US Politics Mega-thread - Page 5432

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Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting!

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GreenHorizons

United States23577 Posts

January 12 2026 15:29 GMT

#108621

DHS/the US government is now accusing protesters in Minneapolis of using babies as human shields. Think we know what that means

Jankisa

Croatia1052 Posts

January 12 2026 15:51 GMT

#108622

https://v.redd.it/80p28r1g5xcg1

Fucking vile.

ICE kidnaps a 17 year old kid from his job at Target, he's a US citizen, for no fucking reason, they slam him on the ground, cause him injuries and then dump him 2 blocks down at Walmart crying his eyes out.

To fix what?

I hope that ghouls like the ones who keep justifying this shit around here get picked up like this and roughed up, maybe, just maybe it dawns on them that enabling violent and unaccountable thugs to do this is not an appropriate reaction to anything, let alone an uptick of immigrants coming in.

GreenHorizons

United States23577 Posts

January 12 2026 15:52 GMT

#108623

On January 12 2026 16:27 GreenHorizons wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 12 2026 15:56 ChristianS wrote:

On January 12 2026 09:21 ChristianS wrote:

On January 12 2026 06:12 GreenHorizons wrote:

On January 12 2026 05:20 ChristianS wrote:

On January 12 2026 04:15 GreenHorizons wrote:

On January 12 2026 04:00 ChristianS wrote:

On January 12 2026 03:22 Introvert wrote:

On January 12 2026 02:15 ChristianS wrote:
I probably agree with GH that oBlade is a waste of time to engage with. He’s not dumb, I even kind of admire the willingness to do some pretty tedious nitpicky argumentation. But it’s just so clear that he treats politics like a speech and debate club where he’s been assigned the Republican position and is supposed to defend it vigorously by any means necessary. I never did speech and debate, it doesn’t interest me that much, if I just wanted an mentally engaging competition I’d go play chess or Starcraft or something.

Intro I’m less certain about. He’s got some of that speech and debate tendency (he’ll even kind of say this himself, talking about how if he has anti-Trump opinions he doesn’t see the point in posting them here). But I do think an important thing to understand in all this is what the fans of all this actually want, and why they’re supportive of it. oBlade’s perspective is probably too fabricated to give much insight there, but Intro is a bit more mixed.

Like, there’s a subtext to everything happening in MN (currently, although previously and still somewhat currently it was LA or Chicago or DC or etc.). It’s a pretty obvious subtext, I don’t think anyone is actually missing it, although oBlade or Intro might pretend to. But like, what is the actual purpose of these massive military-like “enforcement operations” they’re doing? They’re run by ICE so nominally they’re immigration enforcement, and I don’t doubt that they’re paying special attention to anybody they think is deportable. But why the focus on blue cities? And why are these guys they’re deploying to blue cities wearing camo fatigues and wielding assault rifles?

It’s obvious this is a punishment of liberal areas. It’s obvious Trump likes the idea of bands of street fighters loyal to his cause parading through “enemy territory” and cracking skulls (why else would he pardon everybody involved in J6?). And it’s obvious that these masked gunmen in these videos view their job primarily to be intimidating the population into submission.

But the question is, why do regular people like it? Or do they? When those masked gunmen break into every room of a 40-floor apartment building, no due process in sight, and drag a bunch of people off into the night with no oversight or accountability of any kind, am I honestly supposed to believe a guy like Intro thinks “yes, good, I like this because of my firm commitment to rule of law”?

Weird analysis of my sincerity put to the side, the answer "why target blue jurisdictions" is obvious. It's where a great many illegal immigrants are and it is where the local and state authorities are least helpful. They won't even coordinate to help deport convicted criminals. If you have a state government willing to cooperate to remove the worst of the worst it relieves pressure. In response to what was happening over the weekend DHS was posting on social media pictures and I think some bios of all the felons they were rounding up. Is everyone is a violent felon? No, but as i said before this is what happens when rules are ignores and then enforced. I've seen this dynamic even in my own workplace. Rules can be bent, even broken along the edges but if pushed too far the crackdown feels unfair and it hits eveyone. The hard truth is, if Biden hadn't let in literally millions of people on dubious or just ridiculous pretenses we might see a Trump policy more like his previous term. When I look at polls they are the classic American dichotomy, they like the idea of the thing but always wince at it implementation. Most voters disapprove of his current, uh, harshness. But they also favor deporting lots and lots of people lol. It's like the polls we used to see with climate change:
"is climate change something very important that the government should act on?"

