NO matter the State Department disassembling

[benld74]

Officials released by DT. Their offices under blue construction tarp. Remaining workers, know nothing, not informed, stressing out

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/03/state-department-trump/517965/?utm_source=twb

[marybourg]

1. "America is over"

A very well written article on a compelling subject.

[Hortensis]

4. Maybe, but I'll suggest that leaning over and

grabbing one's ankles is something that should be reserved for private. Or in other words, nuts to that.

[bronxiteforever]

2. Thanks for posting-Everyone Should Read This! K & R! 🚨

Horrible our country has fallen into the cellar with these evil buffoons.

Doing this to career foreign service workers who work for the benefit of us with long hours. I can't express the anger I feel.

CRY the beloved country.

[ananda]

3. This is seriously disturbing.

“This is probably what it felt like to be a British foreign service officer after World War II, when you realize, no, the sun actually does set on your empire,” said the mid-level officer. “America is over. And being part of that, when it’s happening for no reason, is traumatic.”

[Hortensis]

5. Oh, for god's sake. Britain's a little island. It's best

assets are that it is an island close to Europe--and has a cool climate that encourages liberal culture.

No comparison. We are incredibly rich in so many assets. We can shift some international influence and expensive responsibilities to other advanced nations, concentrate on bettering our nation, and be more wonderful and justifiably proud of ourselves than ever.

[marybourg]

6. Britan was incredibily rich

during its colonial days, precisely because it controlled the assets of the colonies. And then -- it was over.

[Hortensis]

7. Exactly. We are rich in our own assets.

England's was to lead the industrial/energy revolution, which required feeding through colonialism. That's over.

And, notably, these days Rex Tillerson's and the rest of Exxon's exploitation of the rest of the planet (as an example) doesn't do us any good at all, disappearing into the pockets of a few who don't invest in their nation's wellbeing. We can do without it and them just fine, the tradeoffs more than worth it. I'm not advocating for isolationism, but our big issue in focusing internationally is stability and balance of power, national and planetary, not spoils from outside.

Did you know that we are actually still a major industrial producer? Jobs for humans have declined, production has exploded.

[uponit7771]

8. +1

[bronxiteforever]

9. Agreed and it is so easy to break an institution and so hard to repair it.

Who wants to work in a place of turmoil? These are smart dedicated patriots at DOS and they will get other jobs and the country will be less well respected and less able to handle the next crisis and in foreign affairs, there is always a next crisis.

[ismnotwasm]

10. This is pure incompetence no matter what the political ideology

You want to pare down the government? You do it by understanding which positions are and are not crucial to bare bones effectiveness, and finding redundancies. At least to start.

This is just scary.