Turbo-America, Simplified
Turbo-America, Simplified
"I think I'll use crayons this time."
Out of everything that I have written on this Substack, the concept that has gained the most traction has been the one that I call “Turbo-America”. Published back in April of 2022, you can read it here:
Many people found the concept interesting enough to share, discuss, and debate. I am happy that I was able to introduce a concept that generated a fair bit of interest.
On the other hand, it has also been a victim of misunderstandings, purposeful-misconstruing, ignorance, and “strawmanning”. The concept is very, very simple, but I now feel the need to dumb it down even more/re-state it because I find myself being confronted by people, either innocent or acting in a malevolent fashion, who mangle this simple concept and waste my time over and over again.
Therefore, I am going to do the following:
re-state the definition of Turbo America
why I originally introduced it
explain what it actually means in concrete terms
explain what it does not mean
list conditions for when it no longer is applicable
Turbo America is my concept. I defined it. You can critique it, you can agree with it, and you can also reject it. You can add to it/borrow from it to create your own concept. What you cannot do is argue with me as to its definition because I am the one who defined it.1
Definition
In the original essay, I wrote the following:
Still others want to go for gold and take on BOTH China and Russia at the same time. This screams of hubris, and we can now safely conclude that the various moving parts of the USGov and non-governmental centres of power have agreed on this approach. The drive for global hegemony whereby both China AND Russia are targeted simultaneously is what I mean by the term “Turbo America”.
That’s it. That’s the definition….and that is precisely the condition that exists today. No more, no less.
The Reason Why I Introduced the Concept
When you read this portion now, it might seem like a “no brainer”, which is testament to the strength of the overall concept. The reason why is simple: today, the USA seeks to both weaken Russia and contain China simultaneously.
This is an undeniable fact today, but only recently were we not absolutely certain that this would be the foreign policy of the USA. Recall that during the Trump administration, the mainstream media partnered up with what we call the “Deep State”, Big Tech, and NGOs to promote a discredited conspiracy theory that centered around the accusation that Donald Trump was in league with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Quite a lot of people have very short memories, but that was the actual colour of the room during those four very annoying years.
At the same time, Trump was pursuing a more belligerent strategy against Beijing, something that won him bipartisan support and that resulted in some fairer treatment from mainstream media.2
With Trump’s exit from the stage in early 2021, many observers and analysts were left wondering what the incoming Biden regime would choose to do, as the previous four years saw the temperature rise to boiling hot when it came to Russia and Putin. Would the Biden administration seek a confrontation with Russia? Or would it look to finally complete the long-awaited Pivot to East Asia?