SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: Basically, the way the United States took off as a superpower was the British Empire subleased large parts of the opium trade to Americans, to American companies, and the United States was engaged in the opium trade.

Tuesday, 3 March 2026

Basically, the way the United States took off as a superpower was the British Empire subleased large parts of the opium trade to Americans, to American companies, and the United States was engaged in the opium trade.

"Basically, the way the United States took off as a superpower was the British Empire subleased large parts of the opium trade to Americans, to American companies, and the United States was engaged in the opium trade. It took that money, drug money, and invested in American industry. And that's what gave you Vanderbilt and the railroads, et cetera. So basically the wealth for the American development...part of the exploitation, of course, of native peoples, and the seizure of land in America, sort of Israeli style...but part of it, a big chunk of that investment money, came from the sale of opium to China and East Asia. So we have a long tradition of that in the United States. It's to some degree how we got where we are." Emanuel Pastreich of EmanuelPrez.substack.com