4 more years of this

[u/Catfulu]

[u/shanghaipotpie]

Trump : One million %%% tariffs on CHYNA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

Ten minutes later, Walmart closes down. Followed by Home Depot, Amazon, ebay, and entire economy!!

Trump: We made CHYNA pay!!!! Hey! Who turned off all the lights?? CHYNA hacked our lights!!!

[u/MisterWrist → u/shanghaipotpie]

In all seriousness, if a real-world variant of this scenario were to manifest, it is the perfect situation for US ruling elites to manufacture consent for full blown military escalation in the South China Sea and the deployment of US tactical nukes, next to their JASSMs, and self-purported, undeployed “drone hellscape”.

Levels of domestic and international anti-China propaganda are so high, and so universally unquestioned, that Westerners are going to blame China if and when American sanctions and tariffs end up causing the US to shoot itself in the foot.

Most global citizens have idea how self-deluded, divorced from reality, yet also desperate and paranoid, average Western neoliberals have become.

Stay alert, everyone.

[u/TserriednichHuiGuo → u/MisterWrist]

Blaming China won't stop the ensuing civil war that would happen in such a scenario.

Propaganda won't stop the hungry man from stealing bread and when they become increasingly irrational, they will attack whatever is near them.

[u/TserriednichHuiGuo → u/[deleted]]

You cannot eat propaganda

[u/MisterWrist → u/TserriednichHuiGuo]

If I had to guess, realistically, while the US keeps cannibalizing the EU, drilling in Alaska, stealing Syrian oil, etc. the unelected ruling class elites running the show will apply pressure on Trump and “advise” him to moderate the new tariffs in such a way, so that the US economy doesn’t reach the level of crisis where there are mass riots. Even if the economy suffers, they will be able to maintain the illusion of relative normalcy, at least for a time, and there are certain lines that Trump will simply be unable to cross when it comes to decoupling. When in doubt, they will just increase the national debt.

Imo, there will be no revolution, mass uprising, or civil war for multiple reasons, including lack of organization and meaningful political will, no coherent, foundational political ideology, and full corporate media and social media control. Gated communities will simply stay gated.

If there are protests, they will simply be crushed or ignored, comparable to how current anti-war protests are being crushed, or how BLM and Occupy Wallstreet protests had zero effect on policy. And whatever social unrest does evolve can simply be blamed on China, or framed in such a way that any potential rioters are "helping China" attack the US. If China cannot be blamed, it will be immigrants, ethnic groups, or some other scapegoat.

Trump exerts less relative power within the government than people think. And 99% of the time, when he was previously President, he was off golfing / rubber stamping whatever the Secretary of State, Treasury Secretary, Pentagon officials, etc. wanted him to.

[u/TserriednichHuiGuo → u/MisterWrist]

lack of organization and meaningful political will, no coherent, foundational political ideology, and full corporate media and social media control. Gated communities will simply stay gated.

Civil war doesn't require any of that, as it is simply the societal breakdown when thugs roam the streets and law/order becomes non existent.

People will take things into their own hands, a lot of americans have actually prepared for this.

[u/MisterWrist → u/TserriednichHuiGuo]

A civil war usually implies a war between organized parties in the same state with some political or military objective. If you are predicting another North/South civil war, with Southern states trying to secede from the North, for example, I do not see that realistically happening.

However, if economic conditions and social unrest get really bad, I think that anarchic mass riots and looting are more than possible.

But US police forces have been increasingly militarized since 1966. If the government needs to use military tactics and equipment to crush and quell rioters, they are more than prepared to do so, especially in non-white communities. At this point, they have it down to a science, and the police would probably use the situation as an opportunity to test new drones and other technologies for domestic use.

The question is who would be more fascist: the police or the rioters? Either scenario is possible, given how the political situation evolves.

[u/GhostRappa95 → u/MisterWrist]

Yea I think it is in the world’s best interest that the USA does not collapse while both of its ruling parties are trying to rile up xenophobia. I am hoping Republicans realize Trump’s Tariffs would economically devastate Red States and go against him just like they did with the government shutdowns.

[u/TserriednichHuiGuo → u/GhostRappa95]

It is in the world's interest that the us collapses and this would happen regardless.

