Who is the biggest threat to America in your opinion?

[Qihein]

Israel is clearly the biggest threat.

[Satans Angel]

Israel is clearly the biggest threat.

Lol how?

[Thialrer]

Israel is clearly the biggest threat.

How? America has been one of their biggest allies and opposed Palestine quite significantly.

[Nakena]

Israel is clearly the biggest threat.

How? America has been one of their biggest allies and opposed Palestine quite significantly.

Greatest Ally ever. You know the Office of Special plans?

[Feyrisshire]

Where exactly were you when the Russians illegally invaded and occupied Crimea, formally integrating it into their territory as a permanent addition or when the Chinese illegally built military bases in the Spratleys to solidify their bogus claim to the area (and it's oil) by ensuring all the militarily weaker claimants couldn't contest it?

But of course because these are eastern nations I guess they get a free pass, huh?

The hilarious thing here is that you have yet to explain why the Spanish-American war the last act of imperialism USA did, when apparently just dredging sand in the sea or "polite little green men" can pass as imperialism - which USA does not have a deficit of things to share - 1 2 3

Again, I've already said the problem in characterizing military invasions or incursions as a form of "imperialism" as lots of countries do that all the time. Azerbaijan is imperialist? India is imperialist? Indonesia is imperialist? Even using your word "interventionist", then maybe all countries can qualify as imperialist or interventionist from this unduly broad view.

Whatever the cause or whatever economic benefit China or Russia derived from the annexation of Crimea or Spratlys - the dynamics would be different. For Russia example, while it does benefit from a warmwater port the dynamics of Crimea are to be highlighted with Euromaidan, and with China the Nine-Dash Line and maritime strategy - if the intentions of annexation or incursion are purely military or political and not economic, moreso in the case of Russia which reportedly is incurring a loss with Crimea it nulls it as a form of imperialism compared to say, the US invasion of Panama which is control of the canal and narco-drug trade.

Why Leftists bother to defend Russia and China anymore is beyond me. They're not on your side anymore, dude. You can condemn their imperialism and still condemn America's interventionism. No one is saying you can't. It doesn't make you a traitor to the revolution.

A very good point, but still doesn't explain why most of the online rhetoric espoused by "leftists" and liberals as well seems to be mostly anti-China and anti-Russia and seems to be a shortage of anti-US.

It highlights so much that you go to such kneejerks when I go simply so far as to say "America is imperialist".

And as history tells us: that's bullshit. When imperialist powers weaken each other it just means new imperialist powers swoop in to fill the void left by the crumbling empires that came before them. This has been happening since before recorded history. Empire rises, conquers all opposition, faces it's greatest rival, then gets beaten either by said rival or by some new upstart empire. This is human history 101. What, do you think all the Third World will unite when all the superpowers beat each other up too much to interfere in their politics? No. The regional powers will expand their influence and territory now that there are no superpowers to keep them in check, and then they'll become the new superpowers. This is the way it's always been.

With the U.S. as the undisputed sole superpower the world is arguably better off because if China or Russia (or, God forbid, both) rise up to challenge that dominance then all you'll be seeing is a repeat of the Cold War: proxy wars in the Third World overthrowing governments left and right, stirring up violent revolutions and blood civil wars, propping up genocidal dictators, etc. creating massive global instability that the Third World really doesn't need.

This doesn't really hold to historical analysis and is not a guaranteed rule, as imperialism is itself a modern phenomenon precipitated by the rise of modern capitalism with its unique dynamics. The dynamics of Phonician colonization i.e is so different from modern imperialism.

So a lot of what you're saying is non sequitur as it doesn't hold to the dynamics of modern imperialism and a lot of times this dynamic was violated - China and Medieval Europe for example - it took five centuries for example for a unified Chinese state to rise when the Zhou dynasty collapsed, and another three centuries when the Tang Dynasty collapsed. It took another three centuries for another hegemon to rise when the Western Roman Collapse, and no entity was able to match the power of the Roman Empire in Europe for milennia.

There are also cases when the decline of a power was not matched by the rise of another comparable hegemon forever - Cahokia comes to mind.

If you are going to claim that something is "Human History 101" when it happens in unreliable time frames of centuries, that is "Shoehorning 101".

