Well one thing gives me peace is that there is not anything we can do about it all but pray and maybe do a bit of prepping. But there is no doubt a Great Worldwide Famine is on the way: Ezekiel 14:13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:
I have read several accounts from trustworthy people that Iran, unlike their opponents, try and hit military targets rather than hit purely civilian ones. This is difficult in a densely-populated country like Israel. Also Israel deliberately places much of its military and intelligence infrastructure in highly populated areas. The Iranians are also conscious of the Gazan and West Bank populations and wish to avoid doing harm. Unlike their genocidal opponents, they seem to have a moral approach to war. As for your last sentence, Iran has been ‘on the ropes’ for fifty years and are exporting more oil than they did in the last Trump presidency. They are as tough as nails, unlike those of us in the West who start squealing at the first rise in oil prices. The one at biggest risk is the US Goliath which is in grave danger of wrecking its ‘petro-dollar’ or hitting bankruptcy point under the weight of its debt. No amount of ignorant bluster from Donald Trump is going to change anything. The American Ponzi scheme, like any other of its kind, cannot last indefinitely. Once the rest of the world loses faith in the ‘petro-dollar’, printing dollars is only going to have the same outcome as Weimar Germany or modern-day Zimbabwe. I read today that Donald Trump has increased his net worth from $2 billion in 2024 to $6.5 billion now. Maybe that’s the real casus belli. This is a useful perspective: https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/trump-moves-closer-to-final-blowout
To be replaced by that heavenly bastion of perfect morality that is the United States, with its culture of vulture capitalism, abortion, pornography, LGBTQ, piracy, colonialism and imperialism and endless wars. The Cubans will be delighted to see their actually quite good health system demolished, so that they can join free Americans in becoming bankrupt when they get sick. They can celebrate as Cuba emulates its neighbour with the top 1% of the country owning 32% of the wealth. Although St Pope JPII was the main man to topple Soviet Communism, he did warn us that the predatory kind of capitalism practiced by the US was not much better. As Chesterton said, the biggest problem with capitalism is that there aren’t enough capitalists. The modern kind involves stealing of most of the money by a tiny minority using clever accounting.
What Trump is doing is pure communism and pure evil and I say that as someone whose family truly suffered under communism and knows exactly what it is. Communism is not just a political movement but an idea and a core part of that ideology is treating people as objects where everything they have does not belong to them but to the collective that is to the party or those in power. In other words they steal and take what belongs to someone else Trump’s behavior is literally a communist mindset taking something that is not mine not because it belongs to me but because I can and no one can stop me. If anyone stands in my way I will label them as an enemy and eliminate them because they dared to oppose me. In Venezuela he essentially left the same government in place now it is someone from Maduro’s cabinet at the top the only difference is that American companies have taken control over Venezuelan oil and all of Venezuela’s gold has been sent to the United States. So how is that not communism theft and looting while the people are left with the same dictatorial party in power. I am saddened by what the United States has become it is led by pedophiles who traffic people it pursues an imperialist policy where independent countries are attacked children and civilians are killed to gain access to resources, foreign presidents are overthrown, religious leaders are assassinated, genocide is supported, the president openly manipulates the stock market, threatens the Pope and the Vatican and promotes piracy by seizing other countries’ tankers... US foreign policy has truly started to resemble a mix of communist and Stalinist doctrine... That is demonic behavior.
I remember a discussion with my son-in-law in which we both agreed that, in circular fashion, the extremes of the left and the right both met at a single point. [The opposite point on the circle, which would be a perfectly just society, is not achievable in a fallen world, and there are grave risks involved in too energetically attempting to do so].
I agree with this. The extremes of a " political philosophy" become worse than religious extremism on both sides. Iran set a picture of the absolute worst of religious extremism. Communism set a picture of the horror of political ( so called) extremism. Not so very different from each other. Capitalism has its own devils no doubt. Unrestricted capitalism (greed) can also cause grave harm but on balance the freedom to make your own way in the world has resulted in a "lifting of all boats". The moral decline in the west is shocking--having lost faith in God they have as St Paul warned--turned to fables. What all these systems have in common is their greed and lust for power and their own brand of idolatry. Without faith in the true God and His Son Jesus Christ nothing works. Nothing. We are seeing this now. God doesn't need to release wrath. Our own sins are doing it. We have all in our various nations taken a bite of the apple in one way or another "to be like gods". We need our Mother! And she has promised she will come. And maybe soon.
