think it a lot more likely it will work to the advantage of BRICS, accelerating the decline of the USA hegemonic power. In a way I see this as a good thing. Get it over with. On the the other hand, if the wars really get going they will leave behind a legacy of hate and resentment that will last for at least eighty years. Bad idea.
Here's another way to look at it. I remember when the neoliberal globalization thang began. They told us it would lead to world peace. Nations would all be prosperous so there would be no motivation towards the for-profit wars that plagued Europe for millennia. What's more, nations would be so tightly interconnected economically that it would be nuts to make war on each other. You can't make war on you own economic base. It was working too. Then They got scared. We won't be able to make war anymore! OMG! Fun's over. We'd better reverse all this, pronto. And that's what They are doing.
Going a little further, I think what really sparked the current USA animus toward China was China's successful anti-corruption initiative. The neoliberal plan was a fake. What They really wanted to do was to bribe the Chinese government to keep China in poverty forever. Once that lever was lost then war was the only way to keep on top. But this is a bad plan. The USA's strategic position in any such potential war is weak, loser. They can't win. The only explanation I can come up with is that the true motive isn't the national interest, the true motive is profit for a few, employment for the many. Then it all makes sense. That this plan will lead to a gargantuan self own doesn't matter in the short term. The military has a quite large block of votes so giving them a raise gets you re-elected. In most districts voting for a pay cut would cost you your job. That's what our “leaders” really care about. Such massive wasteful spending while standards of living decline is unpopular so war is need to justify such policy. Therefore war we shall have. George Orwell's 1984 vision of perpetual war in a zone reaching from the Philippines to eastern Europe has become our reality. Domestic practice grows ever closer and closer to martial law until some day they will be one and the same. Big Brother has put on his big boots and is walking the Earth. If you don't like this then some fine day he may come knocking on your door. Better hope it isn't 4am.
think it a lot more likely it will work to the advantage of BRICS, accelerating the decline of the USA hegemonic power. In a way I see this as a good thing. Get it over with. On the the other hand, if the wars really get going they will leave behind a legacy of hate and resentment that will last for at least eighty years. Bad idea.
Here's another way to look at it. I remember when the neoliberal globalization thang began. They told us it would lead to world peace. Nations would all be prosperous so there would be no motivation towards the for-profit wars that plagued Europe for millennia. What's more, nations would be so tightly interconnected economically that it would be nuts to make war on each other. You can't make war on you own economic base. It was working too. Then They got scared. We won't be able to make war anymore! OMG! Fun's over. We'd better reverse all this, pronto. And that's what They are doing.
Going a little further, I think what really sparked the current USA animus toward China was China's successful anti-corruption initiative. The neoliberal plan was a fake. What They really wanted to do was to bribe the Chinese government to keep China in poverty forever. Once that lever was lost then war was the only way to keep on top. But this is a bad plan. The USA's strategic position in any such potential war is weak, loser. They can't win. The only explanation I can come up with is that the true motive isn't the national interest, the true motive is profit for a few, employment for the many. Then it all makes sense. That this plan will lead to a gargantuan self own doesn't matter in the short term. The military has a quite large block of votes so giving them a raise gets you re-elected. In most districts voting for a pay cut would cost you your job. That's what our “leaders” really care about. Such massive wasteful spending while standards of living decline is unpopular so war is need to justify such policy. Therefore war we shall have. George Orwell's 1984 vision of perpetual war in a zone reaching from the Philippines to eastern Europe has become our reality. Domestic practice grows ever closer and closer to martial law until some day they will be one and the same. Big Brother has put on his big boots and is walking the Earth. If you don't like this then some fine day he may come knocking on your door. Better hope it isn't 4am.