Perhaps being targetted by ICE could qualify. Being brown could help in this scenario.

This is solid geopolitical analysis.

The India blunder cannot be understated. This is one of the fastest growing large economies in the world and its struggles in the past half millennia are more a blip in history than the norm. This similarly applies to China and its century of humiliation.

Multiple US administrations were carefully and measurably courting India over the past several decades which Trump undid essentially overnight.

India has a very strong history of trust with Russia which dates back hundreds of years but more recently the USSR directly supported India when the US sent nuclear armed vessels into the Bay of Bengal in support of Pakistan during the '71 Indo Pak war (before either India or Pakistan had nukes). Portugal also tried to keep one of it’s Indian colonies (Goa) after the end of WW2 which India took by force. Western nations intended to collude through the UN to force India to give the territory back but the USSR vetoed the vote.

Blunders like this generally come from not knowing history and it feels like Western leaders both in Europe and the US are no longer knowledgeable.

A few months ago Kaja Kallas, the Vice-President of the European Commission said: "I was in ASEAN meeting, and Russia was addressing China, like: ‘Russia and China, we fought the Second World War, we won the Second World War, we won the Nazis…’ And I was like, ‘Okay, that is something new. If you know history, then it raises a lot of question marks in your head… but nowadays, people don’t really read and remember history that much.’

Completely diminishing the obvious sacrifice of both countries, having been the two countries with that suffered the most casualities (25 million in the USSR and 20 million in China).

If these are the top minds in the West then we are absolutely cooked.

You’re absolutely on point about Ukraine and the Istanbul process also. One can only imagine how many peace processes have been undermined by the idea of the West being an ally and the might of the West being a reason not to compromise.

European attempts to freeze Russian assets in Euroclear and use them towards Ukrainian military efforts also seems like an act of desperation and it’s no surprise that Belgium has essentially said they will not comply unless other European powers also take on the liability involved.

At the very least Zelensky has said today that they are no longer going to pursue NATO membership which is a step towards reality based geopolitics.

It’s a very optimistic outlook. I hope you’re right.

What’s uncomfortable for countries in the Western hemisphere is that upon shifting to a multipolar or “spheres of influence” model of the world (which was the norm preglobalization), America will continue its imperialistic tendencies to claim some form of dominion over Canada Mexico and South America. The latest foreign policy strategy document from the Trump administration seems to harken to the Monroe Doctrine (which was a warning that colonization of any further territory in the Western hemisphere by European powers would be viewed as a threat to U.S. security). It seems like Trump sees the Western hemisphere as “belonging” to America on some level.

I also don’t see the US competely discarding neoliberalism when it comes to tech / services, where it still dominates. That requires some type of openness to the world otherwise they won’t be able to continue to enforce their IP rights. When someone makes a Doordash order in Kathmandu, they want some portion of that transaction flowing through both Silicon Valley and their payment processors (Visa, Mastercard etc). How will the US respond when socialism spreads and those countries make their own versions of these services? Hard to imagine they would respond reasonably, especially since their approach to any resistance up until now has been to stage a coup. Old habits die hard.

The US was isolationist during much of world war 2 and had a “cash and carry” approach towards selling arms to US allies during the initial part of the war. After much deliberation this became a laxer lend-lease arrangement that had been against the desires of the American people, who did not want to be a creditor in a conflict that had its center stage in Europe and were worried the Brits wouldn’t be able to pay back. These financial arrangements made the US incredibly wealthy, essentially extracting centuries of colonial and slavery based loot from the Brits, which allowed it to become the global hegimon it is today (for now) and brought an end to the British Empire. It took the Brits sixty years to settle the loan.

“To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal”

While the US came out as clear winners, many postcolonial nations are grateful that the war absolutely decimated the British Empire financially. Every seven days, a nation celebrates its independence from the British Empire. Though it was their inability to continue administrative operations in the colonies (due to financial decimation) that led to some very questionably drawn borders that have played a role in many present day conflicts.

What has caused this?

Wealth concentration among the elite in Western countries?

Demographic collapse putting strain on social systems warranting increased immigration, which is often poorly understood by locals?

Struggling to adapt to a changing world order brought about by a reemergent Global South?

The hard part is figuring out the why. Trump and the far right are symptoms of a mich bigger problem and it’s not going away in one election cycle.

In an asylum scenario definitely can be considered but for migration in general we need to stabilize the housing and cost of living situation before we start inviting people over in my opinion. The population is also skewing more elderly (with immigration there being the only balancing factor) there and here so need go make sure our healthcare system is ready for such a migration without causing any institutional shocks.

India US relations have gone cold since Trump. Particularly with the +25% tariff for buying Russian oil which they perceive as unfair since

1. India followed the US in sanctioning Iran in 2019 which is why they increased purchases of Russian oil.

2. The West had set a price cap on Russian oil after the Ukraine war as everyone understood that completely banning its purchase would drive oil prices up undesirably.

