It’s absurd to equate the shaky and informal coalition of Russia, China, Iran, and Syria with the 750+ extraterritorial bases, worldwide naval dominance, and global surveillance network of the US Military.
True. But looking at the expected value of the two, it seems that USA hegemony is less harmful for my values. And it’s also a simple matter of not paying Danegeld, as that tends to not end well.
Currently the west is on top. And will probably stay there. But that’s in part because of these kind of reactions and opportunities to put down the other side. Iran has been under sanctions for ages—whether they’re effective is debatable, but they certainly don’t help. China is now getting kneecapped via the new chip embargoes. Russia had the second largest army so the war in Ukraine is a perfect opportunity to inflict as much damage as possible, virtually for free.
Living in Poland, a lot is said about how bad the Nazis were. A lot is done to remember. But everyone knows the Russians were worse. Currently it turns out that apart from nukes, the Russians aren’t that scary anymore. If they can be neutralized at the cost of drawing out the war in Ukraine for a bit longer, I reckon it’s worth it, cynical as that may sound. Most Ukrainians also think so.
In general, if I have to choose between the NSA snooping in all my data and people getting disappeared, then I’d choose the west. At least I can publicly gripe about how bad they are and even publish methods of circumventing them without worrying about getting arrested (with the obvious caveats). Yes, they play around with starting conflicts, and don’t have a good track record of tidying up after themselves. But they’re also the only thing stopping Russia, China, Iran and Syria from doing the same.
I’m not equating the West and Anti-West in terms of power. I agree that the Anti-West is much weaker. That doesn’t mean it’s incapable of becoming a threat in the future.
It’s absurd to equate the shaky and informal coalition of Russia, China, Iran, and Syria with the 750+ extraterritorial bases, worldwide naval dominance, and global surveillance network of the US Military.
True. But looking at the expected value of the two, it seems that USA hegemony is less harmful for my values. And it’s also a simple matter of not paying Danegeld, as that tends to not end well.
Currently the west is on top. And will probably stay there. But that’s in part because of these kind of reactions and opportunities to put down the other side. Iran has been under sanctions for ages—whether they’re effective is debatable, but they certainly don’t help. China is now getting kneecapped via the new chip embargoes. Russia had the second largest army so the war in Ukraine is a perfect opportunity to inflict as much damage as possible, virtually for free.
Living in Poland, a lot is said about how bad the Nazis were. A lot is done to remember. But everyone knows the Russians were worse. Currently it turns out that apart from nukes, the Russians aren’t that scary anymore. If they can be neutralized at the cost of drawing out the war in Ukraine for a bit longer, I reckon it’s worth it, cynical as that may sound. Most Ukrainians also think so.
In general, if I have to choose between the NSA snooping in all my data and people getting disappeared, then I’d choose the west. At least I can publicly gripe about how bad they are and even publish methods of circumventing them without worrying about getting arrested (with the obvious caveats). Yes, they play around with starting conflicts, and don’t have a good track record of tidying up after themselves. But they’re also the only thing stopping Russia, China, Iran and Syria from doing the same.
I’m not equating the West and Anti-West in terms of power. I agree that the Anti-West is much weaker. That doesn’t mean it’s incapable of becoming a threat in the future.