It's always good to get rid of communism, but it's worth remembering that in Venezuela, he kept in power a woman linked to the old regime. Moreover, I don't think it would be wise to topple Cuba while leaving Kim Jong Un in power in North Korea, given that he represents an even worse example of communism. If he were to overthrow Cuba, which likely has an obsolete military arsenal, the most probable outcome is that Kim Jong Un would rearm to the teeth.
The people in Cuba live on 20 dollars worth of beans and rice each month. They already have access to abortion. Also thousands of Cubans risk their lives to go to the US each year. That's how much of a hellhole Cuba is. Trump isn't perfect but when he does something good I acknowledge it.
What are you even talking about? Life in Venezuela under Maduro was hell. A living nightmare. Yeah, Trump is controlling the oil coming out of Venezuela through investments. Which is exactly what developed Venezuela in the first place, American investment. American investment is what made Venezuela a first world country at one time. Those in power in Venezuela are likely kept there because they are the ones who helped Trump oust Maduro. They are the discombobulaters. Venezuela is on its way back up right now and it is nothing but a good thing.
Iran launches thousands of missiles one day at Israel but then suddenly becomes the protectors of Gaza when they can't anymore? Whether you like Trump or not it's important to remain objective. Trump has been winning on a lot of issues and is continuing to win. The only reason the world has freedom of speech currently is because of X which Trump allows. There are a lot of good things he is doing.
True capitalism, which is the freedom to benefit from the sweat on your own brow, certainly lifts all boats, at least in as much as God chooses to allow. The crony capitalism which now dominates is going to sink all (or most) boats when we reach the debt ceiling. A person who is poor, but owes no money to anyone, is richer than a person with a glamorous lifestyle but whose house and car are owned by his bank. Surely, it is no different for countries?
Donald Trump is next door to being the Antichrist, in my opinion. He has pictorially posed as Christ, with an image of Baphomet above his head. He has broken every imaginable international allow and behaves like a pirate. He is working for Israel, not his own country and has threatened the annihilation of a civilisation, even as he plays the market for his own enrichment. All these issues have been discussed in detail on the War on Iran thread. Iran has actively given more help to the Gazans than all us Westerners who stood idly by while Israel continued their Genocide and they are still at it. Donald Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, have given every support for this Genocide and for the next one that has begun in Lebanon. These people are demonic.
This irresponsible man gave the Iranian people false hope that they would finally be freed from the tyranny of the Ayatollahs, which remains firmly in place through its surviving remnants. On top of that, he had the audacity to say in January that he would control Venezuela's oil—something that may well become a nice gift for the next Democratic administration. He will probably end up dismantling NATO, and it has become clear that it will not be because he is a non-interventionist Republican.
Communism has been, and still is, a terrible scourge on mankind. But, its errors have spread to the West and evolved into a society that is a greater risk to mankind than the communism that poisoned it. Communism is an ideology that appropriates for itself the wealth of all its citizens. American neo-liberalism is an ideology in which the State has landed upon every citizen a debt greater, on average, than the wealth each one possesses. That kind of government does not seem to me any less wicked. We deserve a Chastisement and there’s one coming. We are going to have played a big part ourselves in creating it.
This is a fair point but it isn't over yet. You can say that toppling the Iranian government hasn't happened fast enough.
It seems very much in vogue right now to call people demonic...and it's sitting very uncomfortably in my spirit to have to read these accusations over and over. I can't think of a worse thing to call someone. Isn't it even slightly possible that we don't know the hearts and all of the motives of these people in power? Can we disagree with them and disapprove of their actions while also praying for their souls and seeing them as fellow people created and loved by God?
Iran funds loads of terrorist groups in Palestine. Groups which treat their own people just as poorly as Israel. Iran's government is brutal in how they treat their own citizens as well. I agree that Israel is very heavy handed. But the militant groups in Palestine would do the same thing to Israel given the chance. It's a war between two hateful people's. Trump has also done loads of good for his own people in the face of many great evils in his own country. Here is a list from his first year alone. https://share.google/l0Z0ivm5WLwiQ8tbx You can also add to that the removal of Cartel leaders in Mexico have been happening at a faster pace. Most recently "the gardener" has been removed. I don't disagree that he does sensational stuff to get people worked up. But I don't think he's the antichrist.
