This shit might dangerously soon be enough for Putin to just say "yolo". Also, insane how the entire world is quickly responding to Russia, while noone gave a shit about the US killing literally millions of people. Or the Saudis killing more innocent people right this moment than Russia is. And they will be allowed to continue to do so. It looks like the US hegemony is getting only stronger, not weaker, no matter what it does.

  • SoyViking [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    We're going to have a new cold war, severance of all corporation and economic warfare between Russia and the Evil Empire for decades. Everyone will be worse off because of this. And that's if we're fucking lucky and this doesn't grow into hot war.

    I hate having to live in this stupid timeline so much.

    • TheGhostOfTomJoad [he/him,they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I'm glad you're talking about the future, I had to take a break from the discord server cause talk turned to getting go bags ready :doomjak:

      • RabidAttackDog [comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Anyone talking about “go bags” in a discord server both doesn’t have a go bag and will also be one of the first people to die in a scenario where they’d be needed.

        • TheGhostOfTomJoad [he/him,they/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Basically what I was thinking. I even asked, if you're in a position to need a go bag, where the fuck you gonna go?? Like I'm not in a city or even near one of any geopolitical importance and I still don't feel safe if shit like that goes down. And, how much warning are you actually gonna get? 5 minutes? Yeah, just enough time to get in a traffic jam and see the blast lol :doomjak:

      • becauseoftheblood [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Ngl I started looking at prepper blogs about nuclear war after reading this news. The preppers don't have a very optimistic view it turns out

      • supersaiyan [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        wait hexbear has discord server? is there an invite process to get in?

        • RabidAttackDog [comrade/them]
          ·
          edit-2
          2 years ago

          It’s not run by the site and it’s pretty lib. I joined a couple months ago, hung around for a bit, and then left when they started arguing about how existing ai was the same thing as american slavery.

          • TheGhostOfTomJoad [he/him,they/them]
            ·
            edit-2
            2 years ago

            I basically only use the meme channel, news, and covid hellworld channels. Avoid everything else lmao

            And since this convo made the general chat on discord, I didn't call you libs lol I only use those channels cause I dislike the discord format. Its too fast and I don't want to keep scrolling around to see what I missed. Cry ab it lmao

        • TheGhostOfTomJoad [he/him,they/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Yeah, we got a bunch lol. I can get you into the "ARK" server that we used when we knew we were getting banned from :reddit-logo: and from there you'll have to ask to get invited to the news server The Scarlet, I'd do it myself but I only just joined that one when this all went down and that server requires the one who invited you to vouch for you and while I'm active enough on the "ark" server to have someone vouch for me I probably can't vouch for anyone else yet. Gimme a minute and I'll get you an invite to the main server.

              • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
                ·
                2 years ago

                Oy. I got confused. I'm already in there. Thanks though. I thought there was a whole separate The Scarlet discord server.

                • TheGhostOfTomJoad [he/him,they/them]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  Oh, there is, just ask for an invite in the Ukraine Situation channel on zoombafoo...scarlet requires someone to vouch for you and I haven't been there more than a few days and barely posted, just lurked so I'm probably not gonna be able to vouch for anyone. Sorry for the confusion.

                  • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    I'm confused because I'm old. Here's my picture, for context:

                    :I-was-saying:

                    Is "The Scarlet" a different server than the commie news network which has the pdf news briefs?

                    • TheGhostOfTomJoad [he/him,they/them]
                      ·
                      2 years ago

                      Yes. It's the same thing but they broke off to make their own server and rebranded, i think when this place was called chapochat still idk I barely used the discord server once this place went live and only in the last 6 to eight months have I been active on zoombafoo again. Theres crossover between the two servers thats why its best to ask in the busiest channel on zoombafoo for an invite.

                        • TheGhostOfTomJoad [he/him,they/them]
                          ·
                          2 years ago

                          :michael-laugh: yeah, theres some there that hate hexbear but still browse cause they talk about it over there lol axotol is on both servers and here too. If ya really want in I'm sure they could do it for you. I don't get the sectarianism but, that's the left :shrug-outta-hecks:

  • Dirt_Owl [comrade/them, they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    No one gave a shit about the US killing its own people with covid either.

    This shit is scary.

    The US is crumbling before our eyes.

    • Boflexgym [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Ironically it will lead to Russia nationalizing everything within its borders, which will justify sanctions on privat banks in russia. Putin has no other option but to begin an era of purges and hope America goes the way of the USSR and collapses from within. The crazy thing is Biden threatening cyber attacks despite him stating that would be an act of war like three months ago.

  • Spongebobsquarejuche [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Seriously what was it like for other countries when the US invaded Afghanistan then Iraq? No leverage against the US? This is some very racist orientalist ass fucking bullshit. I hate this whole thing but watching americans glorify dead Ukrainians and Rallying for the cause. Is just, god damn i thought we sucked bad when we went to war. But we have to have input on other peoples. (I know the us made this) Fuck the worlds police, we're the worlds fucking Karens.