Yes: 40%

"Would you be willing to pay an extra 10$ in taxes if thst would solve the problem?"

Yes:14%

I'm not 100% sure but I think part of the problem is that Americans are so rich that they aren't used to making tradeoffs. It's why American politicians will always default to "spend more money" when trying to fix any problem. It's why they like the idea of deporting people but think it looks mean when they see it.

Kinda feels like I’m taking the bait here + Show Spoiler +

but I called a bunch of stuff “obvious” and you are insisting it’s not, so let’s talk about it.

I’ll start small. Why camo? In the 20th century soldiers started wearing camouflage fatigues because they were expecting to be shot at on sight, and the wars were happening in natural environments where those irregular green and brown patterns made you harder to spot. It’s a strategic choice premised on helping your soldiers blend into the natural environment so they won’t get shot.

In a domestic law enforcement operation there’s no particular reason they should expect to be shot at on sight, and even if they did, those irregular greens and browns don’t help you blend into a MN suburb. So why? Maybe they inherited them from army surplus or something, but God knows they’ve got the budget to be able to afford uniforms for their people. The only reason I can come up with is that they want a soldier aesthetic – they know citizens associate those irregular greens and browns with soldiers occupying, say, Fallujah, and they’re hoping that will be intimidating. Why, if this is just a law enforcement operation, do they want to look like an occupying army?

But that’s superficial. Here’s a more central one: do these ICE guys need to follow the law? And what oversight or accountability is there ensuring they do? It is the law of the land, for instance, that law enforcement needs probable cause to arrest or search someone, and that person is entitled to due process. Now, I’ve seen ample evidence that ICE has detained people, forced entry into homes, and hauled off dozens of prisoners at a time without the faintest whiff of a warrant. Citizens have been detained for days or weeks despite having proof of their identity and citizenship readily available; green card holders and other legal residents have had the same or worse. All of this is being done by masked officers who refuse to provide identification of any kind, and I’ve seen no evidence that anybody inside their agency is tracking these abuses, let alone trying to stop them.

It’s also the law of the land that ICE detention facilities are subject to surprise (no notice) audits and inspections by members of Congress. Multiple times members of Congress have attempted to perform these audits and inspections, and been refused entry by the men with guns. That appears to be a straightforward violation of black letter law. What recourse do we have as citizens when these supposed “law enforcement officers” dress up as an occupying army, arm themselves to the teeth, and brazenly flaunt any legal restrictions to which they are nominally subject?

More directly targeted at you, though: how can you assign any moral authority to “law enforcement“ that acts in such lawless fashion? Supposedly you’re supportive because regardless of propriety or decency or morality, damnit, the law says those people are supposed to be deported and we have to enforce the law. But you’ve expressed no concern that I’ve seen for any of the violation of law being performed in pursuit of that goal, which implies that you only selectively apply this zealous insistence that the law must be enforced.

You must have some criterion for deciding which laws must be enforced, no matter how impractical or cruel, and which are apparently violable without any pearl-clutching or notable concern of any kind. What is it? I could try to infer it as charitably as I can, but I’ll be honest, all the explanations I can come up with are still pretty damning. So hopefully you can enlighten me about a possibility I missed?

You 100% are.

What I find fascinating from a sociological perspective is that things like slot machines (where you know it is a losing endeavor before you play) need all sorts of lights, sounds, and actual payouts to keep people hooked. What are the "lights, sounds, and actual payouts" of these hopeless engagements that manages to overcome your rational minds over and over and over?

If ZerO, Simberto and others can't dissuade you all from doing it, I'd at least like to get a better understanding of the phenomena?

“Losing” depends on what I’m trying to achieve, no? I’m losing some of my time, certainly. + Show Spoiler +

I have no illusions that my rhetorical prowess will allow me to convince oBlade or Intro of the error of their ways. I don’t even the three ghosts could do that.

I do think “why does someone like oBlade support this?” is a valuable question to answer, and one I don’t have very clear ideas about. Unfortunately I don’t think actually talking to oBlade about it provides any meaningful illumination. It’s a bit like WW1, he’ll fight you all day long but it’s virtually impossible to find out what his actual war aims are; he’ll just continue forever, occasionally on offense but mostly on defense, until he believes his side has either won or lost.

