this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2024
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Asklemmy

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[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 42 points 2 months ago (4 children)
[–] expatriado@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] kambusha@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago

There's always money in the banana stand.

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[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 41 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (12 children)

Most likely some other country (or countries) would simply fulfill the same role of projecting their military and economic power onto the rest of the world to maintain their hegemony. We see this in limited ways already with many other countries, though with a few exceptions, they’re careful in how much they conflict with US interests. One of these, likely China, would move into that role and while the details would be different in some ways, many of the overall dynamics would be similar.

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[–] frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml 24 points 2 months ago (1 children)

History doesn't provide answers to hypotheticals

[–] MotoAsh@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

That's why they're asking people and not reading a history book.

[–] theshatterstone54@feddit.uk 14 points 2 months ago

Difficult to say. For starters, we can't know with certainty the full list of countries that were affected. We don't know all the ways countries were affected. There's so much we don't know that it's really impossible to say.

[–] blackstrat@lemmy.fwgx.uk 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

On a tangentially related note, this documentary series from BBC4 is a fascinating insight into the decision making process the US went through over dealing with foreign mass atrocities over the past 40 years: Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, Syria etc.

Warning: they do not hold back with the imagery of these events.

Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World?

[–] MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Did they also go into mass atrocities committed and initiated by the US? If you go around lighting fires and then come back around to put them out after donning an official uniform, should others consider you a fire fighter or an arsonist?

Is there a single instance covered that wasn't a situation the US directly and purposely had a hand in creating?

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[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The world would be far more Socialized.

[–] leisesprecher@feddit.org 12 points 2 months ago (5 children)

That's actually the really sad story here.

Every "experimental" regime was either toppled (Chile) or had to align with the USSR (Cuba) to survive. There was never a real attempt at democratic socialist politics without interference from superpowers.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There was never a government at all without interference from superpowers.

[–] leisesprecher@feddit.org 4 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Of course, but most governments are allowed to mostly be sovereign.

Sweden or Australia play ball on their own, no need for a coup here.

[–] SLfgb@feddit.nl 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Lol, what? Australia is a US lackee more than anywhere else. And the CIA was definitely involved in the Whitlam sacking.

[–] MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 2 months ago

For real, the US committed a coup in Australia with Whitlam. They don't constrain the CIA to just poor countries.

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[–] GeneralEmergency@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Well the troubles would have continued. So there that.

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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 months ago

Most countries would be socialist.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Other countries would probably still have some similar shit. People are people.

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[–] nucleative@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

The US projects its own interests worldwide but those often overlap with the interests of other as well.

For example, the US often stipulates intellectual property and worker rights in it's trade deals. The US actively protects shipping lanes. The US actively negotiates visa-free entry for American passport holders to other countries. The US invests in the economies of foreign countries to stimulate trade opportunities. The US controls the SWIFT banking network which makes it so that we don't need to send gold bullion or pallets of cash to buy things from other countries, and participating in the system requires member countries to have certain controls in place that attempt to block bad actors. The US, through it's embassies and ambassadors, deploys it ideology to foreign governments, and makes deals that allow foreigners to invest in the USA and Americans to open businesses in foreign countries.

The US actively shuns and makes life difficult for menace dictatorships on the global stage by creating trade exclusions.

There have been coups since the beginning of time and always will be, as it's human nature. Many citizens of other countries have no belief that the future of their country belongs to them after decades or centuries of dictatorships or kingdoms. On the whole, history shows that kingdoms rise and fall for many reasons and the people sometimes benefit and sometimes suffer for it.

Obviously it's a highly complex topic, but if the US wasn't doing these things, then Russia or China would be, or there would be more powerful regional factions, which could reduce the size of the world in terms of travel and trade options for many.

Whether the US is the right one to be in control of this at this point in history is a matter of intense debate among some, but it could absolutely be worse than it is now.

[–] BaalInvoker@lemmy.eco.br 7 points 2 months ago

Definitely a better place.

[–] corroded@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It really depends on how far back you want to look.

If the US was to suddenly stop projecting its interests internationally, then as others have mentioned, then likely the world work become somewhat more socialized. European countries would probably step up and try to keep China in check, but without the US contributing to these efforts, it would cause a significant strain on their military resources.

If the US was to take an isolationist policy 100 years ago, then there is a good chance that WW2 would have been won by the Axis. The Allied forces likely would have put up a good fight, but I'm not sure they would have emerged victorious against the combined Axis forces. The war in the Pacific would have raged on much longer, and without nuclear weapons, there would have been an extreme loss of life invading Japan. At the very least, WW2 would have lasted much much longer than it did. Depending on the outcome, plenty of countries might currently be speaking German and debating if they should tear down 80-year-old statues of Hitler.

[–] MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

If the US was to take an isolationist policy 100 years ago, then there is a good chance that WW2 would have been won by the Axis. The Allied forces likely would have put up a good fight, but I'm not sure they would have emerged victorious against the combined Axis forces. The war in the Pacific would have raged on much longer, and without nuclear weapons, there would have been an extreme loss of life invading Japan. At the very least, WW2 would have lasted much much longer than it did. Depending on the outcome, plenty of countries might currently be speaking German and debating if they should tear down 80-year-old statues of Hitler.

The only people who believe this drivel are those who have only learned about WWII via Hollywood and YT videos. Go listen to an actual historian and you will not hear this fantasy. They will tell you that Germany had one foot in the grave by the time the US joined the Western front. The only ounce of truth in this statement is that the Pacific theatre would have gone on longer.

Edit: I didn't touch on this but should have...the whole idea that a nuclear attack on Japan was necessary or even justified in any way is not only incorrect but is a racist, genocidal excuse for not one, but TWO of the most horrific acts in our entire history. You should be ashamed for propagating this tired lie.

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[–] MeetInPotatoes@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

The "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland.

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