Disgraceful Degradation
Mon 6:15 pm +00:00, 7 Sep 2026
Source, paywall: https://boosty.to/cluborlov/posts/
Russia was never an empire in the Western sense; it was, rather, an anti-empire. Russia never followed the Western imperialist model of colonial exploitation. Instead, it lavished aid on countries and fostered local development. Russia financed economic and social development in the 14 other Soviet Socialist Republics, the Eastern Bloc countries in eastern Europe and on many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. More than 40 independent, sovereign nations owe their national sovereignty, liberation, or formal exit from empires to either direct military aid, diplomatic intervention, or formal agreements of the Russian Empire, the USSR, and the Russian Federation. Some of these, in Eastern Europe especially, have since turned out to be absolute, incorrigible ingrates. Some, especially in Africa, Latin America and Asia, are quite grateful but how much is their gratitude really worth? Russia was, overall, not the economic beneficiary of these efforts. It was these 40 countries that benefited from Russia’s good will and largess. By 1990 the USSR had exhausted itself. It collapsed swiftly because it could only draw on its own resources, which were very much depleted.
Nevertheless, following the collapse of the USSR, the Russian Federation formally assumed responsibility for the $104.5 billion in total Soviet-era debt. Over the course of the 26 years that followed, Russia paid off every dollar of that debt. What’s more, the Russian Federation has written off and forgiven more than $140 billion in foreign debt owed to it by various countries around the world. Added together and adjusted for inflation, this adds up to almost half a trillion dollars. That is more than the gross domestic product of 80% of the world’s countries.
This was, then, the path Russia chose. Realizing that its system was defunct and could not continue, the USSR collapsed swiftly, shed dependents, paid off and forgave debts. Barely two decades later it reemerged, smaller but stronger and wealthier than before. But it did not reemerge alone. There are now several other huge countries — China, India, Iran and several others — which have grown much stronger over time and are no longer willing to put up with US and Western colonial exploitation. They took inspiration from Russia’s example as a perennial bulwark against Western imperialism. Working steadily, they are eliminating the US dollar from world trade. More and more countries trade with each other using their own national currencies and payment systems. Washington’s once global reach is by now much diminished. American economic sanctions have been largely defanged.
So, what will the US do now? Will it collapse like the USSR, let go of its dependencies, repatriate its troops from bases around the world and work extra hard to pay off its debts? I wouldn’t bet on that. Colonial empires, as they fail, tend to do the exact opposite. They rob their colonies until there is nothing left to steal, then they attempt to rob their allies, then they rob their own citizens. Finally, some new-found usurper steals whatever is left and attempts to start over. It is not collapse, it is something much more disgraceful. I choose to call it “disgraceful degradation.”
There is an engineering term: “graceful degradation.” Engineers try to design systems so that they do not fail catastrophically. When faced with an error condition or a problem, they continue functioning at a reduced level. “Disgraceful degradation” is a play on words. It describes the opposite situation, where a single, minor fault causes the entire system to fail catastrophically — to collapse. I choose to use the term “disgraceful” in its moral sense: as dishonorable and reprehensible. And I choose to use “degradation” not as a catastrophic event but as a drawn-out process of deterioration and decay.
And so, here is my brave new prediction. The US will not collapse like the USSR. Instead, it will meander downhill, following the path of “disgraceful degradation.” It will attempt to extract whatever wealth there remains out of Europe, Japan and South Korea, which are still under its military occupation. Australia and Canada are certain to get fleeced as well. The entire Eurozone is there for the taking. The euro is hitched to the US dollar. Printing euros is not possible without a dollar-euro currency swap line maintained by the Federal Reserve. This makes it quite effortless to pull the rug out from under the Eurozone when the time comes. But such extreme measures are not yet called for. For now, the Europeans are being rather effectively fleeced by being forced to impoverish themselves to the benefit of US defense contractors. Supposedly, they are doing so in defense of the Ukrainian regime in Kiev or to prepare to go to war against Russia or some such ridiculous ruse. Meanwhile, other ploys, such as the ridiculous Artificial Intelligence buildout in the US, are being used to loot Americans’ own retirement accounts, insurance policies and other savings. The obvious goal is for a handful of billionaires to cash out before it all crashes.
It will be interesting to see to what depths of cynicism and depravity the Americans will descend before they are forced to declare their national project null and void. A good guess is that this will happen only after all those countries the Americans can still control are reduced to impoverished, deindustrialized, migrant-infested wastelands. But perhaps the recognition of its collapse will never arrive. Why concede failure and your complicity in it? Isn’t it so much easier to continue bloviating about being the best and the greatest? And isn’t that what Americans have come to expect? Every four years some clown pops up and declares his intention to make America great again. Then he pull a few swindles and absconds with the stolen goods. Americans are quite inured to this. But what if somebody came along and actually attempted to do something constructive? Wouldn’t that be hopelessly naive? What’s more, Americans would probably find it funny.
This, then is my brave new prediction: the USSR collapsed from the inside out; the USA is collapsing from the outside in. Or perhaps it never will collapse at all. Perhaps, when the time comes, its “inside” will be so hollowed out that its collapse, should anyone still choose to call it that, will not be noticeable. If there are no longer any “states” or if there are a few left but they are no longer “united”, then what is there left to collapse? Some local crime syndicate? Well, then, in the fullness of time it would be replaced by some other local crime syndicate, la-de-da.
I intend to continue following the progress of this “disgraceful degradation.” I will do so on this channel, as well as on my blog at boosty.to/cluborlov, where many of my books and articles are freely available. From now on, I intend to avoid making recommendations as to what people should do about any of it. The content I am going to offer from now on will be strictly informational.
