solarpunk memes

Just to connect the dots for you, the US refused to sell Helium to Germany because of war sanctions. A beloved tool of the USA much more powerful today with global banking and the SWIFT network. Even though it was a civilian application, there were obviously some military uses and therefore blocked. That directly led to the deaths of everyone.

The SR71 is built out of titanium. The only supplier of titanium was the USSR. The USSR had sanctions against the USA for the same reasons. The US built fraudulent companies, forged paperwork and entire companies. They smuggled and stole and evaded the sanctions to get enough titanium to build the SR71.

Any US history about the SR71 tells it like a hero's tale. Having to outwit the bad guy for the greater good of the country.

Today, any nation that doesn't play ball with the US is blocked from global trade even if it means millions of deaths. Evasion of those sanctions by third parties is treated just as badly. And they get put on lists. The US is all about sanctions to control and talks about global law and order when it benefits them. But when they don't benefit from the sanctions, they have zero shame to evade them and brag about it.

There's a lot more, but that's a cursory look. If you've never ready the story of the SR71 acquisitions, it is an interesting read no matter what you think of the politics.