The 250 year timeframe is made up and even if it wasn’t the US couldn’t realistically be described as an empire until some time in the 1900’s. Until then it was “just” a genocidal colonial power like the others. I guess you could make an argument that it became an empire around the time of Teddy or the monroe doctrine, but I wouldnt
I see this meme all the time, which is an oversimplification. The 250 year time frame that people ascribe to is usually assigned to a country’s lifetime, but really, the time frame is the average length of a golden era of a country, not its existence. Rome lasted for 2,000 years and China today still exists. When the Chinese talk about this “250 year” thing, they would refer back to how long certain dynasties ruled, not China’s existence. Same with Rome having had its peak come and go while it existed until 1453. France also has had several golden ages as the bigger power in Europe from middle ages to Napoleonic era.
America won’t cease to exist, but it will not be the power it once was, and that’s okay (except for the ultranationalists). It’s okay to be humble.
i think they haven’t been an empire for just as long as it had existed?
they were settlers first, right? with the indigenous genocide and all.
Thanks for trying to buy us a little more time.
Right, the US wasn’t a superpower until around WWII, so we’re less than 100 years into it really being an empire. But it can also be said that in some ways it became an empire because it inherited the imperial tendrils of the British empire.
Statistical fallacy #420: Assuming the value of a random arbitrary element will necessarily be close to the mean or median of all elements.
It is collapsing, though not because of any 250 year tendency.
This “250 year thing” makes me feel the same way as when I play new Vegas and Caesar say he will destroy the NCR because of dialectics. THATS NOT HOW IT WORKS YOU FUCK
Yea lmao, Caesar tried to take Hegelian dialectics rather than Marxist, and further misunderstood Hegel himself. Though, I don’t blame the writer, Hegelian dialectics is notoriously difficult to parse for those that haven’t studied it deliberately, and at an in-game level it adds to Edward Sallow being full of shit.
Though, I don’t blame the writer.
I’m convinced they did it in purpose to highlight what a dumbass Caesar is. He verbatim says dialectics makes it inevitable that the NCR is destroyed by him, which is just so incredibly stupid. If you read enough of Hegel to write Caesar talking about Hegel as he does, then you’ve read enough to know that would be about the dumbest you could say.
Fair enough, intentional or not it works well narratively.
Look the only critique I can leverage at new Vegas is that there isn’t a communist or anarchist ending where the courier unites the disparate communities and makes something that lasts until after the courier dies. I want to be the Stalin of the wasteland.
Edit: After getting the Lee Kuan Yew speeches on my Instagram reels I also realise Houses “give me 20 years” speech is taken from there. The people behind the game were very politically aware.
Also apparently fallout 1, 2 and new Vegas are based on a tabletop game the designers played? Arcade Gannon was Josh Sawyer’s characterYea, sadly I feel that the writers just didn’t want to write a meaningfully left ending.
Having seen a documentary about the production the designers wanted the game to be about “letting go of Old World Blues”. All the factions cling to the past, to systems that led them to where they are today. I take it they were a bit better than regular US radlibs, which is why there isn’t any left-bashing, but they probably see communism as part of that old world blues too. It would also go against their goal if there was an obvious “good” ending.
That said it would have done wonders for the political awakening of a bunch of people if there was one. Or, at least, if it was made clear the courier was likewise constrained by their environment, so the reason a post-post-apocalyptic spartacist movement isn’t possible is because the courier and like individuals can’t think like that. The red scare has long tendrils.
Or at least a yes-man ending that wasn’t going all “great man” theory about the courier, where everything revolves around them and their presence.
250 years is an observed pattern, but is not implied to be the cause
Sure, but the meme appears that way.
No it doesn’t, that’s just how you chose to interpret it.
That’s the way it came off to me 🤷
You sure about that
Yep. The US Empire is collapsing because the global south is developing, and pivoting more towards south-south trade and mutual development over naked imperialism. The string of recent hard aggression is trying to install compradors to keep this scheme going for a bit longer, but the industrial base of the empire is hollowed out.
What if all of this happened because of a 250 year curse?!? Checkmate commies
Advanced enough dialectics is indistinguishable from a curse and a blessing.
If you don’t live in the US, Russia, China, India or Israel then you live in a vassal state. The global south isn’t developing independently. It’s being segmented between the US and China via soft or hard power (e.g. belt and road initiative). There is no revolution of the disenfranchised. It’s just major powers doing what major powers do as we enter a new geopolitical paradigm.
The global south is developing partially with the assistance of the PRC, yes, but there’s also general south-south trade and alliances, like the Alliance of Sahel States. The PRC isn’t imperialist, it isn’t plundering the global south. BRI has been enourmous for win-win economic development, compared to western enforced austerity and plundering.
Vassals of the empire include western Europe, Israel, Austrailia, etc, imperialist powers that don’t outweigh the US Empire but still benefit from imperialism. The global south aren’t vassals, they are imperialized (but breaking free). The new geopolitical paradigm will be marked by a rise in the global south, having escaped underdevelopment, and the decline in single hegemonic powers like the US.
China’s investments aren’t for anything other than the growth of its hegemonic power through the strategic control of satellite states. The carrot is easier than the stick and has better optics. However China can and will stomp out any geopolitical threat within its area of influence even if it is diametrically opposed to whatever the citizens of said state want. It is a superpowerful police state with global ambitions. The global south isn’t breaking free. It’s selling itself to China.
The Belt and Road Initiative is certainly benefiting China, but it’s a win-win situation. China isn’t planting millitary bases anywhere, and isn’t forcing the global south to sell out their autonomy. It is not a police state, nor does it have global ambitions of hegemony.
It is not a police state, nor does it have global ambitions of hegemony.
Lol okay. What world do you live in?
Right, the world moved on and the empire’s failure to adapt is causing it to crumble around the 250 year mark. It’s a rule of thumb, not a curse or a deadline.
Mandated Constitutional Convention every 200 years wouldn’t be a bad idea. Rewrite the whole thing.
Maybe also mandate the execution of the 1% at the same time. A solid reset.
most usians are part of the global 1%. they’d be mad culled.
As an American, I am ok with that. I am probably 1% btw.
as also an American, i’d be glad to be rid of the us imperialism and all the bombs and coups they keep dropping here.
Personally, I look forward to visiting Cascadia, and travelling to the DMZ to point and gawk at the ruins of the new hermit kingdom.
I just know my shithole red state is gonna become even worse after the collapse. Heres to.hoping Cascadia will accept my family.
Thinking about moving to portland just in case (if I can’t make it out the country that is)
i’m not from the us, what is there in portland?
Its part of the cascadia region which has a very small independence movement and unique cultural identity. It will probably lead no where but i like the place and its worth a shot
Generally more progressive.
The most socialist city in the country. Multnomah county might as well be a different state compared to Oregon and Oregon is pretty progressive.
But what if it’s a slow burn instead of a bang?
Also, remember how eastern Roman Empire kept going, on an unrelated note, Canada’s economy is actually doing decent compared to the US.
considering the bang could be radioactive, i want them to slowly wither but i hope they forgot the password for the red button.
I really hope you are right. I really do but America loves violence
