2016: A Damnable Year

The death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej has removed one of the few remaining points of unity in Thailand. Expect the next wave of unrest (among the many since 2010) to be harsher than before.

edited 13th Oct '16 7:30:01 AM by FFShinra

And even then, the US is only really still considered a superpower because they have the current strongest military (Though that's mostly because of their vehicles more than the troops themselves. The troops themselves do have some rather outdated equipment and a number of misfits) and economy. They are backwards in a lot of ways compared to other 1st World countries.

edited 13th Oct '16 2:54:31 PM by Bat178

Being a military super-power and an economic super-power are generally the two ways for a nation to be a super-power. It sounds like you're saying "They're only still a super-power because they're a super power"

If the US aren't a super-power, then nobody in the world is one, which is just plain silly. By default, the most powerful country in the world at any given time is its major super-power.

One can have a world without superpowers, I wouldn't agree that the US is no longer one (I'd say it's a far less powerful one than it was strait after the fall of Communism, but that's not the same), but it's entirely possible to have a world without any superpowers, simply a number of major/world powers.

But superpower is a relative term, as long as we are talking about a sociopolitic context instead of a comicbook one. By default, the most powerful countries on Earth are superpowers compared to the rest of them.

Superpower isn't just about being more powerful, but being more powerful by a large enough margin that most other countries will either cozy up with them, or find a different superpower to back them instead.

By that definition, the US is no longer a super power. It's a small buffet out there for the small fries on who to ask to back them.

I don't agree that superpower is just a term for the most powerful nations on earth, otherwise we'd still have two superpowers as one would have replaced the USSR, after all, someone else did take the number two spot after the fall of the USSR.

Superpower is a relative term in that the power requirement to be a superpower is determined relatively, but that doesn't mean a hard requirement doesn't exist.

China has pretty much replaced the USSR as the next rival Superpower to the US.

edited 15th Oct '16 1:21:09 AM by Bat178

At least until their housing bubble finally bursts. Which won't be good news for anyone.

Bad enough that the U.S. also has a looming auto industry bubble.

edited 15th Oct '16 1:46:43 AM by M84

I'm not American, but what auto industry bubble?

I'd explain it, but I think I'll leave that to John Oliver. He's got a better way with words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U2eDJnwz_s&list=PLmKbqjSZR8TbfAMV9bLy4beDh4vrze5kc

That's not an auto-industry bubble, that's an auto-lending bubble, there's nothing wrong with the US auto-manufacturing industry, just a ton wrong with the auto-sales industry.

edited 15th Oct '16 3:45:17 AM by Silasw

I don't watch You Tube videos as a rule. But , like said, it's a lending bubble? I assumed you were referring to an auto manufacturing bubble, of which I couldn't see much sign.

Right, sorry about that. It's a lending issue.

I've read about the ghost cities of China, these big modern urban areas China has constructed in which hardly anybody lives as few can afford it and there aren't a lot of jobs available.

Yup "ghost cities". Nothing ominous about that at all.

They're not really ominous, just the result of a really stupid move. Building infrastructure is great, but you should probably build it where people actually are and want to live.

Aren't a lot of those used as real estate hedge bets since Chinese citizens on average trust Real Estate value but distrust their stock market?

Yep.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be ominous. Where I'm from, a "ghost town" is just an abandoned town. Usually what's left of mining or company towns (after the mine closed and the company left), or towns that sprung up around the railroad (after the railroad closed a line, or moved it).

I've heard stories from the turn of the 20th century about planned urban expansions that never panned out in the US. Chicago, for instance, paved a road into an undeveloped woods, even built streetlights along it, and then nothing else got built there for years. Imagine how surreal that'd be to come across.

edited 15th Oct '16 3:23:22 PM by Robbery

You can also blame the "good old eastern inferiority complex against the west (i.e. America because all westerners are Americans for us.)" for that one. China is so obsessed with proving their superiority over the west that they count building infrastructure and real estate as GDP, not selling them. Just building the damn thing is enough apparently. Instant profit FTW!!!

There is also their issue with their excessive industrial capacity that is bad enough to cause oversupply.

By that definition, the US is no longer a super power. It's a small buffet out there for the small fries on who to ask to back them.

I'm sure the USA and the other superpowers are still eating more of the smaller countries than the other way around. Saying otherwise is a Trumpism.

You mean other superpower, as in China. France and the UK aren't superpowers anymore (Though they are still world powers, which are a step below superpowers), and although Russia has been rebuilding their strength in recent years, they still aren't quite a superpower again yet.

edited 15th Oct '16 5:43:49 PM by Bat178