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Comment by Salgat | Hacker News Reader

Every major country has their faults, but the US definitely has a larger surface area for these faults as the only superpower left. On the other hand, as the only superpower left, we're fortunate the US exists as a stabilizing factor for world peace, rather than colonizing the rest of the world like every superpower before it.

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Lol, yeah, those aren't just faults. Destabilizing the entire middle east isn't just an oopsie you can write off, it's what you call "stabilizing" usually looks like. Your discourse is basically what everyone thinks of their own superpower, as long as they aren't on the receiving end of those "faults".

I'm not sure the Middle East would ever be stable on its own, unless you're saying the US was responsible for most of the conflicts on this list?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_modern_conflicts_in_th...

Colonialism still exists in a sense, but explicit force became unnecessary with the creation of the IMF and loan terms that allow for American and European firms to both extract resources and keep all the profits.

No one is forcing any country to take an IMF loan.

And if you think the IMF loans are so onerous, consider why Pakistan, which has allies in both China and Saudi Arabia, both of whom have lent it money in recent years, is going begging to the IMF instead.

And if the IMF is a tool of colonialism, why it is refusing to give money to Pakistan unless it agrees to measures such as the current administration not immediately using that money to fund a subsidy in oil prices right before an election. As opposed to the Saudis and Chinese who impose interest rates in the low 30%s, and acquire ownership of land and infrastructure when those payments are inevitably not made.

Countries usually take these loans in times of crisis. Not sure I'd blame them.

Where did you get 30% interest from?

Countries like the one I come from are developing at a rapid pace thanks to the IMF, World Bank, and American/European financial influence. There’s fair criticisms of the system, but asserting that america and Europe “extract resources and keep all the profits” is just lazy and ignorant rhetoric.

> rather than colonizing the rest of the world like every superpower before it.

I guess the colonialism has eased up in the last half-century or so. But the US definitely did our fair share.

EDIT maybe my fellow USians don't see them that way but they definitely were colonized - Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, American Samoa, Hawaii.

I'm given to understand that the Marshall Islands, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico are all free to choose to end their association with the USA anytime they like. What "colonies" does the USA have exactly?

The Compact of Free Association[1] in a nutshell mandates US financial, military, and geopolitical assistance and protections upon the sovereign countries of Palau, Micronesia, and Marshall Islands. These countries are independent of the USA and can end their association with the USA as they deem fit.

Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands are an unincorporated territory[2] of the USA and are sovereign American territory.

Simply put: Puerto Rico, et al. cannot unilaterally end their association with the USA because they are part of the USA.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_of_Free_Association

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territories_of_the_United_Stat...

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