America's Perfect Storm: Military Crackdowns, Political Chaos, and the Trump Effect

Everyone's been seeing those viral videos online - an Australian 9NEWS reporter getting shot with rubber bullets by the National Guard while she's literally just doing her job, live on air. Down she goes. Before that, we had a Xinhua reporter taking a tear gas canister to the arm, and a photojournalist copping a rubber bullet to the leg. When America's reached the point of "shooting without borders," you've got to wonder what happened to all that high-minded rhetoric about press freedom.

When 'Press Freedom' Meets Rubber Bullets

This whole mess really puts the lie to that New York Times piece from early last year - "Only America Can Save the Future" - that all the usual suspects were trumpeting. You know, the one by Ross Douthat where he basically argues America's still got it, despite all the obvious problems. Here's what he claimed:

"For all its inflationary challenges, our economy has surged since the pandemic, growing rapidly while China and Europe have been stagnant. In the last five years, long-term demographic decline has accelerated in many developed countries, but our own demographic trends, while not ideal, are more stable than those in, say, Scandinavia or South Korea."

He went even further, painting this picture where:

"The richer parts of Europe and the Pacific Rim are senescent walled cities; instability and authoritarian decay predominate across much of Eurasia; and real dynamism is sustained mostly in the parts of America that are growing and building at the moment."

The whole piece was basically America patting itself on the back, claiming its AI dominance would let it keep running the world, like some kind of digital manifest destiny.

California Burns While Politicians Point Fingers

America saving the world? Give me a break. Right now, America's problems can be summed up in three neat little phrases: military unrest, man-made disasters, and Trump. Let's break that down, shall we?

Remember that cringeworthy scene earlier this year when Trump was tearing into California Governor Newsom before heading back to the White House? This was right after those massive fires ripped through Southern California in early January - we're talking nearly 7,000 hectares gone, absolutely an unprecedented scale of destruction. Los Angeles had to evacuate nearly 180,000 people, and here's the kicker - word is, most of the burned-out homes belonged to wealthy folks who won't be getting a penny from insurance companies.

For the first time in American history, we're seeing "homelessness among the wealthy" happening on a massive, collective scale. The system that America loves to call “the end of history" - this perfect democratic model - has basically devolved into two parties just tearing each other apart while everything burns around them, and inevitably leading to a national failure.

Troops on American Streets: The New Normal?

The Democrats and Republicans have delivered us "man-made disasters," and now, following those brutal June fires, we've got full-blown "military unrest." Deutsche Welle reported that on June 8, Trump signed a presidential memo deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, claiming he needed to "restore order and suppress riots." He bypassed California Governor Newsom, which has local governments and civil society groups absolutely livid.

What kicked this off was a massive ICE raid in Los Angeles the previous Friday that rounded up large numbers of undocumented immigrants. The optics were terrible - ICE officers in full tactical gear and face masks, rolling around in unmarked military vehicles like some kind of occupation force. People were genuinely terrified, and that fear quickly turned to anger.

The response was swift and fierce. Crowds surrounded ICE offices, Department of Homeland Security buildings, and other federal facilities, burning American flags, setting up roadblocks, hurling rocks and fireworks at federal vehicles. The National Guard's answer? Tear gas and stun grenades to scatter the crowds.

This kind of military unrest is doing serious damage to America's national morale and whatever's left of global faith in the "beacon of democracy."

What This Mess Means for the Rest of Us

In just six months, Trump's managed to stir up a hornet's nest of historic proportions. But here's the thing - this isn't just about "Trump being Trump." There's something deeper going on here, what Singaporean scholar Zheng Yongnian calls "national idiocracy”. But it doesn’t refer to China, but the current reality for most Americans.

Who's enabling Trump to act with such reckless abandon, both at home and abroad? Who's taught America to be this divided against itself? The writing's on the wall, and it's not pretty.

So what's the takeaway for China? Simple really - we absolutely cannot be naive enough to buy into the fantasy that America can save the world. That's a lesson too important to ignore, and frankly, too obvious to miss at this point.

