this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
422 points (98.8% liked)

Political Memes

2100 readers
954 users here now

Non political memes: !memes@sopuli.xyz

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Balldowern@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

At this point, I'm just looking forward to ww3.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 24 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Sell the bonds to whom, Ben? Asian Aquaman?

[–] Batman@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago

gonna go with China

[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago

I understood that reference

[–] Juice@midwest.social 12 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Trump admin: let's crash the global economy because it will force an asset bubble onto the EU, a crisis that will benefit the most wealthy like 8 people on the planet while harming most everyone else. This will solidify whoever can deliver this gift as the members of the ruling class of their respective hemispheres. Our military power will ensure we can just take what we want from whoever we want, destroy the EU as a regulatory hegemon, so the international ruling class can raid their social democracies like we did social services in the USA. It will also strike a blow to China whose relative strength is propped up by some amount of control over their economy, allowing them to avoid severe financial crashes, even though they have a number of huge bubbles within their own economy that might be forced to burst! Disunity among nations is a boon to big money, and we will all become kings

EU: bored after reading the first line Lets destroy the global economy first!

Guys its gonna be a wild fuckin ride, buckle up

[–] JackBinimbul@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 20 hours ago

I wish an action like this would actually change things in the US, but it wouldn't.

The American people would continue to suffer and die--the most vulnerable and already marginalized first. Conservatives will get more hostile toward everyone else because of scarcity. They'll start shooting people at Wal-Mart over bread.

The rich will just white-knuckle grip their off shore bank accounts and move elsewhere.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

It's a global pyramid scheme. They can't just pick and choose.

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

The wealthy and their corporations control everything, everything else is just convenient propaganda.

[–] PedroMaldonado@lemmy.world 74 points 1 day ago (1 children)

All this shit didn't even have to happen but for the sack of rotten oranges posing as the president. WTF.

[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 72 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

We need to fix the system that allowed him to become president. Both the electoral structure and the right-wing propaganda machine. And the useless opposition.

[–] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

That would be the education system, and Republicans have spent decades doing everything they can to destroy it.

[–] Abundance114@lemmy.world -2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

The education system is dominated by the left, what are you talking about.

[–] dermanus@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 hours ago

Thanks for showing they did a thorough job.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This would be like taking Musk's money by making him sell his stocks. Once the market is flooded with paper, it becomes less and less valuable, very quickly. Musk doesn't actually have hundreds of billions anymore than the UE has trillions in US treasuries.

I know that's ridiculously oversimplified, but someone has to buy those bonds, and the later you are to the selling table, the less you get.

[–] AGM@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago

Yep, the massive bond dump is just a meme. It's financial MAD and would destroy the the finances of the countries selling off. Nobody wants it.

[–] C1pher@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Finally, somebody with understanding of how bonds REALLY operate and their purpose. What is in all those memes, are just “wet dreams”, that are far from reality.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 44 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (8 children)

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but aren't we locked in a weird cycle where the US sells its debts to continue functioning, but then much of the system relies on the revenue generated from those debts being paid by the US.

If a sell off were to begin the price of bonds would plummet. The first countries to sell would be least impacted, but eventually the later countries are in bad shape. You can say sell at the "exact same time" but that's not really how financial markets work.

I suppose the US is still more reliant on these bonds, but I'd imagine a crashed dollar would have pretty large ramifications globally.

Of course of of this will happen anyway if the US decides to invade Greenland.

I can see where countries no longer invest in US bonds, but may be forced to hold onto these to not take a budgetary hit.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's how it could create a runaway snowball effect. The first few countries to sell off their US bonds would be in the best position, after that the bonds' value starts to dip. Other countries see that and decide to sell off now before it gets worse, and the value dips further, accelerating as more and more countries realize they need to dump their US bonds asap cause it's only going to keep plummeting. The last ones to notice or act on it will be stuck with worthless bonds that will never recover their value.

That's how it would result in total economic collapse for america, and knowing that the sooner you drop the hot potato the better is what will create the rush to sell them off as soon as possible. How many initial sell-offs it would take to precipitate this effect is the question.

And since the crashed dollar will lower the purchasing power of anyone whose wealth or income is primarily in US dollars, anyone who drops these assets ahead of the game will be in the best shape. That's why a lot of US banks are currently buying gold; it's very likely to hold its value and is a very stable asset.

Assuming countries drop their USD-based assets before the crash, the relative values of their currencies should remain similar. For instance, the EUR to GBP conversion rate wouldn't change much. The more heavily invested in USD a nation's economy, the more detrimental the impact would be on their currency.

Commodity prices measured in USD for example would skyrocket, because the relative value of the USD would be crashing, but any currency that untethers from the US economy in time should remain stable relative to commodity prices, or possibly see some advantage if it gains value as a result of the USD crashing.

