So, today Kyle Kulinski had a video discussing bad takes on the whole Ukraine situation. Most of the takes mentioned were objectively bad, but then he ripped Yang for not being a full on leftist and supporting full on leftist talking points.
To quote Yang's tweet here:
"America has problems - but one has to know that international stability and norms have been reinforced by American power and decency for years - and the alternative is dark and playing out before our eyes."
Honestly...I don't see the problem with it. Kyle acted like this is taking a blind eye to the US's "war crimes" overseas and stuff, but honestly? I agree with Yang here. And to discuss my feelings on this into more detail:
Look. Yang didn't deny America has issues. And honestly, I kind of see where Kulinski is coming from, him being my age and growing up with the same historical forces at work. Millennials and people in my generation have every reason to be critical of America. We grew up in a mostly post cold war environment. We remember 9/11 happening when we were children or teenagers, we remember going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan...and we remember being betrayed. Bush, and the country as a whole really, betrayed our trust. We thought we were the good guys. We thought we were going in to liberate oppressed people, and that America was hated by our freedom. We were not aware of our imperialist history and how a lot of the world hated us for getting involved in everything. And I can honestly say a huge reason why I have the stance that I do toward foreign policy where I dont like to intervene is because of these conflicts in my formative years. I watched as military occupations just led to our soldiers dying, not a lot getting done, and a lot of collateral damage. So I generally oppose most wars of occupation around the world. And I support curtailing our presence in a lot of areas.
HOWEVER, and this is where I diverge from the far left these days, I understand that the idea that America is this evil imperialist power is one of extreme privilege, and one based on the idea that for most of our lives, America has been the undisputed hegemon in the world. When you're the only big dog, of course you can get blamed for most of our problems. But, unlike the anti war left, I never really supported a full isolationist stance, or believed we are better off getting rid of most defense spending. Like the greens wanting to cut 75% of our defense spending? That's insane. At most, I suggested around 20-25% in my UBI plans. Why? Because I understand that our position in the world is based on having an overwhelming military force that no one has a chance of beating. We spend so much on military, that we can overwhelm our enemies in a conventional war. We can fight both Russia AND China at the same time if need be. And honestly, all of that spending is specifically to deter...crap like this.
Look, American empire might have its issues, like all empire, but what people dont understand is if the US was not so omnipresent around the world, the world would be a far less peaceful place, with wars like those in Ukraine happening far more regularly. It's only been, because of the post world war II institutions and the threat of nuclear war that, so far, we have not seen World War 3. We're coming dangerously close right now, but still.
The fact is, NATO exists specifically as a counter balance to Russia. Because if it didn't exist, Russia would roll over Europe. It would expand its economic and military influence well beyond its borders, being an imperialist country and treating hundreds of millions of people in Europe, Africa, and Asia the way it's treating Ukraine right now. We won the cold war, and we kept institutions like NATO to serve as a counterbalance. And honestly? Everything Russia has done in the past 4-5 days or so has justified the organization existing for another 50 years probably.
And let's not get into the Asia situation. North Korea has ambitions to "unite" the Koreas back under communist rule. If not for our help, they would attack south Korea and be a very real threat to Japan too. China wants to invade Taiwan and expand its economic reach too. It's only our coalition of nations in eastern asia and Oceania that serve a counter balance. And China, given the chance, would pull the same crap.
Honestly, these countries do a very good job justifying America's hegemony over the world's affairs, and our bloated defense budget. We have that massive budget so we can counter both of these nations easily. We help our allies to protect us and our way of life. And honestly, I'm not just talking about capitalism either. Believe it or not, when I crap on the US, it's because we're one of the most regressive and least advanced modern industrial country compared to the others. Many of our allies? They have more vacation time, and maternity leave, and better safety nets, and aren't jailing black people systemically, I mean, when I look at other nations and what they're doing, I'm not looking at Russia or China or socialist countries as models. I'm looking at our capitalist, democratic peers. I'm looking as Scandinavia, and Western Europe, and parts of eastern Asia, and Australia, and Canada. You know? All of those countries often do things better than we do, while also having the same general model of capitalism and democracy. I believe that general model can be reformed over time to be more inclusive, egalitarian, and freeing to people over time. We don't need to give up these things to accomplish change, which is what the far left seems to want.
I know the far left likes to crap on America these days, but they're clueless. Socialism isn't the answer. Maybe we are a bit zealous with trying to impose capitalism on people. I definitely think we should be lenient to some third world countries who look into alternative economic systems, because quite frankly, early stage unregulated capitalism is hellish to me and I understand why they oppose it and flirt with left wing politics.
But at the same time, when the US intervenes overseas, it's not just about the economics. It's about the geopolitical chess board. If our guy is overthrown and they get another regime in there...are they going to align with us? Or are they going to align with Russia or China? That's what a lot of our foreign affairs is about. And that's kind of why we end up supporting questionable regimes sometimes. We might support them...because at least they support us, and nto Russia or China. Get it?
In the big picture, a lot of our foreign policy is about us controlling the world, so that Russia or China don't control it. Because that's bad. And that's what the alternative is.
Right now, there are only four major powers out there as I see it. The US, the EU+UK (collectively), Russia, and China.
And we can honestly consider the US and EU as one bloc under NATO. So it's NATO, Russia, and China. And Russia and China are belligerent authoritarian regimes who don't believe in human rights, democracy, or freedom at all. I mean, Yang is right, we ARE seeing that dark alternative right now in Russia's nakedly imperialistic actions. And China isn't much better. They're another autocratic regime.
So...at the risk of sounding like a lesser evilist, YES, the US ARE basically "the good guys". Now, that's not to say we shouldn't criticize the US when it comes to it. Absolutely, we should. We should question our support for certain allies and their repressive policies, like Israel and Saudi Arabia. We should question our own interventions overseas. Just because we're "the good guys", I put that in quotes for a reason. Sometimes we still act evilly. Sometimes we do the wrong thing. Sometimes we undermine the trust of the international community. We deserve criticism. But at the end of the day, if we have to have a world where the US is the global hegemon that it is, or a more multipolar world with Russia and China carving up Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania among themselves, uh...I think that the status quo is fine. Right now, we're seeing a little sliver of what the world would look like if we weren't so involved in world affairs. And the results scare the crap out of me.
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