    • Lovely_sombrero [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      France said something like "we can't follow you into this war" and the libs & conservatives went crazy. If France actually tried to do more than just say "we can't", we would probably attack France. Just a few people talking about "maybe the international court in Hague should look into this" instantly led to the US threatening war if the Hague tries to do it, to the point of passing the "Hague Invasion act"

      • SaniFlush [any, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I still say the Hague should do it. Make the USA take the mask all the way off and keep it off.

        • Lovely_sombrero [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          2 years ago

          They were never going to, just some people with no power or authority said something like that, the Hague is only there to prosecute Africans & a few smaller countries.

    • Shoegazer [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      I can’t speak for other countries, but what this war has shown me is that Americans are unreliable. Everyone has a memory of a fish and people’s criticism fly out the window when the new crisis drops. It’s all devotion to the red and blue. Nothing else matters. Fuck this country. My trust in the “worker” is nothing more than cope. Yeah yeah, no one is immune to propaganda. But I’m tired of this shit. Several decades of the same shit and no one learns a thing. Fuck them. We get what we deserve.

      • RabidAttackDog [comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Several decades of the same shit and no one learns a thing. Fuck them. We get what we deserve.

        White americans literally exist in a different class than the rest of us, their privilege is based on continual enslavement and exploiting of others, and it makes them blood thirsty.

      • redladadriver [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The strength of the propaganda and the ease that they pull the populace in is terrifying. Americans will 100% cheer on a war a against China if the media pushes it hard..

      • Spongebobsquarejuche [none/use name]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        Very sympathetic to your comment. The average working person in america doesnt have knowledge or appreciation of the sacrifice our fellow workers put in to get us the meager rights we have as workers.

    • BeingfromInnerSpace [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Well, during the Iraq War, Mexico didn't break diplomatic ties with Iraq, and the jingoistic rhetoric out of the US made a lot of people here uncomfortable. My fourth grade teacher (who was a fucking hippie who now lives in the woods) actually sat us down and told us that the US could choose to bomb Mexico because we were standing against them, LOL. A bunch of my classmates were pretty scared. She was exaggerating, of course, but I think it does illustrate how some people saw the US back in those days: a homicidal steamroller that could basically swoop in and turn a whole country upside down without blinking an eye.

      It's scary to me how many Mexicans, out of despair, fear and ignorance over the Narco situation, openly invite the USA to take a more involved approach in fighting the cartels here, by which I mean lighting the Sierras on fire with A-10 Warthogs. The raw power of an unhinged military empire has a hypnotic appeal that makes every problem look easy to solve if you just throw enough missiles at it.

    • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Afghanistan, not so much, but Iraq was like, really really really not popular pretty mu h anywhere. That mostly amounted to just not sending troops there but that was enough to make America super buttmad

  • HexbearIntern [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    It looks like the US hegemony is getting only stronger, not weaker, no matter what it does.

    The contradictions rise

    • spectre [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      It makes it all the more viable for Russia and China to build their own alternative

        • Shoegazer [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          How likely is that? They’ll be sanctioned by the west, and if the sanctions don’t work due to the alternative system, they’ll most likely be couped

          • SaniFlush [any, any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            America can't make the entire rest of the globe into vassal states at the same time. They'll try no matter how nice anyone is, but eventually they'll fail.

          • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]
            ·
            edit-2
            2 years ago

            Why would countries be sanctioned for simply utilizing an alternative system to SWIFT? It is their right in the free marketplace, by the west's own line of reasoning.

            Or do you mean Russia? Good luck couping that. The second largest party is explicitly communist, the third largest is explicitly socialist, and the fourth largest is even more ultranationalist and eager to go to war with the US than Putin. There's some weird libertarians and other leftists dotted around, but yeah, this shit isn't super coupable, unless the US wants a Cold War II so bad they'll recreate a USSR to fight against. Americans are dumb, but I doubt they're that dumb.

            Putting a ton of sanctions on Russia at this point is essentially the only option other than straight up holding a press conference and saying "We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas." It's a dying empire's only option other than losing a ground war with Russia in the winter, and it's likely to be just as devastating to them in the long run as they hope it will be for Russia in the short term.

            Russia is sure to utilise CIPS as it's an easy phone call to ensure banking in country behaves the same on Monday morning as it did on Friday afternoon, and they almost certainly were prepared for this possibility in advance. That will expand the CIPS network, while at the same time SWIFT shrinks, and other nations will surely see the writing on the wall as well. Your banking system is not safe under SWIFT, and CIPS is the alternative.

              • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]
                ·
                2 years ago

                Sure, contradictions rising.

