John McCallOct 25, 2024
It's quite hard to look at the current situations with Musk and Twitter, Bezos and the WaPo, and the LA Times as anything other than evidence that the extreme consolidation of wealth is itself a grave and direct threat to society
Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 26, 2024

@rjmccall

The #US is an #Oligarchy, a state owned entirely by its ultra-rich.

It slowly ceased to be a #Democracy, whilst retaining the outer appearance of a democracy.

Nobody noticed.

https://medium.com/@colingajewski/how-democracies-quietly-transform-into-oligarchies-without-anyone-noticing-d47b2133b752

How Democracies Quietly Transform into Oligarchies Without Anyone Noticing

The transformation of democracies into oligarchies is not marked by sudden coups or dramatic revolutions. Instead, it’s a gradual, almost invisible process. Democracies, at their core, are designed…

Medium
Show threadLukefromDCOct 26, 2024
@photoncollector @rjmccall We may now see a formal Republic to Empire transition
Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 26, 2024

@LukefromDC @rjmccall

There will be no Empire; just growing irrelevance.

"Requiem For A World Power."

https://medium.com/@colingajewski/requiem-for-a-world-power-4a7cd0b6e43c

Requiem for a World Power.

The American experiment is in its death throes, with democracy giving way to a dysfunctional oligarchy masquerading as representative…

Medium
Show threadLukefromDCOct 26, 2024
@photoncollector @rjmccall There has been a de facto empire for probably close to a century
Show threadColin from Edinburgh.

@LukefromDC @rjmccall
The word "Katabasis" in Kohine Greek means a sudden, rapid descent.

There never was such an Empire, de facto, or otherwise.
Nice fantasy, though.

"An empire is a large territory or group of territories controlled by a single authority, often expanded through conquest, uniting diverse regions under one rule."

Oct 26, 2024 at 7:04pmMastodon for Android
Show threadLukefromDCOct 26, 2024
@photoncollector @rjmccall Large parts of Central America have a history of governments that are US Puppets. Cuba and Nicaragua overthrew such rulers, El Salvador fought them to a standstill, then voted them out.
Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 26, 2024
@LukefromDC @rjmccall
Doesn't meet the definition of an Empire.
You could just as easily say Cuba had an Empire using your "understanding" of the word.
Show threadLukefromDCOct 26, 2024

@photoncollector @rjmccall I don't recall any Cuban puppet states being directly ordered around from Havana.

By comparison the US was known for staging coups when their control over a puppet state started slipping away. Until Jan 2, 2021 it used to be joked that no coup was possible in the US for lack of a US Embassy in Washington DC.

Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 26, 2024
@LukefromDC @rjmccall
I love your dogged pursuit of an original point that was in itself wholly nonsensical.