I clearly don't define "far left" the way you do. The US is far more right wing than most countries in the world, and the EU moving in that direction is a rightward shift in my opinion, not left.

I don't know enough about Latin America to have very strong opinions. What I mostly see is the breakdown of the Monroe Doctrine, as Latin American countries resist having their governments overthrown by the US as has been the case for the last 150 years.

A few cases I have studied. Chavez came to power, was couped and returned because he was successful in saying his country’s wealth should remain in the hands of his country, not western corporations. Compare him to Mossadegh in Iran, who was NOT successful. What we'll never know of course is if Chavez had not been returned to power - by his people - and a dictator like the Shah had been installed in Venezuela in 2004 if now 20 years later there would have been a "blowback" revolution as in Iran where a group of real radicals took over.

How do you define Lula as "far left" wanting "to create a new USSR?"

I definitely agree that the EU elite (aligned fully with the US-based western empire) are trying to make Brussels an unelected EU deep state similar to the one in/around Washington DC. Fortunately they are meeting a lot of resistance.

I agree pretty much completely with your assessment of the Dems. I was only a kid in the 70s so maybe I really didn't know what they were like, but it certainly seems like they have completely abandoned working people (I put a LOT of the blame on the Clintons for that shift).

I'm not 100% sure which trend you mean by the "longer-term trend." The one about official narrative support? Can you elaborate?

The lock-step US MSM I put on the Clinton's as well, as it really went into high gear with the 1996 telecommunications act.

I do think the rulers in the West overplayed their hand with Covid, but IMO they have been running scared since Trump got elected (i.e. a bit of democracy crept into the pro-wrestling-style US elections) and Brexit. Both situations were NOT what was expected. The UK is suffering massively for what was supposed to be a performative vote, and the US elites appear to be willing to do almost anything to keep Trump out of the White House for a second term.

BRICs nations (not just Russia and China) are indeed shaking their heads at how the US elite appear to be stuck in 1992. That world is gone, and believing that we are still in a unipolar US dominated world will only hasten the decline of the US-based western empire.

In any case, I am really enjoying reading your opinions. These types of conversations are why I pay for a Medium subscription.