                The point is that utilising a secondary system, especially in a system like bank telecommunications where they're essentially fungible commodity backends, is something that is no more sanctionable than choosing adidas vs nike for your olympic team's sportswear. Doubly so since it's perfectly possible to get both the adidas ones and the nike ones and hold onto one set just in case there's an issue with the first. It's not a pick one or the other system. You can implement both, and just flip a switch. Like having two SIM cards in your phone, and switching between them if service drops on one.

            • star_wraith [he/him]
              ·
              2 years ago

              I have seen theories about both Saddam and Ghaddafi were trying to challenge the petrodollar, and that's part of why they got invaded. don't know how credible, but intresting

            • Shoegazer [he/him]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Why would countries be sanctioned for simply utilizing an alternative system to SWIFT? It is their right in the free marketplace, by the west’s own line of reasoning.

              They would be sanctioned for cooperating with Russia and China like Belarus allowing Russians to invade from their borders

              • s0ykaf [he/him]
                ·
                2 years ago

                They would be sanctioned for cooperating with Russia and China like Belarus allowing Russians to invade from their borders

                the stronger the block, the weaker the sanctions

                besides, allying ourselves with china would be way better than it was with the USSR (with all respect to our fallen comrades, i'm not really talking in terms of ideology here, but trade potential)

              • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]
                ·
                2 years ago

                For... utilising a bank telecommunication system? Extremely unlikely. Especially since it could be done in parallel. Set up CIPS, continue allowing SWIFT communications. Something happens to SWIFT, congrats, it's meaningless, just use the other one. The national equivalent of your wifi going down while you're watching a video on your phone so you just switch to 5G.

      • jack [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        China doesn't want to be tied to a Russia that acts like this. There's a reason China doesn't invade countries.

  • plov_mix [comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    It looks like the US hegemony is getting only stronger, not weaker, no matter what it does.

    “If Heaven wants someone to perish, it’d first make them go unhinged,” actual Chinese proverb (天欲其亡必欲其狂)

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      There's also a Hindu proverb with some slightly different wording.

    • Boflexgym [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Meh we are just witnessing reality, people tend to underestimate America when they are busy with their virtual circle jerking. (looking at everyone here who thought there wouldn't be a war) With that said, Russia hasn't escalated yet; all its talk about asymetrical acts should have primed us to how they were getting ready to be patient. Treating Russia like Venezuela will lead to something shocking, but there is a possibility that what they are really going to do is see wait until Iran and China prove that they will be reliable allies. Watch the Balkans and provocations in the straight of Hormuz, maybe even some accelerated coups in Africa.

    • RabidAttackDog [comrade/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Within two years, US financial analysts will be saying shit like:

      “nObOdY wAnTs To BaNk AnYmOrE”

  • KiaKaha [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    SWIFT exclusion is a weapon that only fires once.

    • Lovely_sombrero [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      They might circumvent that with their own system. But taking away their $600bn is painful. And it makes the entire concept of holding foreign reserves meaningless, since the US can just take them away when you need them anyway.

      • Lester_Peterson [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The USD share of global reserve currencies has been slowly declining over the past few years. It still holds a super-majority there, but these sort of moves will only accelerate its fall while increasing the share of China's RMB.

        This may end of being the sort of move that is extremely powerful in the short term, but ends up creating an even greater blowback for US economic hegemony.

        • jabrd [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          The US and blowback for their own stupid actions, name a more iconic duo

        • CheGueBeara [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          It will weaken the US as global reserve but also force the US to seek other strategies.

          Those strategies will also be horrible.

  • RabidAttackDog [comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    It looks like the US hegemony is getting only stronger, not weaker, no matter what it does.

    This is not the behavior of a confident and well run empire.

    • Bluegrass_Buddhist [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      NATO suddenly has a reason to exist again, there's a new market for the US' multi-trillion dollar war budget, and a chastened EU has come running back to Uncle Sam like the prodigal son. We may be Frankenstein's monster, but we just got a heart transplant and a steroid injection.

      • RabidAttackDog [comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        We’ll see. The war budget was going to keep going up anyway. It’s in the US interest to find easy targets for its imperialism. A nation with nuclear weapons run by a guy that is trigger happy and already has a grudge against you is not a good mark.

        EU closeness I’m split about. Germany desperately needs Russian gas for its power grid.

      • read_freire [they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        a chastened EU has come running back to Uncle Sam like the prodigal son

        remains to be seen. NATO was already at the breaking point and importing natural gas across the atlantic for 2x the price during an energy crisis isn't going to help

      • Boflexgym [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The looming confrontation with Poland and the Visegrad group is now going to be swept away, so this will strengthen the EU.

    • AlyxMS [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      And China will give 300b to victim families of nanjing massacre and the other 300b to "the russian people" through "aid".

      Ref