Intro, I’m not convinced. I think he’s selective in his attention but probably believes the things he says, and if he seems overly credulous about this or overly skeptical about that, it’s not just rhetorical; it’s a genuine window into how his political understanding functions.

Or, well, sometimes it is, at least. I’ve lamented the loss of Danglars a little over the years, partly because while getting his true perspective was still like pulling teeth, I think it was still a lot easier than with Intro. But he’s sui generis just like the rest of us.

That's enough to be losing imo.

It's a precious resource. One you (and the rest of us insist) we have precious little of to devote to (discussing/reading/practicing) politics unworthy of our attention. Your time and brain power would be better spent in a multitude of ways, not the least of which being that which has been requested/suggested by ZerO, Jankisa (hardly fans of mine personally), and others.

You're not going to get anything of value from the Sartres. You can actually find much better insight imo from something like The Colonizer and the Colonized

PG 52:

He finds himself· on one side of a scale, the other side of which bears the colonized man. If his living standards are high, it is because those of the colonized are low; if he can benefit from plentiful and undemanding labor and servants, it is because the colonized can be exploited at will and are not protected by the laws of the colony; if he can easily obtain administrative positions, it is because they are reserved for him and the colonized are excluded from them; the more freely he breathes, the more the colonized are choked. While he cannot help discovering this, there is no danger that official speeches might change his mind, for those speeches are drafted by him or his cousin or his friend.

PG 65:

It must leave him, they insist, for humanitarian romanticism is looked upon in the colonies as a serious illness, the worst of all dangers. It is no more or less than going over to the side of the enemy. If he persists, he will learn that he is launching into an undeclared conflict with his own people which will always remain alive, unless he returns to the colonialist fold or is defeated. Wonder has been expressed at the vehemence of colonizers against any among them who put colonization in jeopardy. It is clear that such a colonizer is nothing but a traitor. He challenges their very existence and endangers the very homeland which they represent in the colony.

His world is dependent on maintaining this irrefutably exploitative relationship. He is smart enough to know that he's either with it or against it. He is basically just as disillusioned as Kwark, but instead of fleeing (there's nowhere to hide), he is choosing to side with the oppressors/fascists (who he has spent his life enjoying the spoils of/cheering on to some degree).

That's the gist of it.

I appreciate your concern for my free time, I suppose, I don’t think typing two or three posts about current events is that big a timesink though. I don’t think I could reasonably be accused of posting too frequently in recent times.

Those are interesting quotes, I’m not sure I 100% agree with the diagnosis, though. I mean, in broad strokes, yes, somebody like oBlade (and myself!) was brought up in a system of various modes of exploitation, both shocking and mundane. And he (like me!) has benefited from many of them, maybe also been victimized by a few, and is forced to try to form a conception of what a just world should look like despite living in a deeply unjust one, and lacking any example to look to of a working, effective, just system to examine and study. He’s landed in very different places than me, obviously, and I’d agree that many cases he’s landed on defending many of those systems of exploitation.

Of course those folks don’t call the thing they’re defending “colonialism,” but when they talk about something like “Western Civilization” they might mean something pretty similar. They look at a world order that is shaped the way it is, to a significant degree, because of the activities of a bunch of Western Europeans (activities we sometimes lump together under the heading “colonialism”) and they think, here’s something fundamental about how the world has been constituted that, I think, is essential and valuable. Other people don’t see why it’s good, but I understand that it’s actually load-bearing to lots of good stuff, and I need to defend it.

So far, the diagnosis is fair enough. The specifics feel pretty dated, though. oBlade is not hoping for some viceroyalty or colonial administrator position, things haven’t worked that way in a long time. These days we get our dividend from colonization through obscure mechanisms like cheap goods from China, a fair number of which guys like oBlade have convinced themselves are actually systems of oppression *against them*! They want to kill all that stuff and work 12-hour shifts in factories again!

And the specifics wind up mattering quite a bit. For instance: do these right-wingers want (secretly or not) to see me executed? That matters to me quite a bit, obviously, but it also matters in deciding, for instance, whether publicizing evidence of the administration doing something like that would be an effective persuasion strategy. If that kind of explicit political violence is something they’re in denial about, maybe so. If it’s what they wanted in the first place, it’ll only make them support the administration more.

