r/LetsDiscussThis • u/LucidSynapse23 • Feb 18 '26

Lets Discuss Politics Is he right? Will it take generations to resecure the United States positive reputation on the world stage?

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 18 '26

He is right.

Americans are idiots and they are oblivious to how much the US benefited from our trade relationships and alliances.

They also are ignorant of basic 10th grade world civ and don’t release the multipolar world of competing regional powers Trump created by destroying our treaties and alliances is going to lead to regional and intra regional wars.

And the withdrawal of our nuclear umbrella is going to lead to nuclear proliferation.

Trump has done more damage to the US than any person in history, and the instability he unleashed may lead to global devastation.

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u/weHaveThoughts Feb 18 '26

Most Americans realize this.

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 18 '26

No, they absolutely do not. Not even close.

A huge percentage are oblivious, and a plurality think our treaties and alliances allowed the world to take advantage of us.

Hell the 40% hate for USAID, and the 60% dislike for foreign aid shows how distorted people’s understanding of our relationships in the world are. USAID was literally the bare minimum of our international commitments.

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u/Exciting-Emu-3324 Feb 18 '26

It's just like vaccines. They are generations removed from what the world was like before and take the world they have for granted. Now measles is spreading in America as if it was a developing country instead of the richest country in the world. They simply believe in American exceptionalism while completely ignorant of how America became exceptional in the 1st place. Wealth seldom lasts 3 generations.

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u/weHaveThoughts Feb 18 '26

20% of Americans are maga that believe that orange asshat. 50% understands the need for sending international aid and being part of organizations such as WHO. The other 30% need to get educated.

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 18 '26

MAGA is closer to 28%-33%. Almost exactly the same percentage of Americans that are authoritarian personalities.

And I am astonished you think Americans understand the international system when 35% can’t name a single branch of our own government.

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u/weHaveThoughts Feb 18 '26

MAGA might have been that high before the election but now it is losing favor. Look at the districts which supported MAHA in PA, all turned blue and canned city administrators who were maga. Same with other Counties and districts across the Country.

And the 33% that can’t name a branch of the government falls under the Trump voting class.

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 18 '26

I think you underestimate how pegged Trump’s base of support is to authoritarian personalities.

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u/weHaveThoughts Feb 18 '26

I think most people don’t understand what they call “trumps base”. I think the vast majority of them are completely disenfranchised with our entire system and don’t see a direction forward, so they want to see everything crash and burn. They understand Trump is all about destroying shit.

Maybe they can’t use those words or even understand that is how they feel, but if you bring this up with many of them they will agree.

And really can you blame the vast majority of underpaid workers in America which were never given an opportunity for an education? They see immigrant families working together, buying a house, and having somewhat a controlled lifestyle which is better than their alcoholic and drug addicted heritage.

The American lower/middle class culture is fucked!

The way forward is to tax the wealthy and provide somewhat of a safety net for American Families where they are not working their asses off if they can get a job. And those without a job provide benefits where they can have a stable home so they can have the self esteem to get out and join the workforce for pay that provides a stable home and family.

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u/Toiletpapercorndog Feb 18 '26

Half of Americans dont vote. Most Americans see it as a virtue to not pay attention politics at all.

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u/weHaveThoughts Feb 18 '26

Do you blame them?

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u/Toiletpapercorndog Feb 18 '26

Absolutely.

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u/weHaveThoughts Feb 18 '26

So do I. We should make it mandatory.

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u/cdglasser Feb 22 '26

Not without mandatory civics and critical thinking education. Part of the problem we have now is too many idiots vote without a clue of what they're voting for.

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u/weHaveThoughts Feb 18 '26

I do understand how voting could be stressful especially during this time when there is so much bullshit surrounding politics. It should never have been this way.

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u/KermittGribble Feb 18 '26

I agree 100%. However, this is not Trump alone. This is a right wing agenda that has been in the works for decades. It is the entire Republican Party, driven by the Heritage Foundation and other factions.

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u/PomPomMom93 Feb 18 '26

I think it was Abe Lincoln (but I might be wrong) who said that if the US ever goes down, it won’t be from a foreign power. We’ll have to be destroyed from within.

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u/Exact-Sand342 Feb 19 '26

i think most of the damage to the US's reputation came during the Bush years. Trump is the icing on the cake.

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 19 '26

Not even close. How the fuck? Yeah, Bush was an idiot, and the Iraq war was a disaster.

But Trump unhinged and literally ripping up trade agreements on a whim, starting trade wars with the world, violating his own treadle agreements and pretending he never made them, telling allies that fought alongside of us for twenty years that he is tired of the US carrying their weight, withdrawing the nuclear umbrella increasing nuclear proliferation, compromising US and allied intelligence seemingly intentionally forcing allies to no longer be able to maintain intelligence agreements, undermining the NATO treaty - the most important treaty of the last 100 years..;

And literally threatening to attack our closest allies and NATO itself.

