money completely, look again at the Monroe Doctrine, stop threatening Russia in the middle of Eastern Europe. Stop threatening China. Grow Up!
All empires end. Have done, always will do. Also, not sure where you got the idea the Lend Lease was never repaid. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...talment-of-us-loan-after-61-years-430118.html