This is all contingent on countries dropping their US bonds and other assets, of course. The more dependent their wealth is on the US economy, the more detrimental the USD crash-out will be to that country and its currency. All the more incentive to be among the first to drop their US assets.

Even if they decide collectively not to do this, the AI bubble is going to burst sooner or later, and the further they kick the can down the road the worse the crash is going to be. Along with other trends like the US reversal of green energy initiatives while the fossil fuel industry is beginning to show cracks, the impending collapse of oil prices, etc., investing in USD is just really bad fiscal policy. People are only still doing it because they believe they can hold the jenga tower up long enough to grow their portfolios just a little more. Their greed will kick them in the ass if they hedge their bets too far...

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

I believe this ignores the ripple effects of a crashed US dollar. Unfortunately world economies are intertwined in a way we've never seen before.

I don't think either the Euro, USD, or Pound could collapse without dragging down the others indirectly. There's a reason to 08 crash was felt worldwide.

Don't get me wrong it would be the worst for the United States and any nation that fixes their currency to the dollar. But probably quite painful to downright disastrous for many other nations.

Of course all of that happens anyway if Trump does the worst of what he says.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah..... The really bad part is that it would be most harsh on countries with unstable currencies. The USD is basically the foreign currency reserve that backs most poorer nations currency.

Countries could slowly start exiting the US bond market, but they would have to find a replacement, and nothing has been as stable or financially open to scrutiny as the USD.

Even if more countries switched over the yuan it'd have to be a slow process. There would also be a lot more blind trust involved since there's a lot of things done behind the curtain between the national bank and local government banks.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If Trump gets his wish and co-ops the Fed, they might as well start dumping USD. It's going to be on a wild ride after that.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] Bullerfar@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Thank you. Let's use this. Becoming the 3rd superpower of the World

[–] moonshadow@slrpnk.net 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Boromir-ass take, have you not read Lord of the Rings?

[–] Bullerfar@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes, but he goes for total domination, I just wanna be left alone, and make sure people who doesnt, quickly thinks otherwise.

[–] moonshadow@slrpnk.net 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

He just wants to defeat Sauron and protect Gondor, a motivation strongly parallel to your own. I've been seeing a lot out of the EU basically advocating for becoming the next USA to deal with our bullshit and... my response is basically "please no, why, not again, you can do so much better". Please learn from our mistakes, do not adopt and perpetuate our ideology in the process of defeating us like we did against the Nazis

[–] Bullerfar@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

I see it completely different. I see it as a sign of unity and strong coorperation. The EU is already heading slowly towards federizing, as the natural step, since it is too easy right now to just block the progress of EU, with Russian sympertizers in both Slovenia and Hungary. Nobody wants the USA-model. You can federilize with a parlament model and not the Republic model.

[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 32 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (17 children)

Worth sharing: William Spaniel on YouTube is a political scientist, has written books about this kind of stuff, and REALLY knows what he's talking about. He discusses world events like this, and breaks them down really well so it's approachable and understandable for a clueless layman like myself. His videos are short and to the point, and can be listened to like a podcast instead of watched.

He mostly talks about wars, how and why they start, what is likely or unlikely to happen, things like that.

His latest video from yesterday about exactly how America's Greenland ideas would backfire: https://youtu.be/mQGMGnhC-NA

[–] ech@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

exactly how America’s Greenland ideas would backfire

He sounds like a smart guy, but people keep treating this insanity as if it's not intentionally destructive. It's not backfiring if the point was to cause division and chaos.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (16 replies)
[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Replace reserve with money laundering.

[–] Soulg@ani.social 6 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

It seems very obvious to me it will either be the Euro or the Chinese Yuan(?)

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 18 hours ago

Very forward looking. \s

[–] Dogiedog64@lemmy.world 7 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

Bitcoin is not a real currency, and anyone suggesting it as a new standard should be mocked. It's too clunky, too slow, and too prone to fraud and theft. The only real uses for Bitcoin are gambling, fraud, and buying drugs.

[–] Abundance114@lemmy.world -3 points 18 hours ago

2012 called and they want their Bitcoin hate slideshow points back.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com -2 points 18 hours ago

Keep telling yourself that while clutching ugly green paper covered in enslavers.

[–] fort_burp@feddit.nl 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I'm betting it'll go the other way- the USA declares insolvency (cloaked in freedom or whatever, of course) in the farce version of the Nixon shock and Japan's and EU economies implode from the massive loss of value on the books. China will be ok though, and Russia too since they have pretty much USA proofed their economy (it's shit, but it's still USA proof... so shit+).

It's economic warfare and the Epstein Empire is winning. Liquidating treasuries would definitely be a way to fight back, but will anyone have the guts to do it? I'm betting no.

Edit: that $2.34 trn figure includes the UK (about $750 bn), and Starmer is such a basketcase you can't count on him to do anything except twiddle his thumbs. Even without the UK though it's a massive figure.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›