this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2026
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[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 1 day ago (5 children)

We so often forget that the USA became a superpower because everyone else was totally crushed in the WW2, so they could just scoop it all up afterwards (which they absolutely did as much as they could).

It seems like things are changing back. History will tell, but the USA is only liked because of its dominance, not because of its morals. IMO. And USAnians have to figure out why "it is not working anymore" (hint: you were lucky and greedy in the fifties, but the luck has ran out since a long time), so good luck to you, it's usually a bit excruciating, but most countries figure it out.

[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

Wasn't that the case with Europe and colonialism tbf?

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The species became a superpower because of fossil fuels which allows each person to benefit from energy accumulated over millennia all in one geological eyeblink.

The chaos you are seeing around us is simply what happens when the drugs run out. The tinder was smoldering all along.

[–] end_stage_ligma@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago
[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I'd say agriculture made us a super power before fossil fuels, but even then, humans were wiping out other species during the hunter/gatherer phase. (Not a lot of giant sloths around any more...)

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 0 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Um, do you think we could feed 8 billion people without massive fossil fuel inputs?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

So you think the species only became a "super power" because it hit 8 billion individuals? If so, then I've got some e coli cultures that would bring humanity to it's knees.

[–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago

Some replies to this comment are hilarious. American history lessons, that's what seems we all need to appreciate the USA legacy of the XX century.

[–] sartalon@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm sorry, what exactly did they scoop up after WWII?

This comment demonstrate's a complete ignorance of what actually happened before, during, and after WWII.

I am not trying to defend the U.S. here, but this comment is particularly stupid.

Either you are a total fucking moron, or deliberately espousing false information for a purpose.

[–] msage@programming.dev 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Global trade? Military bases all over the world? Defense contracts?

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 6 points 1 day ago

And German scientists, too

[–] sartalon@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Global trade is mutually beneficial and isn't "scooping up", in any sense of the phrase, and is in no way taking advantage of people unless the terms were terrible for one of the parties, which none of them were.

The military presence across the work was a result of the cold war. And the European powers we.more than happy to let the U.S. foot the bill, for fighting the "red scare".

The defense contracts are a result of the U.S.'s military industrial complex, that even Eisenhower warned the U.S. against.

Most of what is wrong with the U.S..can be pointed at Capitalism.

You are not wrong to invoke WWII when discussing the U.S. becoming a hedeminy, but they were already a super power. As a nation, no one was producing more than the U.S.

After WWII, the U.S.'s industrial base was virtually untouched and had no real competition. (Mao and Stalin were great at getting into power and destroying any political opposition, but they were fucking retarded when it came to running a country.)

The U.S. however became the main producer of the world and so wealth was just flowing in.

But without proper controls, capitalism just becomes a plutocracy which is evident here.

Any controls that were put into place were slowly eroded and now, with the weaponization of data, it is a lot easier to control an uneducated working class.

But now the U.S. has moved all its industry overseas and the plutocrats, that have been sucking every ounce of wealth they can, out of the economy have neutered its ability to pivot and evolve.

The fascism in the U.S. right now is probably closer to Mussolini's version than Hitler's, but it's still a cultural rot that needs to be purged.

You can't just point your finger at things you don't like and say they did this and just shoot from the hip as to why.

You HAVE to understand how these things develop, and see how they are not some evil that manifests in a vacuum.

Just because someone is shit now, doesn't mean they were always shit.

But also, no one is clean or pure at this point. Everyone has shit in their history, so using that to justify how you feel today is kind of dumb. Just focus on the actions now. There's plenty to hate on, but use history to learn how these things evolve. And to do that, you actually have to have an accurate (to some extent) idea of went down.

"Scooping everything up" after WWII doesn't even make sense in any way, to describe how anything happened in the initial years following WWII.

[–] msage@programming.dev 1 points 14 hours ago

Intentional or not, it's what happened.

And US has camps, based on color of the skin, which sounds hitlerian enough. Greenland also would agree.

results of the MIC

lol

[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Ironic claim on your part. Check out the history of the LOANS given to rebuild Europe. That's the "scoop up" to put it simply.

Governments were then beholden to the loan givers to rebuild; those loans weren't charity. They were very ADVANTAGEOUS to the USA. American companies and the banks that own them bought everything for the bottom dollar and used that to strong-arm the rest of planet earth into compliance in many ways. The effects can still be seen and felt today. Not even going into the UN, NATO, the IMF, the World Bank, and so on.

It's multilayered and incontrovertible. Check it out, my angry befuddled friend

OR provide me with "true information". Good luck

[–] sartalon@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What!? Banks gave out loans so people could rebuild? Even after the lend lease program?

Countries must have been devastated and then had to swear fealty to America as a result.

Checks note

Number of countries that have to do what the U.S. tells them: zero.

Let me do the most basic of research...

From Wikipedia:

"The U.S. rebuilt Europe after WWII primarily through the

Marshall Plan (European Recovery Program, 1948–1951), providing over $13 billion (approx. $150+ billion in 2017 dollars) in aid to 16 Western European nations. The assistance was mostly grants (~90%), not loans, designed to rebuild infrastructure, boost industrial production, and curb communist influence."

I guess your fantasy is just that, a fantasy.

The only pull the U.S. has is the that the plutocrats in their own countries stand to make money too.

[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

What!? Banks gave out loans so people could rebuild? Even after the lend lease program

Indeed! The rates were untenable, so they also gave MORE loans to pay off the interest of the loans, and so on, making incredible wealth off of interest alone. Like I said, it wasn't done for charity.

Much was not repaid, of course; that was paid for by the taxpayer, those loses were not paid for by the banks (The US was the guarantor).

There's no fantasy, I agree that that's really what they did. Well, plus the USA seized a lot of land. And built many military bases all over the world. And much, much more.

Number of countries that have to do what the U.S. tells them: zero.

Is this some kind of joke? Seriously?