It‘s funny because historically America has always been the good guy, and Trump is the only anomaly.
That is not what the cartoon implies though. You are just forcing your own tankie strawmen on it. It is purely about a geopolitical context, where the US indeed traditionally has been the opponent of the other regimes, but no longer are.
Geopolitical opponents says nothing about values or “good guys”, because believe it or not, you can actually oppose both sides in a geopolitical conflict. I know that is a difficult concept for your zero sum “all enemies of the US are my friends” tankie mindset.
where the US indeed traditionally has been the opponent of the other regimes
Has it? Relations between the US and China started thawing all the way back with Nixon’s famous visit, and with the reforms and investment and them becoming a major trading partner, those conflicts became a thing of the past. I grew up in the 90’s and the idea of China being an enemy was a pretty foreign concept back then. After 9/11, the focus was entirely on the Middle East, and I don’t recall anybody talking about, “We shouldn’t invade Iraq because we should be focusing on confronting China instead” or anything like that.
In 2011, US opinions of China were 51% favorable vs 36% unfavorable. In 2017, it was 44% to 47%. Then, relationships suddenly deteriorated afterward.
I attribute that sudden deterioration to two factors. First, with the winding down of the wars in the Middle East, it was necessary for the ruling class to drum up tensions elsewhere in order to justify pouring immense amounts of money into the military industrial complex. Second, with the abject failures in handling the pandemic, it was necessary for the ruling class to point fingers abroad to distract from its own failings. And what better place to point fingers than a country which handled it relatively well? “They only handled it better because they knew it was coming, and it was a biological weapon primarily released on their enemies.” Anyone criticizing US policy, especially if they compare it to China, can now be dismissed as a tankie and traitor, based on a conspiracy theory promoted by propaganda.
So what time period exactly are you talking about when you say, “traditionally?” 2019-2024, Biden’s one presidential term? Or the 1950s-1980s? Because there’s a pretty significant, nearly 40 year gap in that “tradition.”
but no longer are.
I also hard disagree on that point but this comment is long enough already.
There is no evidence that Trump is substantially less confrontative with Russia and China than any other president in the last 30 years (my comment directly references this), so in that sense he is “balancing” geopolitics by keeping the world on the constant brink of WW3 “as any good president should”.
My problem with this “comic” is two fold. One, it implies that Trump is an anomaly in an otherwise continuous moral America. Two, it presents a world that is in a constant state of conflict between imperialists powers (What did a tankie just call Russia imperialist?!?) as a desirable state.
That is not what the cartoon implies though. You are just forcing your own tankie strawmen on it. It is purely about a geopolitical context, where the US indeed traditionally has been the opponent of the other regimes, but no longer are.
Geopolitical opponents says nothing about values or “good guys”, because believe it or not, you can actually oppose both sides in a geopolitical conflict. I know that is a difficult concept for your zero sum “all enemies of the US are my friends” tankie mindset.
Has it? Relations between the US and China started thawing all the way back with Nixon’s famous visit, and with the reforms and investment and them becoming a major trading partner, those conflicts became a thing of the past. I grew up in the 90’s and the idea of China being an enemy was a pretty foreign concept back then. After 9/11, the focus was entirely on the Middle East, and I don’t recall anybody talking about, “We shouldn’t invade Iraq because we should be focusing on confronting China instead” or anything like that.
In 2011, US opinions of China were 51% favorable vs 36% unfavorable. In 2017, it was 44% to 47%. Then, relationships suddenly deteriorated afterward.
I attribute that sudden deterioration to two factors. First, with the winding down of the wars in the Middle East, it was necessary for the ruling class to drum up tensions elsewhere in order to justify pouring immense amounts of money into the military industrial complex. Second, with the abject failures in handling the pandemic, it was necessary for the ruling class to point fingers abroad to distract from its own failings. And what better place to point fingers than a country which handled it relatively well? “They only handled it better because they knew it was coming, and it was a biological weapon primarily released on their enemies.” Anyone criticizing US policy, especially if they compare it to China, can now be dismissed as a tankie and traitor, based on a conspiracy theory promoted by propaganda.
So what time period exactly are you talking about when you say, “traditionally?” 2019-2024, Biden’s one presidential term? Or the 1950s-1980s? Because there’s a pretty significant, nearly 40 year gap in that “tradition.”
I also hard disagree on that point but this comment is long enough already.
There is no evidence that Trump is substantially less confrontative with Russia and China than any other president in the last 30 years (my comment directly references this), so in that sense he is “balancing” geopolitics by keeping the world on the constant brink of WW3 “as any good president should”.
My problem with this “comic” is two fold. One, it implies that Trump is an anomaly in an otherwise continuous moral America. Two, it presents a world that is in a constant state of conflict between imperialists powers (What did a tankie just call Russia imperialist?!?) as a desirable state.
But yes, it’s me that is talking to straw men.
You been under a rock or something?
yes
Apparently.