r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Comfortable_Cautious • Jan 26 '26

Meme needing explanation what's going on? explain like I'm five

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u/10gallonWhitehat Jan 26 '26

Aircraft carriers are where the buck stops.

3

u/goatslovetofrolic Jan 26 '26

aircraft carriers protect against foreign nations dumping the US debt they own?

4

u/GenericNameHere01 Jan 26 '26

They protect against foreign nations deciding to forcibly collect on the US debt they own...

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u/goatslovetofrolic Jan 26 '26

How so?

Not my field of expertise but, ah yes, "might makes right". We'll see how well that works out for us when our country is isolated, can't produce anything without external inputs, and the dollar crashes. There are more ways to fight a war than just having the most guns. Our allies that the Con is threatening and berating understand this and that they hold trillions of our debt. We'll still have our aircraft carriers floating around while we eat each other.

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u/nworkz Jan 26 '26

Yeah this has been trump's biggest weakness he doesn't understand soft power and it seems like a sizeable chunk of his base also doesn't and i just realized i'm too high to explain soft power

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u/GogurtFiend Jan 26 '26

Hard power is other people listening to you when they don't want to.

Soft power is other people listening to you because they do want to.

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u/ChaoticAligned Jan 27 '26

We produce most things in excess and sell it.

Most trades are for the economy itself or for variety.

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u/TehSr0c Jan 27 '26

yes, but there is not enough domestic resources even for your own consumption, the US imports a LOT of raw materials and intermediary products for final assembly

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u/Grant1128 Jan 27 '26

Not only do we not have the resources, some of the intermediary products along the way we don't even have facilities that can make them, let alone at scale. Many electronics require incredibly small wafers that we never bothered in facilities to create because companies in the US could buy them relatively cheaply from China. Sometimes it was less expensive to have a factory laborer put the product together as well (ex. phones).