a book review, but first: [and even before the video; his views on the civil war in eastern europe between slavs i find to be often ridiculous*; i.e. based on western/ukrainian propaganda] now unto the video and review:
the fracturing of the global economy –
Resources – modernity is built on the scaffolding of a super intertwined complex interspersed system of resources (from all corners of the globe, just in time)
Shipping – reliant on U.S. protections, which are waning
[ https://johnharbar.com/filling-in-the-story-does-it-hold-water/ – https://gcaptain.com/end-of-the-world-is-just-beginning-book-review/ ]
Demographics – everywhere, populations are getting older with less children/working adults – millennials in 2040 the exception
Finance – the U.S. is relatively healthy; Eu is teetering, China is running an experiment on how much money they can make up before reality reasserts itself (asian financial crisis on steroids)
[ https://johnharbar.com/it-makes-sense/ – https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/a-self-fulfilling-prophecy-systemic-collapse-and-pandemic-simulation/ ]
Food – famine appears to be unavoidable (the best spice in the world – hunger; it will make bugs look very appetizing [my editorial])
it is not pretty …
although, the united States does seem to be sitting in the best position [more broadly, NAFTA] –
crazy just how effed China is, if the book is accurate.
Take-aways: the last couple of years make more sense – if the splintering of the world is going to happen regardless of the actions man takes now – due to what man has done the last 75 years, but especially the last 20/25 years, and even moreso the last 10 – then it is likely better for it to happen sooner rather then later:
If China is going to disintegrate due to being a vacuum cleaner of resources due to demographics and finance, then using Taiwan to push the country to face reality makes sense.
If Russia has a host of problems [though it appears to be mostly demographic] then push there too.
Europe lives beyond her means, and the union is based on a fantastical narrative rather than feasible existability, let alone sustainability, then she will be treated as such …
The book does not address the many uS/corporate policies that have hindered many of the nations into the organized chaos structures many humans find themselves apart of …
e.g., the turning of large swaths of arable land from solid food stuffs to export based cash crops, the ruining of indigenous industries for political reasons (allende in chile, venezueala, etc.) Not to mention the coups, the bribes, the cajoling, the wars. Fair point, however, the book’s focus/perspective is based on geography first and foremost. Additionally, without the aforementioned intrusions into the affairs of different countries, the american led Order would not have been possible – how else does oil from the middle east end up all around the world?
the landscape after WWII was historical anomaly that is now coming apart at the seams.
At the end of the day, having a bunch of people flying all over the world as tourists is dumb.
Automobile usage around the world, based on the American model, is dumb.
The unending use of electricity for entertainment and comfort is dumb.
https://youtu.be/fBE0RKbRbl4
and this will not be popular, but old people with no wisdom to share is dumb (esp. rich retirees). [the culling of nursing home residents in many states (NY, NJ, Penn.) lends to this train of thought – ]
– or look into canadian euthanasia – er, “dying with dignity” trends/worries
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gusalexiou/2022/08/15/canadas-new-euthanasia-laws-carry-upsetting-nazi-era-echoes-warns-expert/?sh=73e5a838c7b8
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Canadians-Turn-to-Euthanasia-as-Solution-to-Unbearable-Poverty-20220523-0013.html
most of the green revolution is pie in the sky marketing : e.g., the energy to build a tesla battery = 55,000 miles driven by an ICE vehicle in terms of CO2 output; this doesn’t even include the extra brake sediment released b/c EVs are heavier.
at the end of the day, the book was very repetitive, because a lot of the factors that are problems for certain countries/regions all overlap and relate to one another. Dire is the word that comes to mind, with little glimmers of hope interspersed here and there. North America does seem to have a lot better chance of riding out the forthcoming misery, but internal politics is not discussed in the book [and also intelligence/propaganda: https://edwardsnowden.substack.com/p/americas-open-wound ] – i.e., there appears to be a major propaganda effort to splinter the country into many different factions. Where Zeihan sees and writes of regions connecting, there appears to be a very real chance for the balkanization of America, along the lines hoped for in the following book (by the brutish british, master saboteurs and plotters):
https://archive.org/details/treasoninamerica00chai
that said, covid/vaccine is the canary in the coal mine for me, as opposed to geography.
*https://zeihan.com/the-collapse-of-empires/ [ video therein: https://youtu.be/cs6pIpCE00Y ] – i would guess the equipment is highly inflated, and what was left was likely left to prolong the war for the reasons listed below …
counter point of view from andrei martyanov: https://youtu.be/KI8EmsdlBHU
– it is still my opinion that the “theatre of war” in eastern europe is meant to implement wide spread deindustrialization in western europe, and in general lower the living standards therein – with the added global capitalist aim of crippling strong unions and the connections that come with national worker solidarity. I could be completely wrong, by the way; and the possibility is, admittedly, very high; I don’t follow the news very much or give that much thought to geopolitics. grain of salt, and all …