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The Weekly Flail — December 28, 2024
OVERVIEW
2024 ends in confusion, and 2025 is plain scary. The odds are not suitable for a 2025 happy ending. We shall see.
It has become routine to find hope in technology as politics and economics have become hopeless. The bitter irony is that our technology only accelerates our cultural and climate collapse.
This week’s first section is about cultural collapse, followed by Climate and Technology.
We will have to work at it in 2025, but Happy New Year!
CULTURE/POLITICS
The World’s Four Legacy Empires Are Going Down [Fair Observer] [Edited as an overview by The Flail]
Since the Cold War ended in 1990, four legacy empires — those of China, France, Russia and the United States — have exercised an undue influence over almost every aspect of international affairs. From the soft power of fashion, food and sports to the hard power of arms, trade and technology, those four powers have, each in its own way, helped to set the global agenda for the past 35 years. By dominating vast foreign territories, both militarily and economically, they have also enjoyed extraordinary wealth and a standard of living that’s been…