• zifnab25 [he/him, any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    But at least people recognize there is a limit to our world influence

    I mean, kinda? But this feels more like the "Don't Back A Loser" Trump mentality. Like, Ukraine was supposed to have this shit locked up weeks ago. Russia was supposed to be routed, while Ukrainians pour across the border to liberate Moscow. The CIA was supposed to have couped Putin by now. Biden was supposed to be standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier beneath a Mission Accomplished banner, so the Libs could crow to their Conservative rivals that Democrats do Neoconservatism better than any of their team did.

    Instead, we've got a pivot to the south and a long intractable siege. No big W to brag about. Nobody to Own. Just another big money pit to hook our printer up to.

    we should be focusing largely on improving domestic issues, at least economically.

    And we are. We're putting more cops in NYC subways than ever before. We're giving oil companies billions to fight climate change. We're Defending Our Borders and protecting children from the Disney Trans Menace.

    Those are all issues that politicians can brag about. But the Ukraine fight isn't producing anything particularly cheery to campaign on. That's what matters.

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        It’s fun for the whole family and a perfect distraction from the fact that our economy has been stalling since 2008.

        More like 2001.

        Google "Jobless Recovery". Bush's economic growth was powered almost entirely by financialization and outsourcing. The real domestic economy hasn't seen growth in this century.

          • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
            ·
            3 years ago

            You can make a stronger argument that the US economy was still growing under Clinton than under Bush. Although, yes, the pieces for permanent stagnation were being put into place under Clinton and the Gingrich/Lott GOP.

              • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
                ·
                3 years ago

                Clearly bezos and musk are betting on space, but I just don’t see it.

                Hard to have markets without people. And getting people into space is incredibly difficult relative to the benefit of them being there.

                Amazon’s logistics development alongside google/Microsoft/IBM ai work is probably the more important stuff for our future society, but fuck it is miserable funneling it all through austerity politics

                Either Marx was right, and labor power really does produce a better future. Or he was wrong, and capitalists can run the rest of us like gerbils on an exercise wheel forever, with minimal complaint.

                I'm betting on Marxism winning out in the end. But it's going to continue to be a slog.