So I’ll tentatively disagree that there’s nothing of value to be gained in examining modern right-wingers and how they respond to current events, or that all those answers could be easily found reading theory instead. But I do appreciate the book recommendation (with a pdf link to the whole book, no less!) and I’ll certainly add it to the list.

@GH: about halfway I think? I paused reading it for a while but this is reminding me to pick it back up.

I got about 3/4 of the way through so far and I can't help but notice how much it sounds like things I've been saying for years. Including pretty quintessential examples of the quotes I gave you from The Colonizer and the Colonized.

I find Aimé Césaire's Discourse on Colonialism and Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth more useful personally, but I can understand why/how They Thought They Were Free could be more relatable and applicable for some/in some ways.

I'd like to hear more about your thoughts and analysis on it thus far, but you can take it to my blog if you don't think you can keep it topical.

I'll say I found these two bits (among many others) pretty pertinent.

I fooled myself. I had to. Everybody has to. If the good had been twice as good and the bad only half as bad, I still ought to have see it, all through as I did in the beginning, because I am, as you say, sensitive. But I didn't want to see it, because I would have then had to think about the consequences of seeing it, what followed from seeing it, what I must do to be decent. I wanted my home and family, my job, my career, a place in the community.

and

You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

Doublemint

Austria8683 Posts

January 12 2026 16:05 GMT

#108624

On January 13 2026 00:51 Jankisa wrote:
https://v.redd.it/80p28r1g5xcg1

Fucking vile.

ICE kidnaps a 17 year old kid from his job at Target, he's a US citizen, for no fucking reason, they slam him on the ground, cause him injuries and then dump him 2 blocks down at Walmart crying his eyes out.

To fix what?

I hope that ghouls like the ones who keep justifying this shit around here get picked up like this and roughed up, maybe, just maybe it dawns on them that enabling violent and unaccountable thugs to do this is not an appropriate reaction to anything, let alone an uptick of immigrants coming in.

he just has to seek legal recourse you guys. after all he knows exactly who they are as they identified themselves properly but more than that, and as it should be really, the professional agents of the state acted -unambiguously- according to the spirit, letter and in the interest of the LAW.

and without laws we are just animals.

KwarK

United States43458 Posts

January 12 2026 16:16 GMT

#108625

On January 13 2026 01:05 Doublemint wrote:

Show nested quote +

Like Scrooge ICE agents will only ever see the error in their ways when visited in their home by three spectres in the middle of the night.

Vivax

22143 Posts

January 12 2026 16:27 GMT

#108626

On January 13 2026 01:16 KwarK wrote:

Show nested quote +

Like Scrooge ICE agents will only ever see the error in their ways when visited in their home by three spectres in the middle of the night.

The longer it goes on the less chances they get of resisting. To them it‘s just a job that‘s in the process of getting normalized. Democratically sanctioned, even.

If your country needs spectres to visit homes, you‘re already at an advanced stage of fucked uppery.

Jankisa

Croatia1052 Posts

January 12 2026 17:05 GMT

#108627

I really don't understand how can any American see a video like this and think, yup, that seems alright to me, carry on...

I mean, I do understand, it's pretty simple, this US citizen simply failed this check:

The lady who was shoot in the head failed the not respecting a "tough" guy's authority check.

If it wasn't so sad it would be funny how guys who defend this shit around here don't get that sooner or later they or someone they like will fail this check, first they came...

Can't wait for the usual suspects to come here to explain how the guy was resisting arrest (he wasn't arrested and there was no reason to detain him, as proven by the fact that they dropped him off) and how he should be incarcerated because his arms could have hurt the officers as he was being violently dragged away.

Falling

Canada11385 Posts

January 12 2026 17:17 GMT

#108628

@GH

I read through the book a month or two ago, and this quote has to be one the most significant/ eerie observations from it.

Manit0u

Poland17601 Posts

January 12 2026 17:23 GMT

#108629

Basically the slowly boiling frog metaphor.

KwarK

United States43458 Posts

January 12 2026 17:25 GMT

#108630

On January 13 2026 02:23 Manit0u wrote:
Basically the slowly boiling frog metaphor.

Except in that experiment the frogs would jump out of the water whenever it got uncomfortable. He had to lobotomize them first to make them stay.

