For a few years now, I have argued that the United States is an empire in decline. To my way of thinking, we reached our peak sometime in the early 1990's after the fall of socialism with the USSR coming apart. At that point certain trends of decadence were in motion within American society & more specifically within academia & business but overall, it was as good as it will ever get for us. We had the most effective military on the planet, our economy was strong, the Internet revolution was just getting started & China was emerging from its dictatorship under the late Deng Xiaoping into the current "state capitalist" (read as neo-mercantilist) nation it is today. We had no peer competitor of any kind.

That was 1991-93 or so. ⏩ to today &, well...isn't it amazing how much can change in 30-some-odd years? I could go into evidence for my stance but that would take way more time & lines of text than any of you would read here. All I'm gonna post is the latest economic evidence of it. With our weaponizing the dollar to punish nation-states we don't approve of & most of the West going along with it, certain other countries have taken note & are looking to free themselves from dependence on the dollar as a reserve currency. The CCP regime--always on game--is taking full advantage & welcoming them with open arms. To wit:

I just have one question: have any of the governments of these countries looking to free themselves from western/US hegemony thought about how they will deal with Chinese hegemony? Because China has been looking to be king of the hill for a while now...once we're knocked down a few pegs--& it will happen at some point. No empire lasts forever--the great dragon of the East is the most likely replacement. That is how the game is played: when a kingdom or nation stops being top dog, others will try to take the crown & the most capable one gets it. The dragon's rule, I suspect, would (will?) be quite different from ours.

Also, Michelle Makori has botox in her cheeks & forehead. I kinda wish she hadn't done that.