No, this is extremely atypical US imperialism. That’s why the world finds it so shocking. Typical US imperialism is quietly redirecting food aid to support a more US friendly leader taking power, and slipping some arms shipments in as well. Our typical imperialism included strong-arming other world leaders, but only in closed door meetings, followed by shaking hands and smiling with them for the cameras. It was subtly reminding allies that they rely on our militarily might for safety from their more aggressive neighbors, so they owe us support on a global issue. And yes, the more heinous stuff, like assassinations, bribery, supporting coups, and etc. All stuff that’s plausibly deniable, or given a veneer of legitimacy, or just kept unnoticed. By the time any of the awfulness shows through, it’s old news, everyone’s attention has moved on to elsewhere.
Trump is destroying or fucking up at all of that. He’s taken all the winning hands the US has carefully built up and banked over many years, and thrown them in the trash. Following that, his meeting with Zelensky caught global attention by being blatantly naked imperialism running down the street babbling incoherently. If you’re an enemy of the US, or just someone who’s sick of our shit, you may want to celebrate, because we are currently watching American hegemony disintegrate in real time.
Latin America right now: first time?
This is why Trump is extorting Ukraine. The people of the USA are overwhelmingly in favor of helping Ukraine fight against Putin’s imperialistic invasion.
overwhelmingly
50-50 is about ending the war or reclaiming lost territories.
Polls about US support in your link is : “Americans are also split as to whether the U.S. is doing too much (37%), the right amount (31%) or not enough (30%) to aid Ukraine.”
So 37% : “we should do less/abandon/be against Ukraine”
and 62% : “we should continue to back up Ukraine”It’s the same question phrased differently. I’d imagine a significant portion of the “right amount” answers don’t have strong feelings either way.
Regardless, I wouldn’t really consider 62% “overwhelming,” but I guess that"s subjective.
This whole thing is so silly. It costs hundreds of millions and something like 18 years to build a rare earth mine. What company would be willing to risk that investment without any sort of meaningful security arrangement?
The dream is more important than reality.
This is how some of Trump’s real estate endeavors worked before he got into politics: hype, and sell to the public markets at an inflated price. For all people criticize him, he’s very good at encouraging the masses to buy things they really shouldn’t buy.
And later? Doesn’t matter, someone else is holding the bag after that, and it’s onto the next thing. Sounds a lot like crypto TBH.
Sounds a lot like crypto
You don’t say
Because all they want to do is point at the paper and say, “look we made money!”
“and now here’s a big tax cut for the mega rich!”
There’s also the issue that only Europe and global south are serious about using rare earths. The US even if it wanted to be a customer/user, is further away from more motivated manufacturing.
Or “raw earth” as our Idiot In Chief repeatedly says
$500 billion in raw earth sounds like one heck of a logistical challenge.
