Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

lemonde.fr

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 212 posts

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#161

Post by ericmay »

tim333 wrote: post #157
ericmay wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any specific examples you can speak to? Which countries? Who are they allying with?

Not sure what 23434dsf means but America's traditional allies like Canada, Europe and maybe post WW2 Japan are forming an alliance against Russia's invasion into Europe, while Trump's position seems to be it's ok for Russia to take land by force as long as he/the US get a cut of the plunder.

Are you suggesting that Canada, Europe (I take it you mean the EU and UK), and perhaps Japan are forming a separate alliance without the United States because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine?

Can you link to anything specific? Have there been alliance talks? What are the new alliances being formed called? I know there have been some arms purchases and agreements but that wouldn't have anything to do with forming an alliance separate from what already exists today.

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#162

Post by tencentshill »

ericmay wrote: post #161
tim333 wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what 23434dsf means but America's traditional allies like Canada, Europe and maybe post WW2 Japan are forming an alliance against Russia's invasion into Europe, while Trump's position seems to be it's ok for Russia to take land by force as long as he/the US get a cut of the plunder.

Are you suggesting that Canada, Europe (I take it you mean the EU and UK), and perhaps Japan are forming a separate alliance without the United States because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Can you link to anything specific? Have there been alliance talks? What are the new alliances being formed called? I know there have been some arms purchases and agreements but that wouldn't have anything to do with forming an a…

Nothing of note, yet. Like most US corporations, they're holding off on implementing real changes to see if we the people choose to continue on this self-destructive course after He leaves office.

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#163

Post by tim333 »

ericmay wrote: post #161
tim333 wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what 23434dsf means but America's traditional allies like Canada, Europe and maybe post WW2 Japan are forming an alliance against Russia's invasion into Europe, while Trump's position seems to be it's ok for Russia to take land by force as long as he/the US get a cut of the plunder.

Are you suggesting that Canada, Europe (I take it you mean the EU and UK), and perhaps Japan are forming a separate alliance without the United States because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Can you link to anything specific? Have there been alliance talks? What are the new alliances being formed called? I know there have been some arms purchases and agreements but that wouldn't have anything to do with forming an a…

Approximately this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_of_the_willing_(Russ...

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#164

Post by 5upplied_demand »

rayiner wrote: post #107
5upplied_demand wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> started trying to convince voters on their own merit I'm not sure this is true anymore given the splitting of media and news sources. When everyone watched the same 3 news programs it was easier to speak to those people. It is very hard to penetrate the "other sides" messaging platforms. > instead of simply trash-talking their opponents This was the President's entire election platform (twice). > we could actually…

Trump has a far-reaching policy stance. His thesis is that American success is due to Americans and what is distinctive about them, and our engagement with foreigners on the present terms is not good for America. That has implications for everything from immigration policy, to trade policy, military positions, to how to teach kids in schools. Closing the border, deporting all illegal immigrants, screening legal immig…

> His thesis is that American success is due to Americans and what is distinctive about them

Can you please link to when and where he said this? Because it raises a question of when someone becomes "American." Trump's grandfather was born in Germany, so when did the Trumps become American?

> all concrete policies consistent with that thesis

Those were concrete policies from Project 2025, which Trump directly said was not related to his campaign or administration. We know he was clearly and directly lying, but with someone so willing to lie about everything, I'm not sure how you can prescribe some type of unifying thesis about his policy stances or actions. It feels like you are trying to paste your ideas onto his actions.

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#165

Post by tim333 »

skywhopper wrote: post #44
squidbeak wrote: post #35

There's a very real chance the USA will get lucky and find a new means of economic domination through its AI companies and the looming space build-out. Its self-destructiveness right now, flouting longstanding alliances and truckling to its enemies, would ruin it in any other moment in its history. But in these unusual circumstances, it might not matter.

Nah, AI is a massive money pit, and Starship has proven to be a dead end. The real tech revolutions of the moment are in energy production and storage and health care advances like mRNA and GLP-1. The US is actively self-sabotaging on both energy and health care at the moment.

On the other hand take a look at the world's largest companies by market cap https://companiesmarketcap.com/usd

The top 8 are American and 17 of the top 20. Seven of the top 8 are into AI. I'm not convinced it's going nowhere. Even if AI on it's own isn't profitable, companies like Nvidia, Apple and Google are doing fine.