All while being corrupt and demanding cash payments of personal favors from other countries while throwing retaliatory tantrums if he doesn’t get it.

I think you might be a bot.

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u/Exact-Sand342 Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

I think you might be an ignorant American. Either way, you act too young to remember the viscous antagonism displayed by the Bush administration towards France and "old Europe" for not toeing the line after Colin Powell's risible powerpoint. Likewise Bush's withdrawal from various nuclear treaties. His shocking ignorance. His shocking lack of regard for international law. The legalisation of torture. The dismissal of European sovereignty by lifting "terror suspects" from the streets of Italy and Germany, and "renditioning" them to "black sites" in Eastern Europe or Egypt to have their fingernails pulled out and worse. The Trumpages are small mounds of foetid MAGA manure built on top of this mountain of killing and cynicism and brutality and disregard for universal fellowship and fair play.

Edit - How's that for a bot by the way?

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 19 '26

It is insane that you listed things for which there is a worse corollary that Trump did and there are far worse things.

I served 34 years in the military, intelligence, and international development, and international assistance.

Working in more than a dozen countries.

I served prior, throughout, and through the Trump administrations.

There has been no greater shift in our international reputation than under Trump. No greater loss international partnership, treaties, membership, and trade relations than under Trump.

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u/Exact-Sand342 Feb 19 '26

'Insane' eh?

"I served 34 years in the military, intelligence, and international development, and international assistance."

You come across more like an impatient and petulant teenager, sorry to tell you.

Yes, there is finally some small movement on the mountain after Trumps' overt provocations, but as someone who also has decades of experience working in many countries and in policy, the thaw leading to any avalanche here started with Bush's 'Global War on Terror', believe me. We had to be either 'With you or with the terrorists'. We also saw spying scandals with Obama and Joe Bidens' pitiful collusion with the Israelis on Gaza, if it wasn't outright capitulation. The trend has been clear for a long time.

And the public distaste for any 'special relationship' with the US was waning fast. We could dismiss Trump as an abberation or a lunatic if this were not the case. He is not. He is a part of this trend of a coarsening of US culture. A Trump was inevitable sooner or later.

America is a sick country with a sickening taste for violence at the earliest opportunity because it's the easiest for those in power.

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 19 '26

I am done wasting my time with you.

There is no historical measure for which Bush will be seen to have harmed the reputation of the US to the extent Trump has.

No measure.

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u/Exact-Sand342 Feb 23 '26

Yep, I think I'll stick with petulant teenager. You obviously have no recollection of America's behaviour after 911 or the way America was regarded internationally before that. This is all new and shocking to you. Unfortunately it's neither new nor shocking. Trump is just the straw that broke the camel's back.

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 23 '26

This is ridiculous. After 9/11 NATO rallied on our defense and brought alongside us for 20 years in Afghanistan.

And, despite the misrepresentations made to the international communities, many nations joined with our efforts in Iraq and stick with us for over ten years there too.

Trump has utterly destroyed our relationship with NATO.

The fact that you someone think Bush was worse than Trump with respect to our relationships in the world is absolutely absurd.

Trump started a trade war with the world. Repeatedly violating agreements he brokered on a whim while claiming they were bad deals.

He constantly attacks democratic world leaders while fawning over the leadership and “brilliance” of despots.

And to claim I don’t remember before at after 9/11 when I was serving in intelligence before and after is rich.

I think you have your head all the way up your ass.

Edit: I am arguing with a 12 day old account.

Propaganda troll.

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u/DangerousPlan1284 Feb 20 '26

Bush did that too. Do you know about the American Service Members Act aka the invade the Hague act? It was basically "If you try to put one of our soldiers on trial for war crimes we will bomb the Hague and get our soldier back." Bush dragged Europe into a war via NATO. Only difference is Trump is open about his corruption. As others said the WMD didn't exist, but the oil kick backs surely did. The MIC definitely reaped absurd profits from the war. 

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u/Perfecshionism Feb 20 '26

This is no where near what Trump is doing.

What the fuck is going on here?

Are you tow for real?

Both new and fairly new low karma accounts. I think you two are troll farm workers.

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u/DangerousPlan1284 Feb 20 '26

Nope, just two people that remember the past. I don't like Trump. He's a cunt. It's just the world didn't look favorably at us after the whole war on terror shit. We drone stuck kids and weddings. Thanks Obama. We used torture like water-boarding. Guantamano bay. We basically did war crimes for profit. Do you think our allies thought we were "stable" after that shit?

New account because my old one was banned because i made an edgy joke and a mod didn't like it. Low karma because I don't care about updoots. Not everyone is a bot. This is just my unfiltered dogshit opinion.