If the US had true gumption, they would be testing their hypersonic missiles via launches out of Ukraine aimed at high value russian military targets, with a pretend excuse that it was actually Ukraine launching the missile.

I can guarantee you most of Ukraine would support this (I live in Ukraine) and the “red line” bla bla is just westerners falling prey to russian foreign propaganda initiatives.

Corrupt American oligarch thinks he can deal with incredibly complex issues just because he’s been able to run scams in the US for a few decade (a country which is arguably one of the most friendly places for oligarchs in the world, some smaller exceptions notwithstanding).

Let’s leave the role of the US alone for now. I was just sharing my perspective in context or recent developments.

I can see how the term degeneracy could be seen as loaded in the US context.

But then my question would be, how would you describe Rogan’s behaviour and the fact that this particular act had zero impact on Rogan’s popularity? One could say that at the very least his following (and he is one of the largest media personalities in his home country) is tolerant of such acts.

I would even go as far as saying that in other cultures even conservatives would share my views about the regressive nature of Rogan’s behaviour and the tolerance of his following for such antics.

I started reading the article and I was curious what the context was and who was involved.

I was shocked to hear that it was Douglas Murray who got into a conflict with Rogan. Murray out of all people (I am aware of his chauvinism due to some other stuff).

What really struck me about this article was this:

Nine days and five shows later, Rogan hosted Tim Dillon, another anti-woke comic, and together they impersonated Murray’s voice like middle schoolers at a sleepover. (“You haven’t beeeeen?”)

I am not American, but I have lived there and travelled extensively. I have close friends who live there (both locals and immigrants from a very young age).

I would always defend the US as a force for good in the democratic world (albeit a very flawed one) and highlight that compared to other major powers (russia, china), the US has been involved in a very good outcomes (post WW2 Germany/Japan, Poland and the Baltic nations after the breakup of the USSR).

With the reelection of Trump, I am starting to wonder if this well ever be possible again (from my perspective Trump is a symptom, not a cause).

But Rogan’s behaviour is an example of degeneracy. True degeneracy. Not degenerate as a random insult or say the term “degenerate gambler”, but the actual term like in the dictionary. A regressive, undesirable behaviour that is an affront to the development of human society. And this is perhaps the largest media personality in the US.

It’s going to be very difficult for sane Americans to root out such degeneracy. And there are unfortunately (in my opinion) certain negative elements of American culture that are going to reinforce such behaviour. It will require novel approaches that I don’t believe Americans have the capability to explore (I hope I am wrong).

Agreed, but do you really need knowledge of political philosophy to do that?

The impression I got from living in the US is that it’s not so much a problem with identification, but more like a desire to avoid rather uncomfortable topics.

I don’t know, maybe I just don’t get it. I will admit that I could be wrong, I am just thinking out loud based on my experiences. 😀

See, I don’t you need know anything about political philosophy to understand how oligarchs function and to well, identify oligarchs.

It’s almost like she is insulting her fellow citizens.

The implication that I see (based on her statement) is that other people in her country lack the capability to comprehend the notion of oligarchy or they are too corrupt themselves to support anti-corruption reform.

Respect to David Hogg. I meant this in a more broader perspective.

I am comparing to global examples. One would be Hong Kong. They failed, but they actually were able to shut down the local airport for a short period.

Or say the initial phase of the Syrian revolution. The population openly protested against a brutal regime that was in power for many decades and there were many examples of their brutality.

I specifically chose failed or highly controversial situations (to highlight how a fight for freedom involves scary and painful choices, this is not a movie). From my experience living in the US, I thought local risk tolerance was low. On a certain level, the US is too well off to have the motivation for resistance (be it mass scale ptotest, 10% of pop or more, weekly protest or violent rebellion).

I don’t know how to say it diplomatically, but true fight for freedom doesn’t seem like the American way.

It is clear that Americans (not only Trump, but also Biden, and locals too) fundamentally do not understand how to deal with russians.

I was having a chat with a taxi driver last winter when the electricity blackouts were really bad (I live in Ukraine). I said, we should bomb the heating/electricity generation in Norilsk in the middle of winter.

The driver tells, that’s not going to work, if you do bomb russia, it has to be Moscow or at least Saint Petersburg.

To which I answer, “yes, you are right, they don’t care what happens outside of Moscow or Saint Petersburg. I am stressed out and not thinking straight.”

The vast majority of russians only understand believable threats and violence. You have to show them that you are able and willing to make them feel pain, otherwise they are not going to respect you or behave seriously.

And when you do show them that you are able and willing to make them feel pain, it has to be targeted primarily at their elite (i.e. Moscow and Saint Petersburg).

But since 2014, I’ve learned that Western elites (and not only elites) reflexively refuse to address reality. Not only Trump/Biden, the Germans with Angela Merkel too. Right after the annexation of Crimea she launched NS2. Hope she gets severe Alzheimer’s.

Perhaps this is cope on my part, but I believe we have leverage in this situation.

As the saying goes:

If you owe the bank $100K, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100M, that’s the bank’s problem.

Fascinating stuff.

I am not American (have previously lived in North America for a decade and travelled extensively in the region), but based on my experiences this is a very good example of how the US centre-right opposition is completely unqualified for any kind of real action. They clearly lack the risk tolerance and gumption to deal with current internal challenges in their country.

I don’t think most people understand how critical this is. US treasuries losing safe haven status is the type of thing that will be taught in history books 80 years from now.