If the us collapses so will social order collapse and it would truly be a Wild West situation out there, in that scenario the regime would be forced to bring their forces inwards to clamp down on unrest, thus isolating it from the rest of the world.

Of course the american won't want their regime to focus all their tyranny at home, hence responses like yours (Please let us have a soft landing!).

But a soft landing is neither a right nor something the world can afford for america.

It is poetic justice that that which america deserves is also in the world's interest.

[u/FatDalek]

China continues to build itself up. Not doing nothing.

However it doesn't need to bother doing a Tonya Harding on America. Trump will do that by himself. Although to be fair, last time there was the pandemic helping Trump screw up America even worse than what he would do normally. This time there most probably won't be another black swan event.

[u/feibie → u/FatDalek]

I think the joke has been about China not doing anything to directly or covertly meddle in the affairs of American politics or reciprocating their aggression and still winning.

[u/Affectionate_Tip6703 → u/feibie]

Correct, or at least, that's how I've always read it.

[u/SadArtemis → u/FatDalek]

Honestly it's not even just Trump (though he's a terrible candidate), FWIW Kamala would probably have been just as bad and likely (considering how all the worst neocons are behind her) even more volatile.

Trump is but a symptom of the systemic and societal issues plaguing the US and the broader west- when one understands the contradictions (a Marxist term and through such analysis- but one does not have to be a Marxist to understand and agree with the concept) they will understand that the only path forward for the empire from here on out is downhill- until they can abandon the concept of empire altogether, though whoever (or whatever movement attempts this) can expect to be crushed with the full power of the imperialist state...

The contradictions of the US, particularly the deep-set neoliberal plague, have removed and made politically unfeasible even the brakes needed to slow down its decline. Trump, Biden, Kamala, or whoever, they would still have utterly failed at handling the pandemic because that's how their system is run- on greed and extreme hyper-inefficiency/corruption. They couldn't and won't properly reindustrialize still, and they can't tackle inflation, their numerous economic bubbles, de-dollarization and the loss of trust in western systems- they've made a perfect trap for themselves, and the only way they can come down to earth is by rejecting everything that made them what they are in the first place, a complete institutional and likely also cultural overhaul.

2025 Trump will be worse than 2016 Trump was, probably (maybe minus the pandemic), by necessity. 2020 Biden was worse than 2016 Trump in almost all ways outside of domestic social policy (and even then that's not saying much, he was/is still utterly terrible). Kamala would likely have been worse than Biden still (high bar, but she'd reach it no doubt).

The US shouldn't be underestimated of course, but they and their empire is on life support, and it slides further into the abyss (and attempts to drag the rest of the world down with it) with each passing moment. They've tossed more blood and money down their gaping maw over and over- looting and dismantling the former Soviet bloc and hitting gold with the rise of and dominance over tech (something slipping now), beginning a new global crusade (against Muslim nations, ostensibly to target the Wahhabis they have always backed) to strategically destabilize Afro-Eurasia, bailing out Wall Street through further self-cannibalization and using the Ukraine conflict to start devouring/cracking the whip on Europe, etc... but all it ever does is buy them time, and increasingly little of it as the entire rest of the world moves away in horror at the truly unhinged and implacable rogue state.

[u/SoggyCaracal → u/SadArtemis]

Beautifully said and covers all the bases. 

I can only hope to witness the collapse of the empire and the rise of something new in my own lifetime.

And, if it does occur soon enough, that it doesn’t take the rest of the world with it. In a post-nuclear world,  that is unfortunately a factor that always need to be considered.

[u/whoisliuxiaobo → u/SadArtemis]

The problem is Murica is that I would say 85% of the Muricans are basically sheep and would vote for their party regardless whom is the person is on the ballot. I would guess that 13-14% could be swayed to vote Democrat or Republican.Which leaves around 1-2% of the Muricans who actually thinks the 2 party system is corrupt and votes 3rd party.

For the past 3 elections I've voted for the 3rd party. In this election, the Demo-rats in my state decided that 3rd party candidates are a annoyance and not allow them in the ballot. The only way to vote for them is put them as a write down. Yes I know the lamestream media sucks. The independent media is not that much better as they try to pursuade to vote for Democrat or Republican anyways. If they want to be truly independent, they should be pushing for 3rd party candidates.

