Bad Times Ahead

 

Reading this eloquent description of how Western liberals have destroyed any claims of moral legitimacy:

The September deadline set by France, the UK, Australia and Canada for Israel to stop its genocide and commit to a two-state solution is fast approaching. And looming alongside this deadline is a final crisis of legitimacy for western liberalism.

Firstly, let’s just reflect on how utterly absurd these conditions are: we’ll recognise your right to your own independent state ONLY IF YOUR HOLOCAUSTERS KEEP HOLOCAUSTING YOU. They are making the creation of an entity which, legally, according to the 1948 partition agreement should have existed for the last seventy seven years anyway, contingent on more slaughter.

The pitiful centrist impulse to triangulate every issue has never been more pathetically, tragically and infuriatingly on show. The belief that you can carrot-and-stick your way to a liberal sweet-spot solution on every issue, even an actual holocaust, is such an odious reflex.

Gaza should, and I believe will, mark the end of liberalism. You can't support an openly declared final solution, announce two years later that recognition for the victims is literally contingent on the final solution proceeding, while continuing to trade on the same old lines about human rights, equality, justice.

Gaza has shown it all up as a sham. The events of the last nearly two years have driven a stake through the dank, rotten heart of this liberal ideology.

And combining it with this summation of the relative strengths of the declining USA-European hegemony and the rising Global South:

Now take a look at the “Golden Billion”, NATO plus Japan and South Korea. Lower population. Weaker military (yes, it is.) Behind in 80% of techs. Slower economic growth. Smaller real economy (industrial/resources.) They still might be considered to have a corner position (though not once the Chinese unambiguously have the stronger navy, which they will), but it’s the only advantage they have.

The original Cold war started off with NATO leading in tech/population/economy/position, and behind it economic growth/military size.

...

Russia and China just signed a new pipeline deal. The energy that went to Europe (the cheap energy) is now going to go to China. Chances of Europe avoid de-industrialization have gone from slim to damn near none.

The Soviets pumped resources to their allies. The Americans are cannibalizing them. The Soviets made a mistake, but this strategy won’t work either, because a fundamentally financialized economy cannot produce the type of real growth which is required to win a great power competition.

The world is dividing into two great blocs. One of them is so much weaker than the other, with so much worse future technological and economic growth prospects that it is almost certain to lose.

Our side.

Makes it clear that bad times are ahead for those of us living in the realm of the dying hegemon.  Our bullying, our hypocrisy, our thievery, our monstrous cruelty, ... these things will all be remembered.  And, our societies continue to be dominated by rapacious oligarchs.  Last-stage capitalists who know only how to gouge and cheat and bribe and murder.  Corrupt, untalented, fraudsters.  A financial sector that dominates an industrial sector that makes shoddy products at high prices.  

The degeneracy of our culture is reflected in such things as working class support for a stinking heap of corruption like Doug Ford.  Or right-wing chumps worshipping the nauseating and deranged Donald Trump while liberals shriek and whine about how high-functioning Joe Biden was.  Mewling neoliberal scumbags like Mark Carney, doing all he can to maintain offical support for a genocidal Israel after having put out a book about his "values."

We're going down and we're too sick to do anything about it.