this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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I had been asked to give a keynote speech at a conference at Columbia University's Journalism School. It was January 2002. Two planes had been flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center months earlier and you could still feel how wounded the city felt. You could read it in the faces of New Yorkers you spoke to.

But it was the words of one of his classmates that come back to me now. He had arrived in New York just a few days before 9/11 from his native Pakistan to study at Columbia. He likened the United States to Imperial Rome.

"If you are lucky enough to live within the walls of the Imperial Citadel, which is to say here in the US, you experience American power as something benign. It protects you and your property. It bestows freedom by upholding the rule of law. It is accountable to the people through democratic institutions.

"But if, like me, you live on the Barbarian fringes of Empire, you experience American power as something quite different. It can do anything to you, with impunity… And you can't stop it or hold it to account."

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[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 60 points 2 weeks ago

Well, we've managed to undo WWII and Civil Rights.

The Project 2025 plan is to undo Women's suffrage, WWI and the Civil War. too.

[–] ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The world knows what the American empire and Western civilization are. Maybe Americans and Westerners don't and that's why things are seemingly so shocking. And it's a very exciting time for any nation outside of the West, a dangerous time but one for perhaps positive changes and self determination. And yes, Trump's just the popular face used by capital to swindle MAGA and oppress the rest (MAGA follows regardless, just tell them it's the fault of some brown dude or gay dude or whatever, lol, they're known and mocked idiots in America which really puts it into perspective), and what we're seeing is the decline of an empire and the rats taking a bite of the cheese before they escape this sinking ship.

[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 33 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Positive changes and self determination? I feel like increasingly more "might makes right" world with more countries feeling free to bully their neighbors is going to cause the opposite. At least there was some, however tiny, effort in pretending that wasn't how it worked.

[–] ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world -4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

There was no effort, tell that to the victims of the American empire, of Israel, who quite literally raped women while wearing their underwear, what there was in the West was spin. Nobody has ever been more might makes right than them, Pax Americana was just subjugation, but conflict, especially in such a chaotic times, is inevitable. But I bet that, the moment Israel stops being supported by America and has to deal with their neighbours cordially and normalize, peace will come to the Middle East (barring another American/Western incursion), even the UAE and Saudi Arabia would have to play along, because it's hard to sell war to people who aren't amoral and bloodthirsty, really.

[–] gigachad@piefed.social 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

So you prefer the alternative multipolar order in which the USA, China, Russia and (maybe) India project their will in their regional influence zones by strength. That is certainly a point of view.

[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

There was no effort

Dunno how you understood what I wrote but bringing freedom, liberty, civilization, whatever, that was the tiny effort to pretend it wasn't just about subjugation and resources.

[–] ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What liberty was brought? Liberty by enforcing your systems and puppets? Freedom from their resources and lives? Civilization? What's in Western civ besides violence, man? That's what was brought. No, the tiny effort was the SPIN, the narratives, that repeated enough times can sound true, I guess? And yes, even the spin is gone, which is dangerous for Americans more than the rest of the world, because it means the people in power 1)are not focusing externally as much (but they're still vampires, ofc) 2)think they're past needing to pretend to have values.

[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You might've missed the word "pretending" in both of my replies

[–] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Dont know why you're down voted (actually I do know - liberals). Youre 100% right. Israel is the major source of instability in the region. It has killed hundreds of thousands and acts with total impunity. If the US dumped that colony it would be gone in a decade. But they won't. Its a small consolation to much of the World that endless support for israel is a primary reason for Americas accelerating decline.

[–] ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thanks for the moral support! 🙏

[–] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

No worries. I find Lemmy is just a smaller buggier version of Zionist infested Reddit.

[–] WanderWisley@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yes, yes we are headed towards another global war, citizens are being gunned down in the streets, but what about the billionaires?

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

They will make a ton of money and use the chaos to target their critics

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

They will get theirs

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

As close to honest I've ever seen from a Western venue.

The 1973 coup in Chile against left-wing Prime Minister Salvador Allende "wasn't orchestrated by the CIA but the United States said it would accept a coup", he added.

Lol. Yes it was.

[–] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Was in Chile earlier this year. There is a nice museum in Santiago which is basically about the Pinochet era. Seemed to be pretty honest about the whole thing. They didn't blame the CIA at all. They did talk about the school of economics that Pinochet subscribed to. That's influence, yes, but not the same thing as orchestrating the coup.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 1 points 1 week ago

🙄 you may want to dig into "Operation Condor" beyond what's written on Wikipedia.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 weeks ago

As we return to violence, hate and force all humanity faces a challenge. FTFY.