Are we watching an empire collapse in real time?

[T1 Terry]

Here is a You Tube video, clearly Chinese AI generated,
but the facts are hard to deny ....
Is it just like interpretation of an ancient philosopher's writings, or an actual condensing of repeated trends, each one lasting shorter than the last. I'm guessing many would remember when the pound sterling was the primary currency, propped up by the Commonwealth maintaining the pound sterling as the base currency ....but it collapsed
The USD was artificially propped up by the petrodollar arrangement that Kissinger authored, it is in the process of collapsing ......
Is the trend repeating? Venezuela invasion? US oil companies are already saying the countries oil reserves and oil dominance in the world market make it a bad investment and they are not interested .... a wrong move by Trump? Greenland, will that be the military over reach along with the unrest back home and collapsing financial system?
A lot of what is put forward in that video starts to look plausible

T1 Terry

 

[JohnV6]

Very interesting . When I play the video my McAfee security warns it is a deepfake. I have never noticed that before.

 

[T1 Terry]

Clearly, the talking head isn't the real deal, the AI has trouble translation numbers that have dots in the mix, this one interprets then as "point" but it is a separate word and ends that sentence, then the next part is the start of a new sentence

The information splashed up on the screen is in as many different languages as there are cultures with internet access, so it was farmed from all of those sites, but the graphs are mostly in that oriental picture graph language ..... I can't distinguish between any of them ..... that might make an interesting Google search challenge Then ask all the different AI for their interpretation of the differences .... then see how long it takes for them all to move toward the same answer

T1 Terry

 

[OriginalBigAl]

With so much content on You Tube and a lot of it AI generated its hard to separate the facts from the dross. Its required to look to history to see what patterns are emerging to try to establish whether or not the threads title is correct.
In the early eighties the Argentinian regime was in trouble internally , their solution was to try to distract the population and regain national pride and control by invading the Falklands which worked , for a few weeks! After which they could transfer anger and blame and disgrace 3000 miles away.
The American psyche has it seems always been backed by a paranoide element from the Communist witch hunts of the fifties to todays bunch of , they are all out to get us ,victims . Empire ??? financially yes, but only whilst the rest of the world was in turmoil and needed rebuilding, which then gave American companies leverage to move into other countries . Militarily , best equipment , and most manpower but they have had their arses kicked everywhere, with what to show for it. Drugs ? the question is never asked why so many Americans need to use drugs to find an escape from the world they live in , the supply will stop if there is no demand! Simplistic I know , but its easier to blame the suppliers , who are following the rule of free trade , an American idea, than find fault in their own policies and ideology . Oh ! I did not answer the question......yes , it would appear so .

 

[GaryMG4]

I recently listened to an interesting podcast from BBC More or Less regarding Venezuelan 'oil'. Apparently it is actually a tar like substance that is difficult to extract and process and its proven reserves rely on an oil price around $120 a barrel to be viable. The infrastructure is in dire need of updating and only a few countries have the refineries that deal with it so it will be hard to finance its exploitation. Given the relative glut of oil at present, the Saudis could easily cause it to be difficult to sell.

 

[Bam Bam]

I recently listened to an interesting podcast from BBC More or Less regarding Venezuelan 'oil'. Apparently it is actually a tar like substance that is difficult to extract and process and its proven reserves rely on an oil price around $120 a barrel to be viable.

The density might make it harder to extract, but it is the kind that the Americans want.

The infrastructure is in dire need of updating and only a few countries have the refineries that deal with it so it will be hard to finance its exploitation. Given the relative glut of oil at present, the Saudis could easily cause it to be difficult to sell.

Especially because the US aren't going to do anything to improve the situation in Venezuela.

They are hoping that if they take out the leader and make some threats then the country will work out well for them.

It won't, though, as it is dysfunctional. They would have to send in US troops and that hasn't tended to go well anywhere they weren't welcomed.

Electric vehicles
By driving electric vehicles we aren't supporting all this petrostate nonsense.

By using methane gas we might be supporting the shale industry, so switching to more electric (heat pumps and electric cooking) and renewable sources (solar, water, nuclear and wind) will help get away from that.

 

[Bam Bam]

As for the initial question, yes I think we are seeing the gradual loss of US hegemony because China and Asia generally are rapidly catching up with the West and have much bigger populations so will end up more powerful.

The West could stay ahead by 1. increasing immigration and 2. investing heavily in its future (infrastructure, new technology).

However, people choose (as is their right in a free society) to 1. limit immigration to maintain some kind of racial/cultural purity and 2. consume more and go on holiday a lot.

Trump and his entourage don't even believe in "the West." They are more like fascists who believe that white men are the only people that matter and they should have power over everyone else. They have seen the way the world is going and they don't like it, so they have lost their tiny prejudiced minds.

 

[T1 Terry]

With out Canadian heavy crude, the US refineries need Venezuela's heavy crude to keep producing all the petroleum based products the US needs .... Even if the invested big $$ in either fixing the Venezuelan infrastructure or building new refineries to process US sweet crude, which can't produce all the other byproducts heavy crude can ....
From Googles AI, so possibly wrong, but .....


