The job of the hegemon is to maintain the status quo, proper order. Hegemony, the maritime order, global currency (US dollar), and forever war are inseparable. The cliché "if you want peace, prepare for war." Some low-level, mostly contained, amount of violence is the price for a larger "peace".
Post WWII, the USA did not engage in total war or seek unconditional surrender. Because breaking the equilibrium wrecks hegemony. As demonstrated by GWB's ill-advised conquest of Iraq, which (IMHO) was the deflection point for Pax Americana.
The notion of just war and world cop is mythmaking, rationalization. So the citizens will keep subsidizing the hegemony. (h/t Niall Ferguson) Any notions of justice, human rights, and whatnot were savvy marketing, born of (PR) competition with other hegemons.
As bad as Pax American hegemony has been for all participants, I'm certain we'll look back with nostalgia. In that "What has Rome ever done for us?!" sort of way. The ~70 years of (relative) peace was kind of incredible.
The emerging multi-polar world (and poly-crisis) is more chaotic, violent, and terrible. And will prove ever more so over time.
My father worked in defense. He shared lore about the genesis of tempest, the requirement to use faraday cages to protect secrets, gear, etc.
The story goes that some kind of red team set up shop down the road from some missile tests (or something) with some simple gear. Afterwards, they shared the launch codes used, shocking all the brass. Hence the need for shielded comms.
I was under the impression that in actual practice all the launch codes are set to 0000. Wouldn't want to delay a launch because someone forgot the code. (I'm only half joking)
It has been speculated many times that the US would not have been able to respond to a nuclear attack on purpose, but was likely to start one by accident.
TLDR: Every where but some parts of the USA, solar + battery is the cheapest source of new power generation. Tariffs and subsidies continue to prop up gas generation. 40% YOY drop in battery prices!? Solar + battery is still on the cost learning curve (no where near plateau), whereas gas (extraction, turbines, etc) plateaued a while back.
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That episode (and Ember's report) looks back at 2025.
So it couldn't account for this year's increased prices and volatility for gas, or data centers increasing the demand for gas turbines.
Globally, solar + battery adoption continues to accelerate. In the USA, big tech forfeited their climate pledges (choosing to use gas) and new solar + battery continues to be blocked by our constipated connection queue (to the grid).
Yeah at the hitlab. I had some friends working on a few things during school there (their school, i was in art school).
I heard tell of a guy with massive cornea damage in one eye, some low-level university employee (facilities or something). They invited him to try it out, could see the image clear as day.
Lots of cool stuff being worked on at the HITlab those days. Seemed to kinda peter out.. or at least get less press.. in the years since.
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