The hubris that usually aids in the formation of empire and hegemony is the same hubris that usually leads to its downfall

Interactive visualization of Polybius’s theory of anacyclosis—the cyclical succession of political regimes.

Quote:

“That’s Google’s SafeNet. HSBC picked a level that causes this. Google manages the blacklist of apps. We are rapidly losing our freedoms to the will of these companies. If they decide they don’t want to they can even if the law doesn’t forbid it.

People in Switzerland and the EU are being de-banked by local banks because of US pressure allowing them to force any bank that wants to use USD. The US has started to sanction people for free speech resulting in de-banking.

Swiss law requires one bank (Postfinance) to offer banking irregardless but if you are sanctioned you can’t use the wire system, no other currencies, no credit cards and you cant use Twint either so it’s in effect useless. You can’t pay for your health insurance or rent.”

Inspector Dangerfuck burst onto the ANSI art scene with a bang, literally.

EE-LOF01.IMP, the first of two pieces in Imperial’s July 1994 artpack to feature the character, shows him walking with a gun in hand, as a bullet flies past. “God! This ain’t safe!” he exclaims.

A new project focused on analyzing how the United States uses the U.S. dollar as a tool of global power and influence. The piece argues that while discussions in Silicon Valley and Washington often focus on trade controls (like chips or energy), they overlook the monetary infrastructure underlying global power: the dollar. The author highlights that U.S. dominance in global finance has allowed it to enforce policy without military force and credits this for much of the stability seen over the past ~80 years. However, that dominance is now being challenged, especially in regions of Africa, Central Asia, and elsewhere where China and other rivals are building alternative financial systems that weaken reliance on the dollar and U.S. financial control.

And just like their parents before them, Brooding columnist Kathryn Jezer-Morton writes, their vigilance is suffused with anxiety.