It will be like learning about Gavrilo Princip in 2025. Seemingly “meaningless” tedious historical facts, but at a closer look Princip (indirectly) shaped the course of much of human history in the 20th century.

That’s the real problem, China so far has made the Americans look good. But the way Americans are behaving (and their medium capabilities for reform) makes the calculus a little bit more complex.

YT video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn5RamAEt3E

Your video is from a russian propagandist (I am assuming you didn’t mean to link her).

This is the kind of thing that makes one wonder about the nature of the Israeli state and what methods are justified in terms of next steps.

On one hand I agree with you. This won’t only impact the US. Perhaps we’ll get hit harder than the Americans (at least some parts of the world).

On the other hand I would argue the rest of the world is much more connected on a visceral level. The Americans have their feet and legs, when the world uses meters and centigrade. American prices are always provided on a list basis (and local oligarchs and their shills constantly lie that modern software solutions can’t apply local tax adjustment algorithms on a dynamic basis), the rest of the world has true prices (only in English would one have to clarify what you mean by true prices).

I am not saying that only Americans will get fucked, but the rest of the world has a measure of dynamism that Americans don’t (not to mention a much higher tolerance to challenges).

Perhaps there are some long terms benefits to Trump’s behaviour. We can find alternative to American-style corruption and degeneracy. While there are many sane Americans, they also need to take a more sober attitude to their current situation and be willing to take risks and be less arrogant about “home of the brave” and similar polemics.

I hate the CCP, with the number one reason being that they support the russians (I am Ukrainian).

That being said I also oppose their imperialism, authoritarianism and social conservatism.

But I find myself considering whether China is perhaps (as a matter of a lack of choices) a better option than the US. It genuinely pains me to say this.

I empathize with the population of Taiwan. I remember Jan 2022 and Dec 2021 when everyone in Ukraine was contemplating the potential (for that time) for a full scale russian invasion. And then the full scale invasion happened in late Feb 2022.

But the Americans leave me no option. One third of their population are deeply corrupt and dishonest, they are proto-fascist, if not outright fascist. On some level it is worth considering whether they are a “lost cause”. Another third might not be openly fascist, but they will support any evil (if it doesn’t immediately impact them directly) for a discount coupon at the local McDonalds. They are the textbook definition of nihilists.

And then you have the final third part of the population. They know something is wrong, but they are too conformist and lack the risk tolerance to make a move. For better or for worse they are too well off (in the global sense) to be willing to take risks. American fascists will take them down one by one, until there is no leadership left.

The moves offer a new challenge to the Trump administration, which had previously cited lowering Treasury yields as a key policy aim, and could mark a loss of investor confidence in the world’s largest sovereign debt market.

“The sell-off may be signalling a regime shift whereby US Treasuries are no longer the global fixed-income safe haven,” said Ben Wiltshire, a rates strategist at Citi.

This is potentially a seismic shift in global finance/economics.

If US treasuries are no longer considered the “investment of last resort” (which they shouldn’t be, since even sane Americans lack the commitment and risk tolerance to fight corruption and degeneracy in their own country), this may result in the dollar losing its status as the global reserve currency.

If that happens, the Americans will be fucked.

Let’s go with what you are saying, even though you didn’t address a single point that I mentioned. Define what you mean by “rule of law”, be clear and specific, don’t hide behind polemics! What is your definition of rule of law? You brought it up, define it. I never acted high and mighty and brought up “rule of law”. I said the Americans need a taste of their medicine.

Back to your example.

You have 3 polish companies that interact with a US corp. One is the actual subsidiary and two other are clients.

You’re saying you can audit ABC, but you can’t figure out which one is the subsidiary and which ones are clients? Are you serious? I have zero professional experience in accounting and even I would be able to tell the difference between a client and subsidiary if I had access to their internal accounts (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement over multiple quarters).

I am not an expert on tax scamming methods, but I would argue I may have more knowledge than the average person (or not).

Why would Corp D even use the model you describe? Why would they try and hide within Polish ABC? Why not just openly say C is our subsidiary, make it a cost centre and redirect the actual money to Company E in Luxembourg or Isle of Mann. Subsidiary C always fails to make any profit. Top American brand D that everyone in the world knows, has a poor subsidiary C in Poland that is never able to make a profit. The crocodiles are crying about poor Polish subsidiary C. You ask a crocodile about subsidiary C and the crocodile says “it is such a gross oversimplification that subsidiary C’s losses are a tax scam. We are trying to develop professional experience in Poland via subsidiary C. Don’t you believe in the rule of law?”

You have no way of verifying it.

This is where your lack of imagination and inability to think beyond rules set by American oligarchs comes into play.

Let’s say we made a thought experiment and assumed your ABC model is viable (it is not viable because the profits will be re-directed to a tax shelter jurisdiction and Company D won’t bother with local-only schemes because they are not efficient). Nevertheless, you do have a way of verifying the total sales by company D in Poland. This applies to both B2C (shipments into channel, POS data) and B2B sales (VAT calculations, government stats agency research).

What you are arguing is nothing can change, nothing should change and we should always kiss the feet of the oligarchs that run company D.

I am saying the arguments by the army of lawyers are bullshit and if you really want to, you can make their jobs redundant. It’s all about gumption and willingness to rock the boat.

I am Ukrainian and I was really proud of Zelenskyy and the way he interacted with new administration. He kept his cool while also letting them the current administration know (in a subtle manner) that there is a big gulf between their pipe dreams and reality.