Americans are dumber than the frogs.

maybenexttime

Poland5739 Posts

January 12 2026 17:42 GMT

#108631

They recently brutally assaulted a homeless man (legally residing in the US). Repeatedly kneed him in the face/head even though he wasn't resisting at all. Then they, reportedly, harassed the medical staff at the hospital who were trying to help their victim. Then you have losers like oBlade ask why would those violent thugs want to murder someone...

This is on motherfuckers like oBlade and Introvert. You can be proud, boys.

oBlade

United States5820 Posts

January 12 2026 17:56 GMT

#108632

You are the first person to post about this and nobody has said they support it.

This is like uploading videos of DUI accidents while going "Wow anyone who hasn't publicly told me they support banning alcohol is just a killer."

hitthat

Poland2297 Posts

January 12 2026 17:57 GMT

#108633

I could say, as we say, "not my circus, not my monkeys". The thought they also wanted to spead shit like that into Canada, though...

KwarK

United States43458 Posts

January 12 2026 17:58 GMT

#108634

On January 13 2026 02:56 oBlade wrote:

Show nested quote +

But you do support it.

maybenexttime

Poland5739 Posts

January 12 2026 18:05 GMT

#108635

On January 13 2026 02:05 Jankisa wrote:
I really don't understand how can any American see a video like this and think, yup, that seems alright to me, carry on...

I mean, I do understand, it's pretty simple, this US citizen simply failed this check:

oBlade

United States5820 Posts

January 12 2026 18:05 GMT

#108636

On January 13 2026 02:58 KwarK wrote:

Show nested quote +

But you do support it.

No buddy, I have the self control to be able to not support roughing up Target teenagers without believing police shouldn't exist and wishing someone would assassinate the president of the country I acquired citizenship in or throw a grenade in its highest court. I just believe the thing. I don't warp the whole rest of my brain and world around it.

Doublemint

Austria8683 Posts

January 12 2026 18:07 GMT

#108637

now let's add the fact that Gen Z are arriving to college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates@Fortune

we really need a revolution, just not a Socialist or Libertarian/Trumpian/Chinese/Fascist whatever one. if we wanna keep those freedoms generations died for across different eras, through different conflicts, against the state in one... and then against corporate overlords in another... some things are more important than a label disingenuously assigned.

people need the cultural tool of reading, and the ability to think for themselves - and act on it when push comes to shove. peacefully is always preferable just to not enable a vicious circle that's incredibly hard to break.

if the top 15-30+%(*cough*degree inflation*cough*) of a society struggles hard/fails at that, the others are ripe for the picking and that whole social justice in a free world experiment of ours is over. the wet dream of whoever thinks is in charge.

people never having experienced it or read about it will never miss it in the first place.

@Kwark. not just Americans, it's just their turn yet it seems.

Trump is trying to change how the midterm elections are conducted@WaPo

that to me, and I am certainly not alone in this estimation, is the crucial part. will he hit a wall or finish what Jan.06 was meant to accomplish? will the center hold? if no all cards are on the table I am afraid. GH gets his wet dream/soaked in blood nightmare...

They include unprecedented demands that Republican state lawmakers redraw congressional districts before the constitutionally required 10-year schedule, the prosecution of political opponents, a push to toughen voter registration rules and attempts to end the use of voting machines and mail ballots.

The administration has gutted the role of the nation’s cybersecurity agency in protecting elections; stocked the Justice Department, Homeland Security Department and FBI from top to bottom with officials+ Show Spoiler +

Pam Bondi, attorney general. As a lawyer for Trump in 2020, Bondi claimed Trump had won Pennsylvania before about 1 million absentee ballots had been counted. During her confirmation hearings as attorney general, she sidestepped answering whether Biden won in 2020.

Kash Patel, FBI director. Patel, who has used his power to pursue Trump’s opponents, has leaned into the president’s false election claims, saying in 2023 that if Trump won the election, he would go after journalists who “helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.”

Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general. As a lawyer, Dhillon challenged state voting policies and baselessly claimed before the 2024 election that bureaucrats “change the outcomes of the election in a few counties and that changes the outcome of the national election — that’s what happened in 2020.” She now leads the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which oversees voting issues.

