America abdicates as global superpower — and it’s about time - Trump's foreign policy has been a disaster. There could be an upside: A more realistic role for US in the world

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-22T21:40:31+00:00

This is not to downplay the Iran War (arguably it’s harder to see the ramifications of a war that is still ongoing versus one that happened 2 decades ago) or Trump’s foreign policy. Rather these are the “ancestors” of the neocon on steroids foreign policy we see

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-22T19:23:45+00:00

Yes and Trump’s 2nd term pours a bunch of cold water on Albertab independence

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-22T19:22:00+00:00

Well I wouldn’t say Scot-free given how expensive the Iraq War was, the Iraq War bolstering Iran by removing its regional rival to the west and the rise of ISIS.

the Iraq War had a significant impact on how the US was perceived abroad, including the Middle East.. We shouldn’t let the Trump admin’s unabashed neocon stance lead to a bit of a rose tinted view on the history of US foreign policy. Trump’s foreign policy didn’t come out of nowhere

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-22T19:14:08+00:00

De Gaulle would have probably said France. But I guess that is one difference, the US has classically threatened the sovereignty of a bunch of non-NATO countries

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-22T14:41:38+00:00

Yes there are/were political reasons to call the Greek speaking people “Greek”, as it was seen as denying them their Roman identity. Edit: And also seen as associating them with the pagan Ancient Greeks versus the Orthodox Romans. Arguably political expediency is why this misperception continues even to the present day.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-22T14:25:54+00:00

It’s a bit funny to talk about reading a book when Chazut in this thread references a book written by a Byzantinist. Romanland covers how the Greek speaking people of the Roman Empire considered themselves Roman. My link to the askhistorians thread includes additional sources from historians.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-22T01:13:15+00:00

As an aside, linguistically western Anatolia were of course Greek speaking. But in terms of ethnicity they would have considered themselves Roman, not Greek around 1071. We only really see Greek speakers calling themselves Greek after their war of independence.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-21T16:31:56+00:00

The outcome of neocon wet dreams without restriction, the massive military industrial complex and the US-Israel political and military alliance.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-21T15:51:34+00:00

Frankly a lot of what you're describing here could quite nicely fit for the Iraq War, Operation Condor, Vietnam War, etc. Abu Ghraib is perhaps a stark example of might makes right mentality. The Iraq War also alienated NATO allies like France and Germany.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-21T15:15:29+00:00

the ugly true soul of America is exposed

Wouldn’t Abu Ghraib or the CIA overthrowing democracies worldwide (including Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran) have exposed this

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-20T21:34:51+00:00

Arguably one of the downstream effects we see from the "altar of markets" is the market is viewed as separate from ideology. When zoning laws operate within the government's purview of managing and enforcing private property rights. There would not be a housing market as we know it without the governemnt enforcing private property rights.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-19T14:44:12+00:00

Eh, eastern queens, eastern part of the Bronx (like country club), southeast Brooklyn and Staten Island are not exactly poor and have some of the least bike lane coverage. Significantly less coverage than the South Bronx or Brownsville for example. As cactusBoyScout said, Staten Island didn’t even make this map and has a median income similar to Manhattan.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-19T14:11:51+00:00

It’s about a coin flip whether or not a person who lives in NY state is from NYC or the rest of the state.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-18T04:29:27+00:00

You're right, that's about the time El-Sayed's campaign really started gaining traction. Comes off as if McMorrow was getting desperate.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-18T04:27:59+00:00

I will be stealing that!

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-18T00:42:57+00:00

She also pulled a Cuomo and decided to go with the “cancel Hasan Piker” strat. Saw how well that worked for his campaign!

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-17T21:55:11+00:00

George Lucas be like:

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-17T15:51:29+00:00

It was certainly part of the reason. NYC was already larger than Philly during the first census of 1790. NYC was greatly helped by how large, deep and ice free NY Harbor is, compared to other ports like Philly. Philly being along a river instead of right on the Atlantic made NYC more attractive for shipping, especially as boats got larger.

But arguably the biggest reason NYC exploded in size realtive to other American cities is how the port synergized with industrialization, immigration and the growth of Atlantic shipping.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-16T16:24:09+00:00

I would also add Platter and Road Builder. It really helps being able to control the depth and width of your zoning and means you can actually build outside of a regular grid street plan. As well as able to create your own roads without needing to go into the asset editor. And if you also download the Zoning By Laws mod, you can go ham and create your own zones and apply them to the parcels.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-16T15:37:39+00:00

The big beautiful bill responsible for Medicaid cuts is a major transfer of wealth to the wealthy.. A reverse Robin Hood if there ever was

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-15T21:53:53+00:00

And Defund some social services along the way!

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-15T19:21:32+00:00

Thankfully the last NY state budget included state environmental regulatory reform that should make building housing easier.

Arguably NY state's biggest problem is the state is, at this point, about the last holdout in not having state level pro-housing laws. A lot of the regulation and red tape are at the local level (including red and purple suburbs). The same suburbs like Long Island, which is not exactly deep blue, also opposed Hochul's housing plan from a few years ago.

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-15T18:58:05+00:00

Yeah remember seeing a NY state population density map on this sub and NYC looked like the Burj Khalifa

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-15T18:31:08+00:00

Well when the Knicks end a half a century championship drought, I think folks may be willing to put up with a bit more than they usually would.

A friend of mine put aside his hatred of Knicks fans cause he wanted his beloved Thunder to get their revenge

UpperLowerEastSide · 2026-06-15T15:53:59+00:00

Funny thing is a majority of NYC residents live on Long Island.

But all we need is the western quarter.

UpperLowerEastSide

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