Deep Blue

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Wang Yi just put the world on notice. "The international situation is getting more turbulent and intertwined," he said. "Unilateral bullying is intensifying. The sudden change in Venezuela has drawn high level of attention from the international community."

He then added: "We never believe that any country can play the role of world policeman, nor do we agree that any country can claim itself to be an international judge."

This isn't diplomatic chitchat. Wang Yi added that "the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law." It's a warning shot fired directly at Trump's so-called "New Monroe Doctrine"—and it signals China will push back hard against neo-colonialism. One story from China's past shows exactly what that means.

The Incheon Gamble

In mid-September 1950, MacArthur pulled off the audacious Incheon landing—later hailed as "the most successful gamble" in military history. He bet everything on one card: that North Korean forces would be lax defending a port with terrible geography. The bet paid off. US forces achieved total surprise, cut enemy supply lines, and reversed the early disasters of the Korean War.

The Korean Peninsula was strategically vital to both China and the Soviet Union. They planned to back North Korea. At 1:00 a.m. on October 3, Zhou Enlai urgently summoned K. M. Panikkar, India's ambassador to China. His message was blunt: "If US forces cross the 38th parallel, we cannot stand by—we will have to step in."

The CCP's official Party history records this moment and emphasizes one critical word: "管" (to intervene). The Chinese term posed a translation challenge. If the wording was too soft, the Americans might miss China's intent. So Premier Zhou asked his foreign affairs secretary, Pu Shouchang, to choose carefully. Pu used "intervene"—making China's intention crystal clear. China would step in and interfere. The message reached Washington quickly through India. Yet "the US side chose to ignore it, and US forces brazenly crossed the 38th parallel on October 7."

Crossing the Yalu

American troops didn't just cross the 38th parallel—they surged in force toward the Yalu River and raced along the China-North Korea and North Korea-Soviet borders to the Tumen River. What happened next? On October 19, 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteers crossed the Yalu River. After five successive campaigns, they drove UN forces back from the Yalu area to near the 38th parallel.

On July 27, 1953, China, North Korea, and the UN Command signed the Korean Armistice Agreement. Many believe Mao Zedong's decision to send troops delivered China a stunning victory—a weaker power defeating a stronger one. People now say China "won so hard it felt unreal."

MacArthur—that "godlike general"—couldn't let it go. After his success at Incheon, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to expand his gains. He proposed a radical escalation to Washington: first, blockade China's coast; second, use naval and air power for unlimited bombing to completely destroy China's industrial production and infrastructure; third, bring in Nationalist (KMT) forces to "retake the mainland" and tie China down. Then fourth, MacArthur went even further with a wild proposal—drop 20 to 30 atomic bombs on China and create a radioactive "death zone" along the Yalu River between China and North Korea.

Trump's MacArthur Moment

Today's Trump thinks arresting Venezuela's president and his wife means he can bulldoze the whole world. One moment he talks about "taking over" Venezuela. The next he claims he can make personnel arrangements for that country, sending Marco Rubio to serve as a "governor." Meanwhile, US oil giants are poised to "swallow up" Venezuela's petroleum assets. Trump's ambition follows the same logic as MacArthur's back then.

MacArthur's recklessness enraged America's allies. They feared World War III. More importantly, the Soviet Union—which also possessed atomic weapons—was deeply dissatisfied with the US and warned that "bombs can be answered with bombs." President Truman faced an impossible choice: keep his war hero or keep the peace. He chose peace. On April 11, 1951, Truman fired MacArthur—ending the career of America's most celebrated general. MacArthur became one of the century's biggest cautionary tales.

 

The lesson is simple, direct, and brutal. Trump thinks everyone is scared of him and that he can keep throwing out ever more outrageous "deals" at will. That will invite disaster—because it crosses the tolerance threshold of the great-power balance. The major powers will have to "intervene."

How will they intervene? Great powers have many tools in their toolbox. Think of Schrödinger's cat—you open the box yourself and you'll find out the outcome. This isn't a joke. Do you dare try?