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#166

Post by apawloski »

rayiner wrote: post #42
mrweasel wrote: post #4

Largely the US isn't losing control, it's giving it up willingly. For what reason, no one knows yet.

Why should we control the world? It’s very expensive running an empire, and all it has accomplished is getting people around the world to hate us. Do you know how much people in my home country hate Reagan and Nixon (who opposed our independence because of some stupid alliance with Pakistan against Russia)? Much more than they hate Trump.

I remember you trying to defend the tariff policies as a defense against China. Do you still honestly perceive China as a threat to American power and livelihood? If so, how do you square this stance of conceding global power to China at the same time? At the very least, surely you can see the importance of global supply chains to American manufacturing that you want to protect?

I'm asking these questions specifically based on your arguments in the past. I don't understand how you can believe America can thrive in a world without allies and trade partners.

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#167

Post by mmh0000 »

QuadmasterXLII wrote: post #52
Molitor5901 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the US is giving up control willingly and turning more isolationist. It has been building for some time but I do not thing it is forced. It is a deliberate policy shift turning away from trying to control and police the world. America is pushed in and on to other countries and societies that a retraction might be the best thing

The US is currently starting a war with Venezuela. You are ascribing coherence and deliberateness where I don’t see evidence for its presence.

You gotta look into the Venezuela thing further. It's more geopolitical, specifically about reducing Chinese influence in South America.

Now, whether that's needed or whether the US is handling it in a "good way" is all up for debate. But there is a deliberateness.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Venezuela_relati...

* https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/china-breaks-with-latin-amer...

* https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3335116/china-unlike...

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#168

Post by watwut »

giardini wrote: post #152
watwut wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frankly, bullshit. The center is ruling the democratic party, actively suppressing left and frequently tacitly enabling the far right. Meanwhile, left barely does anything. They are not rocking the boat, they are powerless. Both Obama and Biden were center choice. The whole democratic party is ruled by centrist politicians and ideology which is why they cant oppose the increasingly radical republicans all that effect…

>"Meanwhile, left barely does anything. They are not rocking the boat, they are powerless." The left's judicial branch is very active: they sue every chance they get. And since they've diligently packed the court systems for decades, and since population centers that are predominantly Democratic are usually the locations for filing significant legal issues, i.e., they have left-leaning populations, therefore left-lea…

What are you talking about here. It was right wing who packed the courts - to the point the bias is blatant and obvious. They are not even trying to pretend they are impartial.

The "every accusation is an admission" thing is truly right with right wingers like you.

> Maybe someday we'll be able to look at Epstein's mail or Clinton's e-mails even.

Who was blocking the release? Trump. Trump was blocking the release.

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#169

Post by ericmay »

tim333 wrote: post #163
ericmay wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you suggesting that Canada, Europe (I take it you mean the EU and UK), and perhaps Japan are forming a separate alliance without the United States because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Can you link to anything specific? Have there been alliance talks? What are the new alliances being formed called? I know there have been some arms purchases and agreements but that wouldn't have anything to do with forming an a…

Approximately this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_of_the_willing_(Russ...

That's not an alliance, nor is it seeking to be one.

Re: Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world'

#170

Post by apawloski »

5upplied_demand wrote: post #164
rayiner wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump has a far-reaching policy stance. His thesis is that American success is due to Americans and what is distinctive about them, and our engagement with foreigners on the present terms is not good for America. That has implications for everything from immigration policy, to trade policy, military positions, to how to teach kids in schools. Closing the border, deporting all illegal immigrants, screening legal immig…

> His thesis is that American success is due to Americans and what is distinctive about them Can you please link to when and where he said this? Because it raises a question of when someone becomes "American." Trump's grandfather was born in Germany, so when did the Trumps become American? > all concrete policies consistent with that thesis Those were concrete policies from Project 2025, which Trump directly said was…

Thanks for pointing out the irony that these folks refuse to engage with: that they (we) are all here as the result of immigration. It's about as plainly hypocritical that they get. Their immigrants were fine, of course..

I wish the folks who are trying to cut off all immigration (and open channels to de-naturalize American citizens) could appreciate this more. Because it exposes their thesis at its core: some Americans are better than others, and these people know which are which. Where do I as an American fall into these categories of theirs?

Post reply on HN