Compare the prominence of independence movements i.e such as Thomas Sankara, the Cuban Revolution, or even non-leftist ones such as King Sihanouk's movement in Cambodia at the height of USSR-US Cold War. When the US became the sole superpower, the leftist Third World movements have to scare themselves in showing a friendly political movement of the "Pink Tide".

A lot of these are just loaded sentiments - of course a revolution would be a bloody and unstable one. But it doesn't change the fact that the Third World today isn't really enjoying a rise in living standards in the period of the US hegemony - neoliberalism runs rampant and exploitation of multinational corporations, as well as sham loans from IMF and World Bank, when the revolutionary movements of the Cold War had actually given a chance to Third World countries to free themselves from this vicious cycle that hampers development, such as the New Jewel Movement in Grenada or Sankara in Burkina Faso.

[Cameroi]

the alure of fascist perspectives. not a who, but the idea that little green pieces of paper are smarter then people
and people who think they'd be better off disinfrancising everyone and not bright enough to figure out that would include themselves.

and yes, this is a many times bigger, real and immediate threat, then any on that multiple choice list.
domestic terrorists absolutely belong on that list and absolutely are the biggest threat to consitutional government and soverign consent of the governed.

also i would add, environmental collapse, eco-pocalypse, of which the covid plague is its opening salvo, is the other biggest threat not only to the u.s. but to everyone on that list, along with the entire human species.

[Freiheit Reich]

Last time I checked, Russia and China weren't the ones that fucked up in Iraq and lead to the rise of ISIS. Hmmmmm, I wonder who that was.

Obama. Don't blame the mistakes of one person on the whole nation geez

To be fair, we have to blame the mistakes of the president on those that voted for him (especially if they reelect him knowing what he is like). 50% of American voters are to blame for the Iraq War just as 50% of voters are to blame for Obama's actions as well. The leader gets more blame but he is just representing what his voters want.

Americans have proven to be quite supportive of the military industrial complex.

The USA is to blame for the Iraqi invasion but not for ISIS. ISIS is a group of very religious people (who oddly often break the rules of the religion they are so devoted to) that want to forcibly spread the wonders of their religion to others.

[Parxland]

Where's the option for Donald Trump?

[Freiheit Reich]

What did the US do in Venezuela?

They made trade sanctions that made living standards poor for people. They refused to support the leader that they elected. The US sent men to assassinate their President.

This is a contrast to China and Russia, which isn't trying to screw Venezuela by another trade sanctions.

The US is not the only nation that Venezuela can trade with. Why can't Venezuelans trade with other nations to get goods?

However, I am generally against trade sanctions and covert operations to change leaders in foreign nations. Venezuela should have the right to freely choose leaders that ruin their nation if they want to just like Americans tend to do.

[Insaanistan]

The biggest threat to America is Americans.

[Freiheit Reich]

Where's the option for Donald Trump?

The USA was slipping long before him. George W. Bush/Cheney and politicians who voted for the Iraqi War and the Patriot Act (and did not apologize for it) were much worse (along with their millions for supporters).

[Intaglio]

You act as if there isn't a conservative side of the media that was heavily aligned with Trump. And also, what anomalies are you talking about and where is your source of these alleged anomalies? And exactly what is it you want to be investigated and why should it be investigated?

I never said there wasn't a conservative side of the media, however they did not partake and do not currently to my knowledge, call the otherside, the ever so overtly used insult of "nazis". As for the anomalies. I'm referring to Biden winning 477 counties across the United States(while in contrast his predecessor, Obama won 873.

Yet taking into consideration the counties which were mostly won were part of what one may call "big cities", which saw an as yet to my knowledge large scale exodus of population due to the lockdowns in these areas. In comparison, Trump had won just mildly over 2,000 counties. As well as 18, what the yanks call. "Bellweather" towns or what have you..

I've never heard either side of the media outright call anyone Nazis, though both sides like to make that comparison, as well as throw around lots of other terms to attack the other side.

