Okay, when last we left our hypothetical, the world had NOT ended in a fireball. The US was busily trying to corral nuclear proliferation and both Russia and China had fully collapsed. Nation-states can multi-task. They aren’t great at it because humans aren’t, but unlike your Supermom, nation-states really do have many people who can be directed to do different things. This is a good thing because the US is gonna be really distracted, as it was in the Nineties, … Continue reading “The Post Russo-Sino World, Part II”
The Post Russo-Sino World
Yeah, yeah, I know. I was the one forecasting a Democrat Party collapse and then there wasn’t really a red wave. Actually, I still think the Democrat Party will collapse but the Republicans may beat them to it. Party system shifts happen that way. Political parties, like nation-states, can be stubbornly resilient little buggers. Government and politics often are glacial in their timeframes – unless they are doing something that you don’t like. They seem to manage to speed up … Continue reading “The Post Russo-Sino World”
Russian Disarmament: Doing it the Hard Way
Seriously, Russia, are you nuts? Mutually agreed disarmament with a well thought out peace agreement in place is a wonderful idea. Throwing everything you have including the kitchen sink at a country that clearly isn’t going to give in is idiotic. You know this. It’s time to face facts: you already lost. Nuclear weapons can’t help you. They are great deterrents and terrible battlefield weapons. I don’t mean terrible in terms of their destructive power, as true as that is, … Continue reading “Russian Disarmament: Doing it the Hard Way”
Recovering Libertarians are Recovering
Ten years ago libertarianism was all the rage in conservative circles. The short version was they didn’t like ‘losing’ the culture war all the time and thought they could just skip all that culture stuff and worry about important things like freedom and not spending ourselves into oblivion. Didn’t actually work so well. Turns out, culture informs politics more than politics informs culture. This little tidbit is what is destroying the Democrats at the moment. While over time politics can … Continue reading “Recovering Libertarians are Recovering”
Only the Lazy Need Fear the Future
Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this one. There was a lazy grasshopper and an industrious ant… Those of you who can’t finish that tale may have something to worry about. But I’m here to help so here are the Cliff Notes – lazy grasshopper starves to death. Yeah, old fairy tales don’t usually have Disney endings. That’s okay – we’re dealing with the real world today. The TL;DR is lazy loses. This is true in your personal life and … Continue reading “Only the Lazy Need Fear the Future”
Dear Russia, Suck it up. You Lost. Go Home While You Still Can.
No, I don’t expect it will be that easy. It seems to me to be true enough but even assuming that the Russians agree, that doesn’t mean they are ready to quit. Far from it. Nor is it just that their pride will be hurt, Russia will lose not only prestige internationally, but influence regionally and its status as a peer power to the US. Russia will become a developing nation that other nations feel sorry for, not the proud … Continue reading “Dear Russia, Suck it up. You Lost. Go Home While You Still Can.”
Russia is Losing. World is not Ending. Calm Down.
Dear Tim Pool, Love your work. You can relax though. We aren’t having a civil war in the US and we’re not going to have a nuclear war, or even WWIII. Love, QS Y’all want details again, don’t you? Here goes: Russia cannot beat Ukraine militarily unless NATO and the US quit sending stuff to Ukraine. Russia doesn’t have enough stuff on hand for a real mobilization and their guys have decided not to play the cannon fodder game. Ukraine … Continue reading “Russia is Losing. World is not Ending. Calm Down.”
Did We Do It? Nord Stream Sabotage
Knowing only the public information I have access to right now, no. I’m extremely dubious that the US was involved. Let’s start with the elephant: Biden’s comments in February that the US could destroy the pipeline. The German Chancellor was right there. It was a joint press conference held February 7th. Reporters pestered Biden until they got a soundbite. It wasn’t even a very good one considering he said nothing about destroying the pipeline, just ‘ending it’. Germany did that … Continue reading “Did We Do It? Nord Stream Sabotage”
Calm Down – This is Normal
I don’t mean the ‘new normal’. I mean normal. The half insane, scary as heck, what are they thinking behavior of not just Russia and China but the entire international community is the real normal. Those of you who can’t remember the Cold War have lived in the weird times. America was the big scary thing so everyone loved/hated it – including some Americans. Europe was preoccupied with becoming something never quite defined. Elites worldwide were convinced – or pretending … Continue reading “Calm Down – This is Normal”
World Government: First Let’s Figure Out Regular Government
I don’t think government is an inherent evil. It’s like most things – what we make of it. Government has the power to do great good and horrendous harm. We choose. The thing that makes no sense to me is how anyone can look at the past two centuries and think we humans are any good at all at this government thing. It’s like the kid that thinks the dog bit him because the dog likes him. It’s nuts. We … Continue reading “World Government: First Let’s Figure Out Regular Government”