3. The Biden administration was explicit in acknowledging and accepting that India buy Russian oil. It was seen as necessary to stabilize the market.

4. China buys more oil than India from Russia and faces no specific additional tariff.

5. The EU continues to buy gas and the US buys uranium from Russia (which also allows them to continue to finance the war).

6. The IMF (which is seen as an American/Western institution) continues to bail out Pakistan and the peception in India is that some of those funds will reach non-state actors who will perpetuate violence in India.

There are actually more reasons but India recently hosted Putin for a state visit and rolled out the red carpet for him. India and Russia have historically had good relations (the Soviet Union used its UN security council position to support India against postcolonial Western interference on several occasions) but this was friendlier than many were expecting and it is in large part due to the current US administration being inconsistent on trade policy and incompetent at diplomacy.

India’s official stance is ‘strategic autonomy’ or multialignment but at least right now it seems to have more friends in the East than in the West.

Middle East/Africa would likely become its own sphere just based on geography. I assume Europe would be in Russia’s sphere.

Women absolutely have a role to play in toxic masculinity. Not to take accountability away from the social conditions that men ultimately created and propagated.

Stoicism teaches us to focus on what’s in our control by either reframing or accepting our emotions based on rational judgment. The goal is emotional resilience, not emotional suppression. Pop culture has redefined it as you describe.

Evokes the memory of Mao’s Four Pests campaign though blocking the Sun will have an obviously broader ecological impact.

The Old Testament is a monotheistically rebranded Epic of Gilgamesh. A lot of the themes were borrowed adapted and rebranded from there and other literature are the time. Even the monotheistic Jewish God Yahweh takes on the title of the supreme God in the Canaanite pantheon (El).

The Old Testament is a time capsule from 5000 years ago. There are some general concepts that can apply to a modern moral life but if you tried to follow everything it says in life today, it would be problematic.

The clear message in the Old Testament is one of God as the absolute and final authority. Its very clear that the message is one to keep people in check. Theres often bending of the rules and some degree of favoritism towards God’s chosen ones. Does not give off an egalitarian vibe but religion is generally not meant for that. Its generally meant to reinforce hierarchical structures (and to get people to accept them even if they are the lowest rung on the ladder out of fear of God).

When there are 195 countries and they only make up 4% of the global population? Yes, that’s small relative to the rest of the world.

The US is small on a global scale (in terms of population) but adequately equipped to destroy the world.

The US certainly punches above its weight economically and militaristically. But its population is still a fraction of the global population. While it has wealth and massively destructive weapons, the rest of the world absolutely does have a say in how important we let it be.

If there was a global initiative to not respect American intellectual property and people were universally turned off by its politics / lack of morality, it could become a backwater pond in no time. I believe in human ingenuity to accomplish that.

Now of course the US would respond with violence but in a circumstance where it truly was the globe versus the US I actually dont like the US’ chances very much.

The US was already mildly disliked for that general civilian arrogance but most Canadians overlooked it say 15 to 20 years ago. Now when American arrogance is recognized, its seen as unequivocally contentious, compared to being harmlessly obnoxious in the past.

I’ve met several Americans that seemed to think the financial might of Wall St or the sacred reverence with which they hold their constitution somehow made their existence more meaningful, fulfilling or even valid. They had the genuine belief that everyone wanted to be in their position even though their specific material circumstances were often worse and their priorities warped by ideals of hyperproduction and hyperconsumption.

From a Canadian perspective I might have put my hand on their shoulder and said “Cool” fifteen years ago. Now I’d put my hand on their shoulder and say “You’re stupid” which in many ways is more grace than some deserve.

It will take the US decades to rebuild trust. Its more likely the country decays some sort of hypercapitalist modern flavored feudalism with water slaves dying in the streets before other countries put long term trust in the US again.

Its not just the Western world.

America got to define the new world order after world war 2.

They accrued 75% of the worlds golds reserves selling weapons to allies.

This allowed them to peg the dollar to gold under the Breton Woods system, making their currency the global reserve currency.

Never mind that scientists and innovators had fled from Eurasia to the US for safety, causing a massive braindrain

This is why they say they won WW2. They were one of few countries that had circumstances tip heavily in their favour due the war.

There are Americans that believe the US is one of the oldest countries in the world ie. if you start counting from when nation-states became a thing. Its a super hilarious question from an Indian, Chinese or African perspective. Really almost anywhere in Eurasia.

Sounds like thr Advaita Vedanta concept of Brahman which is described in Dharmic religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Always fascinating to see Eastern spirituality’s influence on philosophy.

As general advice, sexual hedonism and misanthropy don’t mix well. People have to like something about you if they’re going to want to have sex with you.

Now you may find a misanthrope that you vibe with but its a safe assumption that people that like people and are liked by people generally get laid more.

Also Gen Z seems to be less interested in alcohol consumption and casual sex based on most recent studies so that’s probably a factor.