America is Finding Out the World Doesn't Need (or Even Want) It Anymore

OPEN ME FOR LINKS AND NOTES (it's worth it, I promise!) Find me elsewhere...just don't expect coherence!   / csmalldog   https://www.threads.com/@csmalldog My podcast with Misti:    / @sorrywereamerican   Want to support the channel? A cuppa is much appreciated! https://buymeacoffee.com/de.cadence NEW Patreon is now live, if you want a truly UNHINGED recap of the year, plus other monthly goodies! All available as one off purchases OR via membership:   / de_cadence   WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT TODAY, KITTENS? ...so a couple days into 2026 I made a video about what was to come. Not even I thought what I foresaw would be happening as swiftly as it is! This isn't an "I told you so" video. Well. Not entirely. From Canada joining the EU, to Elon Musk (hilariously if sinisterly) shooting himself in the foot and possible causing a mass exodus from American military tech, the books being harder to publish because we've tariffed tree pulp, 2026 has been a study in America driving itself over a series of cliffs. And my thesis is still holding strong: there is no putting some of these broken pieces back together the way things were in 2024. That's good for the world and probably good for us as a species, but it's bad for my countrymen. And I both mourn it and think it's wholly deserved. As an American who has built her life abroad, I have complicated feelings about all of this. I don't want oligarchs or fascists to win. I don't want ordinary Americans to suffer. But I also believe we need to be honest about the consequences of our choices. The world is changing. It isn't going back. And some of the consequences haven't even arrived yet. My politics, as ever, are best described as spiteful optimism. Previous video:    • Culture, Media, and the Loss of Soft Power...   The extended six-month headline retrospective is available on Patreon...I recommend whisky... #AmericanPolitics #Geopolitics #AmericanExceptionalism ADDITIONAL READING FOR THIS EPISODE Professor Heather Cox Richardson on doomsday prepping guidance, unpacking the WWII chatter and Bibi's influence on continuing the Iran conflict:    • Doomsday Prep, Trump’s War Plan, and What ...   Professor Patrick Boyle on the recent IPO filing of Anthropic (and AI more generally):    • Anthropic Opened Its Books. What Is It Rea...   Brazilian Elections and Meta: https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-le... https://apnews.com/article/trump-inau... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2... How to **** up an economy:   • If You Were TRYING To Destroy The Economy...   ...Objectively wild time to be alive... https://www.reuters.com/business/fina... The Menacing MAGA Way to Remake European Politics, by the renowned Anne Applebaum: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/202... Music from Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks https://uppbeat.io/contributors/all-g... 00:00 - REMEMBER VENEZUELA?! 03:09 - The boomerang 06:31 - The world has moved on 08:42 - Of fish and water 11:07 - Meanwhile, in Europe and Canada... 16:53 - Even if you don't care, your pension does 18:45 - ****ing Elon Musk... 21:58 - Disrupting the disruptors 24:10 - Global politics and elections 30:37 - Masks off 32:37 - I. AM. TIRED. 34:18 - America is a bad boyfriend 36:58 - It's not going to get better 38:33 - Isolationist means isolated 43:13 - Wrap up 44:31 - Patreon preview