• Aurenkin
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    3 days ago

    I’ve always been curious exactly how much the US benefited from their geopolitical position. I suspect it’s a huge amount and I guess now we’ll get to find out.

    • lepinkainen@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      The amount of soft power the US uses globally is massive, too much and too complex for the current administration to grasp

      They only see the primary effects: “we are losing money”

      • Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Which is like saying “we are losing money to the grocery store…”

        So their response is to stop eating… as if they don’t grasp it’s not LOSING money it BUYING influence.

        I have to believe they get this and want to divert that money to their own profits while screaming “efficiency!”

        • lepinkainen@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Also they didn’t know that a massive amount of USAID operations are used as CIA covers. It’s a good way to get agents a legitimate reason to be in a country.

    • fake_meows@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      The USA national debt is a good proxy measure.

      The world outside the USA needed us dollars for petroleum and international trade. One of the major us enterprises has been to supply these funds in exchange for goods and services.

      It is currently running at $1T every 100 days.

      https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/01/the-us-national-debt-is-rising-by-1-trillion-about-every-100-days.html

      This means the world is selling more to the USA than equal exchange. They take those dollars away and buy oil and other international trade, or they hold the money. The us is being paid to create the currency that is used.

      Frankly, the growing national debt is not as big a problem as the alternatives.