Ed Martin, pardon attorney. Martin has called the 2020 election rigged, falsely claiming Trump won that year. Martin, who also serves as the director of the “weaponization working group” that is reviewing past actions of the Justice Department, has promoted the pardons of dozens of people involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 results, including former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Andrew “Mac” Warner, senior counsel at the Justice Department. Warner is a former secretary of state of West Virginia who baselessly claimed the CIA stole the 2020 election from Trump. In 2025, he asked county election officials in Missouri if they would give him access to their voting equipment. They declined his highly unusual request.

Heather Honey, deputy assistant secretary at the Homeland Security Department. Honey worked on a Republican effort to reexamine Arizona’s 2020 election and has led a group challenging the eligibility of voters in Pennsylvania. She now helps oversee the nation’s election infrastructure.

Kurt Olsen, attorney. Olsen tried to help Trump overturn the 2020 election and has worked closely with MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and failed Arizona gubernatorial and Senate candidate Kari Lake, who have spread false election conspiracy theories.

Eric Neff, acting chief of the Justice Department’s voting rights section. As a prosecutor in Los Angeles County, Neff filed flawed charges against the head of an election software company that were quickly dropped. Neff was placed on administrative leave and the county reached a $5 million settlement with the man who had been criminally charged, according to Democracy Docket.

Gregg Phillips, head of response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Phillips has promoted election conspiracy theories, including those at the heart of the debunked film “2000 Mules” that alleged ballot drop boxes were used to commit fraud in 2020. FEMA can play a role in elections when it responds to disasters that affect voting, such as when Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina three weeks before early voting began in 2024.

who have denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election; given a White House audience to people who, like the president, promote the lie that he won the 2020 election; sued over state and local election policies that Trump opposes; and called for a new census that excludes noncitizens. The wide-ranging efforts seek to expand on some of the strategies he and his advisers and allies used to try to reverse the 2020 results that culminated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.@WaPo

that alone should tell you what you need to know. and I think Democrats, but not just them, need to channel their inner state's rights to mount a defense worthy of calling it that against an overreaching, unaccountable federal bureaucracy.

KwarK

United States43458 Posts

January 12 2026 18:10 GMT

#108638

On January 13 2026 03:05 oBlade wrote:

Show nested quote +

If you don’t support ICE brutality you should let the fascist who has been posting under your name in support of it know. They’re making you look like a Nazi.

CuddlyCuteKitten

Sweden2701 Posts

January 12 2026 18:14 GMT

#108639

On January 12 2026 22:36 Manit0u wrote:

Show nested quote +

It doesn't seem that way though... Japan was dumping USD since 2021 up until the end of 2024. In 2025 they've only been buying.

UK and Belgium have also absorbed what China was dumping.

Doesn't matter. Japan could be at an all time high in real numbers for them but they are still at their lowest for total debt:

- Total US Debt: As of September 30, 2024, the U.S. federal debt was $35.5 trillion, which grew to approximately $36.2 trillion by May 2025 and over $38 trillion by late October 2025.
- Japan's Holdings: As of December 2024, Japan held approximately $1.06 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities.
- Share of Total Debt: Japan's share of the total debt has fallen due to the rapid growth of overall U.S. debt compared to the slower increase or even decline in its holdings. In 2014, Japan held 9% of U.S. public debt, which decreased to 4% by 2024. 2025 it's 3,1%.

Major Holders: Private investors are the largest holders of total U.S. debt, owning about two-thirds of the national debt, while foreign holders account for roughly one-third of the debt held by the public.

If you looked at foreign held debt Japan peaked in the early 2000s when they owned 35% of that share, today they own 12,4% of all foreign investment. Still a big share but the big picture is that foreign held debt is significantly lower.
And the reason is not necessarily that countries buy less debt in real numbers it's just that US debt has increased incredibly fast and most of it has been bought by private investors.

Also Japan probably isn't number one. It's been estimated that the Cayman Islands (or rather accounts in the Cayman Islands...) hold $1,85 trillion, by far a bigger share than Japan. Of course that probably includes a lot of Americans.

Biff The Understudy

France7950 Posts

January 12 2026 19:54 GMT

#108640

On January 13 2026 03:05 oBlade wrote:

Show nested quote +

You have supported blindly all the deeds of that depraved cunt you have voted for, twice, no matter how crual, how stupid, or how grossly immoral they have been. I don’t think you are qualified to talk about nuance and self control. You are the poster boy of the maga boy that will bend reality to defend the indefensible if it comes from your side.

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