The following are quick takes on various countries around the world. Naturally, entire countries are huge places, some with huge populations of various ages in a variety of regions. Thus, estimations of living conditions everywhere are likely to differ widely, based on location, age, level of eduction, familial status and other factors.

UNITED STATES of AMERICA

Let's start with the United States of America, which is today the most important player on the world stage if only because the country is led by an unelected cabal, their narrative promoted by a controlled propaganda media.

The principal actors of the U.S. government apparatus are National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The assumed president, Joseph Biden, is essentially a place-keeper, a figurehead with no actual power or decision-making capability. Background staff makes all the important decisions; Biden is obviously suffering from dementia and lacks capability for leadership of any kind.

The triad of Sullivan, Kirby, and Blinken is widely recognized as neocon in nature, bent on promoting endless war and antagonizing Russia and China in particular. They are probably not the chief architects of U.S. foreign policy - that source is well-hidden within the "deep state" - but rather the public face of national endeavor.

From a macro perspective, the United States is on edge with nations around the world and also suffering distress internally. Major cities, primarily located in liberal "blue" states, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Detroit have lost their luster and are rapidly devolving into urban ghettoes.

The primary drivers of the decline of urban America are liberal leadership, aging infrastructure, widespread unemployment and homelessness, economic distress in the middle and lower classes, rampant criminality, illegal immigration and general welfare status of the populations.

Suburban areas on the periphery of large cities and smaller cities are less dangerous, but still suffer some of the same problems, albeit to a lesser degree. Rural areas, of which most of America consists, are primarily peaceful and prosperous, providing for entirely different lifestyles than exist in the cities.

The United States is in the midst of a structural revolution, pitting liberal ideologies against more conservative, traditional values. It can be seen from a wide perspective as "red states vs. blue states," but it is more a difference between urban and rural cultures, and free thinking versus dictatorial governmental control.

The direction of the country overall hinges largely on the results of elections in November, especially the presidential election between Biden and Republican firebrand, former President Donald J. Trump, who leads in the polls and is expected to win and put an end to the false, pretentious path upon which the United States is set.

CHINA

To outside observers, China has become, over the past 50 years, the industrial powerhouse of the world and an exemplar of official communism supported by a free market economy and some sentiment of democracy in governance.

While China is advertised by Western media as a closed society, it has become more open over the past decade and its role in international politics is paramount. China's main focus since 2013, has been on its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure project that has spread its tentacles worldwide to more than 150 countries.

Unlike the United States, which relies upon bullying, threats, sanctions, and the weaponization of the US$, the world's reserve currency, Chinese leadership approaches diplomacy with a message of cooperation and mutual benefit. Thus, it has become the largest importer and exporter of goods and services to the most countries in the world, far outpacing the former leader, the United States.

Since opening its doors to the West in the early 1970s, China has grown from an emerging nation to a leading economic and political power. The government largely issues decrees and plans which align with the lives of most of China's citizenry. While there are occasional protests against government policies, they are quickly quelled, most recently by accommodation rather than force.

Generally speaking, the Chinese people - some 1.8 billion of them - are content in their lifestyles, which vary from urban high tech to subsistence rural farming. Violent crime is very low, given the authoritatian nature of the police and military forces.

China's military growth has also outpaced all rivals and the recent partnership with Russia on matters of political, economic and military importance has strengthened their position as the true new world leader.

Communist Party Chairman, Xi Jinping is likely to remain at the helm of power for the foreseeable future.

China is not without problems of its own, especially in its economy. It is currently within the throes of a massive real estate collapse and it faces issues with tariffs on its exports to Europe and the United States. The economy is large and robust and capable of developing better relationships with like-minded countries like the BRICS and other organized blocs such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and ASEAN.

Useful Links:

(places for more insight and information)

The Duran
Worldometers
Simplicus the Thinker
Global South

Below is a brief video interview conducted by Judge Andrew Napolitano with Pepe Escobar, who is in Russia and has been covering developments in Ukraine, Europe, Russia, and beyond since the beginning of the Ukraine war in February, 2022. The piece offers an overview of conditions in Ukraine, current posture of the major players and opinion on the direction of the conflict.