First off, Biden actually won 509 counties. Second, the reason why Biden had more votes despite winning less counties is simple; as you already mentioned, Biden won in many large urban areas; those areas tend to have very large populations compared to more rural and suburban areas. For example, Wayne County in Michigan, which is home to the city of Detroit, has ober 1.8 million people, and Oaklamd, which is next to it, has 1.2 million. By contrast, the 3rd most populous county, Macomb County, has only about 843,000 people. I haven't heard anything about large exodus from big cities; indeed, for a lot of the poorer populations in those cities, it wouldn't be possible to just up and leave. As for Trump winning those bellweather counties, that could be attributed to, as I already stated, the fact that many of those counties are rural and Biden didn't win as much in rural places. I've also heard the claim that political polarization might have played a role in that, though not sure how. Either way, the bellwether counties were always just more a gauge of sorts, never an assurance of a win; the 18 people focus on had only consistantly voted for the winner since 1980, so that's only really 36 years.

[Feyrisshire]

The US is not the only nation that Venezuela can trade with. Why can't Venezuelans trade with other nations to get goods?

Fortunately, for Venezuela, they can still trade with other countries!

Nah

[Senkaku]

atmospheric carbon dioxide

[National Capitalist United States]

The US is not the only nation that Venezuela can trade with. Why can't Venezuelans trade with other nations to get goods?

Fortunately, for Venezuela, they can still trade with other countries!

Nah

? They can trade with china, india, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in South America. You should read your sources before linking them.

[Nekostan-e Gharbi]

China of course. China is the worst threat to both its subjects and all other humans on this planet.

[Freiheit Reich]

The US is not the only nation that Venezuela can trade with. Why can't Venezuelans trade with other nations to get goods?

Fortunately, for Venezuela, they can still trade with other countries!

Nah

The USA is not to blame for sanctions other countries impose on Venezuela. If other nations choose to follow US policy (which many countries often do), that is still the fault of other nations for choosing to impose such sanctions.

[Feyrisshire]

? They can trade with china, india, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in South America. You should read your sources before linking them.

You don't understand the point?

They are limited in their choice of trading partners due to sanctions, even when say trading with Saudi Arabia is not the most profitable. This cuts with profits, costs and availability of vendors.

[Sanghyeok]

Fortunately, for Venezuela, they can still trade with other countries!

Nah

The USA is not to blame for sanctions other countries impose on Venezuela. If other nations choose to follow US policy (which many countries often do), that is still the fault of other nations for choosing to impose such sanctions.

Because the US's decisions definitely don't impact other countries. All those countries simply followed on their own accord, rather than being forced to accept the US's decisions.

[Freiheit Reich]

China of course. China is the worst threat to both its subjects and all other humans on this planet.

Red China is bad, but I think you are exaggerating the threat they impose just a tad. The PRC is a huge threat to the ROC and some factory workers from wealthier nations and a minor threat to South China Sea neighbors but many countries love China (especially Cambodia, Laos, some African nations, Pakistan, and Russia).

[Sanghyeok]

Chinese and Russian f###ery is nearly guaranteed to be magnitudes worse than anything the US has ever done.

People in Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba, and those Middle Eastern kids killed by US drone strikes tend to differ.

Ah, but you mustn't forget the American drones spread democracy.

[Sanghyeok]

I just said that it wasn't the only imperialist nation. Not that it wasn't.

In all of history perhaps.

But today, America is the most prominent one.

America is far from the most imperialist nation in history- as you said- since the United Kingdom comes to mind. But I agree with you that America is the greatest imperialist power today, even if other countries may soon take that position.

[Feyrisshire]

The USA is not to blame for sanctions other countries impose on Venezuela. If other nations choose to follow US policy (which many countries often do), that is still the fault of other nations for choosing to impose such sanctions.

The US still has foreign influence among Western countries (even if on decline) and its still the most prominent threat to Venezuela due to its military might.

I do agree that EU countries are also to blame, as they also have interests in Venezuela anyways.

[Nekostan-e Gharbi]

Israel is clearly the biggest threat.

Lol. That’s very antisemitic and irrational. One country as large as Massachusetts is the biggest threat to US. Does that make any sense?

[Sanghyeok]

Last time I checked, Russia and China weren't the ones that fucked up in Iraq and lead to the rise of ISIS. Hmmmmm, I wonder who that was.

Obama. Don't blame the mistakes of one person on the whole nation geez

Perhaps I would agree if this way only one leader's actions. Yet from Truman to Trump, I would be hard pressed to find a single US President who hasn't committed enough war crimes to make me question if America even signed the Geneva Suggestions.