Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump(www.bloomberg.com)
22 pointsby beltera day ago4 comments
  • twixfela day ago
    I wonder how they will talk about this decline and fall of this American Empire in the future. Ultimately I think it will become clear that the constitution failed, as one of its primary purposes was to stop such populist enemies of the Enlightenment from coming to power. Well, 250 years was quite good, but eternity is a long time! Maybe parliamentary democracy has finally proven superior to presidential systems.

    Has such a dominant power collapsed in this way before? Just arbitrarily decided one day to betray all its allies and start fellating its enemies? Think of the last hegemon, the British Empire, fundamentally that was unsustainable because it's a small island off the coast of Europe, but still it fought two world wars before it finally had to pass the torch. Meanwhile the USA has collapsed in on itself completely foregoing such a glorious end.

    • mamonster21 hours ago
      >Maybe parliamentary democracy has finally proven superior to presidential systems

      Because the parliamentary democracies like in Europe are doing so much better....

      • rsynnott17 hours ago
        The only one that seems to have failed in the same way as the US system has failed is Hungary (Turkey had a broadly similar systemic failure, but isn't a parliamentary republic). Now, obviously, a parliamentary democracy isn't a _guarantee_ that you won't fall into autocracy/kleptocracy (notably, the Weimar Republic was one, albeit a poorly designed one), but they do seem more resistant to it than presidential republics, where it seems to almost happen more often than not.
      • twixfel20 hours ago
        Well, yes, many of them appear to be. Mostly not as rich as the USA, of course, though, but if wealth was all that mattered then Monaco would be the greatest country on hte planet. And I should remind you also that not all countries in Europe have parliamentary systems anyway. France and Russia don't, for example, and there are also parliamentary democracies outside of Europe, like Canada and Australia.
        • lenkite12 hours ago
          Yes, they are doing so well. Merely threatening free software with arrests/seizure for refusing backdoors.

          https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46037573

          Others are arresting 30-50 people a day for social media posts that that are "offensive". Doing really well indeed.

          • twixfel10 hours ago
            Well my original claim was regarding parliamentary democracy, and France is not a parliamentary democracy, so I shan't go to any great lengths defending them over something I know nothing about. But yes, these countries are not perfect anyway and I did not suggest otherwise. Only that many of them seem to be fundamentally more stable and successful than the USA. And tbh, what other country has done well with a presidential system besides South Korea?

            Anyway we are witnessing the sudden collapse of the American Empire and it is fascinating and tragic to watch. You guys, you really have fucked it all up! A country not more than 30 years from the absolute peak of its global power, decided to abandon all claims to global power and influence by voting for Trump a second time. Incredible, just, incredible. Americans, everybody!

  • duxup8 hours ago
    Sedition
  • lawn19 hours ago
    Remind us, what's the punishment for seditious acts?
    • jacquesm8 hours ago
      Getting a library named after you? Or an airport in some cases?
    • jimbohn17 hours ago
      Making lots of money, at least in the Western hemisphere!