Key Products from Heavy Crude (not easily made from Sweet Crude):

• Asphalt/Bitumen: Heavy crude's high viscosity makes it a primary source for road paving and roofing materials.
• Heavy Fuel Oil (Bunker Fuel): Used for ships and industrial furnaces, a direct product of heavy, less-processed fractions.
• Lubricating Oils: The heavier components in heavy crude are ideal for producing high-quality motor oils and industrial lubricants.
• Petroleum Coke: A solid carbon material used in aluminum production and fuel, a common byproduct of heavy oil upgrading.
• Sulfur: Extracted from the hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) in sour heavy crude, it's used to make sulfuric acid, a crucial industrial chemical.

The oil companies know the real money isn't in petrol and diesel production, mostly in aviation grade fuels. The value of the sulfuric acid once purified to chip manufacturing quality, is staggeringly high. It is rapidly disappearing from the US due to greatly reduced oil refinery production being reduced to virtually non-existent levels, chip manufacturers are forced to import it ...... that pushes up the price of chip manufacture and makes the US made product financially no viable .... without the mega tariffs ..... and that makes anything needing these chips, financially non-viable in the USA ..... no new tech industry and even greater job loss .....

All the other by products ..... they would require importing as well ......

Even with Trump cutting emission laws back to the pre emissions days, without California accepting the new dirty standards, there is no viable vehicle manufacturing going to happen in the US .... it's not like any country would accept them as imports, no matter what the price ....

The US fuel industry is bleeding $$, they are a major govt sponsor ..... Trump thought a quick fix was to get access to the oil they used before, the oil companies know it would not be viable to spend all that money on a 5 yrs plan to reach useable oil delivery levels, fully realising a govt change and a financial collapse is immanent, will put their $$ in off shore gold rather than throwing it away ..... the refineries will close putting even more US citizens out of work, Trumps call that they produce more oil than they need will be call into focus and yet another lie highlighted .... then underlined because fuel prices will go through the roof and fuel scarcity will become an issue ......
Mass revolt and civil war is the most likely result ..... Angry they were lied to, angry they were stupid to listen to the lies, angry that govt that lied to them are now using their own sons and daughters to fight against them in a desperate attempt to remain in control long enough to get what ever they can grab and head to a safe haven .....

The prediction was 10 to 25 yrs ..... I doubt it will take that long .....

T1 Terry

 

[decrep]

For some reason I don't like buying gold. It seems it's value isn't very intrinsic.
Yes it's needed in a lot of areas, but I think it's price far exceeds it's worth.

If the global financial system does a reset, is there an alternative to having a store of shiny metal sitting in a vault, doing nothing, somehow shore up currency value?

 

[T1 Terry]

Copper will hold value for a long time, you can store that at home.
1 mtr bars 19mm sq weigh just under 3kg and priced at $405 at the moment, but these people sell 1kg ingots at a better price https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/copper/bars/kilo-copper-bars

Silver is predicted to go up in value, but it's still a storage security risk .....

Land is about the only asset that is harder to steal, investing in the right area is the tricky bit ....

T1 Terry

 

[decrep]

Copper will hold value for a long time, you can store that at home.
1 mtr bars 19mm sq weigh just under 3kg and priced at $405 at the moment, but these people sell 1kg ingots at a better price https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/copper/bars/kilo-copper-bars

Silver is predicted to go up in value, but it's still a storage security risk .....

Land is about the only asset that is harder to steal, investing in the right area is the tricky bit ....

T1 Terry

People will all ways need houses, but who will afford them in a financial collapse?
Copper makes sense, it's always going to be a valuable asset, unless technology collapses as well. In that worse case scenario, guns and ammo could be in short supply, but the wrong sort of people would probably want to take them from you.

 

[T1 Terry]

That is more dooms day prepping, I doubt it will come to that, but stocking the shelves with long life products when the price is good, has always been a good investment.
If it did all go to crap, hard copies of practical, easy build projects from scrap parts would be a great investment ...... water wheels, Pelton wheels that can be printed with a 3D printer, or beaten out from metal and welded together, even by "plastic welding" where the metal is heated and beaten together to force the metals to integrate with each other, the way the old blacksmith joined metal.
Small dam construction and turbine design to use the energy in the water to generate electricity .....

Water filtration and methods of heat storage for cooking, comfort and distilling water ..... how to build a mud brick house, rammed earth walls and floors .... basic survival techniques really

T1 Terry

 

[decrep]

If it gets that bad in the distant future, by that time Climate change will have really kicked in, You'll also need to survive that, maybe a high up cave wouldn't be a bad idea.

I'm not worried really, I've had my life, it's been fantastic, just be sad to see it go out on a bad note.

 

[T1 Terry]

Maybe a property out in the bush and live underground, Coober Pedy style
Or semi underground with a packed earth walls and a soil roof to grow your vegies, backed into the side of a hill .....

T1 Terry

 

[decrep]

Always wanted to build an underground house, on the side of North facing hill.
But settled to a heavily insulated north facing house at the beach, couldn't give up easy surf access. No ICE use getting to the waves, just walked over the road

 

[T1 Terry]

Always wanted to build an underground house, on the side of North facing hill.
But settled to a heavily insulated north facing house at the beach, couldn't give up easy surf access. No ICE use getting to the waves, just walked over the road

Sounds like a tough life, stay strong enough to continue enjoying it

T1 Terry