this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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Like, yeah, they can 'get away with' ending soft power. They can 'get away with' extrajudicial killings. They're operating off of pure machismo right now. They're getting drunk on their vices. They're stripping masks where masks wouldn't be advised to be stripped. I feel like I understand now that Fascism is, in part, an expression of weakness. They wouldn't be doing this unless they were scared. It's too volatile. It feels both too late on a power-level and too early on a popular-level. Never mind the ticking time bomb that is AI data centers. It feels like, and I'm sure this is cope, there is a timer on their ability to run the circus much longer.

My first instinct here is to doubt myself, intellectual pessimism and all. In that vein, maybe this is just revolutionary optimism, but we're at the point where it feels like there is a palpable anger brewing in the basement. I don't know. Maybe Palantir works as an anti-communist panopticon and we just death spiral forever. I don't want to lose hope.

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[–] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 28 points 3 days ago

The US is overextended and is trying to remedy this by simultaneously retreating from frontiers and consolidating its backyard. This is how the US is simultaneously being pushed out of Africa while tightening its grip in Latin America. The US can't hold onto both Africa and Latin America in its current state, so it makes the unfortunately wise decision of letting go of Africa while tightening its grip of Latin America. You can see a similar dynamic between East Asia and West Asia. Of course, this is only a strategic retreat. The US still has ambitions of global hegemony. Like all weakened entity, it will rebuild itself and bid its time until the opportune time to strike back.