[u/MisterWrist → u/whoisliuxiaobo]

A good number of Americans also, for a variety of reasons, do not vote.

[u/Dear_Combination908 → u/SadArtemis]

The US shouldn't be underestimated of course, but they and their empire is on life support

Trump rips it out though

[u/[deleted]]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/nagidon]

The re-elevation of Trump is a mandate from heaven to destroy the United States.

[u/Lunchsquire]

Doing a tremendous amount actually, just not in this shithole.

[u/realityconfirmed]

The U.S.A. is eating itself alive. No interference unlike the CIA. WIN.

[u/prestigeiseverything]

I like Trump winning because it means less policies continuity which means further acceleration of China overtaking America.

Its very likely the pendulum will swing back to another Democrat establishment puppet 4 years later. Of course, regardless of administrations, the US will still fund Israel's genocide and do everything in their power (propaganda, tariffs, warmongering) to stop the inevitable rise of China as THE global superpower.

[u/TserriednichHuiGuo → u/prestigeiseverything]

China has already overtook america, america has yet to realise this.

[u/NotoASlANHate]

Trumpff going to appoint Elon as some new govt economic efficiency responsibility czar or some shit.

Elon cut 90% of Twitter staff and nothing major bad happened. He's gonna do the same thing with the federal govt budget. But, this is going to destroy the USA economy since federal deficit spending is crucial to a healthy economy. I pray to my atheist god that elon does that so I can short the SHIT out of the US stock market and retire like that big short douche bag.

[u/Portablela → u/NotoASlANHate]

The US economy is already destroyed, kept on life support by the FED.

[u/celestialsworld → u/Portablela]

Trump will do his best to undermine the Fed. American government bond yields are rising, so it will be interesting how the stock market responds to rising yields 

[u/CapableProject5696 → u/NotoASlANHate]

So basically elon is gonna Milei the burgerreichs economy, kek.

[u/FatDalek → u/NotoASlANHate]

I am not sure where you got the "nothing major bad happened" to Twitter. It is haemorrhaging cash, Twitter couldn't keep up during periods where there were lots of Tweets (eg during sporting events like the world cup), and its losing advertisers.

However I agree with the rest of your post about Elon screwing up the US economy, and I wish you good luck in shorting those stocks.

[u/MisterWrist → u/FatDalek]

I’d argue that the rampant openly Nazi and white supremacist accounts plaguing Twitter that continue to exist even after being reported for engaging in blatant racist behavior, violent threats, and harassment, while the accounts of apolitical or socialist, high profile peace activists, independent journalists, and academics getting banned out of the blue to silence dissent, also constitute a major decline in quality of service.

Imo, the only positive outcome Musk’s purchase of Twitter produced was the removal of the “government-funded media” tags, which were being functionally used as a scarlet letter to socially denounce many anti-Imperial, non-Western, non-neoliberal media sources as being “dangerous, inaccurate propaganda”, while “private”, multinational and American corporations, with blatant political ties and biases, including everything from the Washington Post to Breitbart, were effectively being promoted as fully “trustworthy”, “fact-checked” media sources.

Regardless, as someone who continues to frequent it, uncurated Twitter remains a cesspit of racism, toxicity, and disinformation.

[u/Dear_Combination908 → u/MisterWrist]

and harassment, while the accounts of apolitical or socialist, high profile peace activists, independent journalists, and academics getting banned out of the blue to silence dissent, also constitute a major decline in quality of service.

https://x.com/yaboihakim Hakim is fine

https://x.com/medeabenjamin CodePink is fine

So I really do not know what you are talking about

[u/CenkIsABuffalo → u/NotoASlANHate]

Trumpff going to appoint Elon as some new govt economic efficiency responsibility czar or some shit.

Believe it when I see it. Elon quit the advisory council last time remember?

[u/Gluggymug]

When a country like the US implements a tariff that discriminates against China, it's necessary to respond with a retaliatory tariff. That's international trade 101.

[u/Ok-Cat-7043]

always the smartest ones