We live in a world of two cities. Two people. Two blocks. Two minds. Two worlds.

It’s no longer just Democrats versus Republicans, or Capitalists versus Socialists. The divide is deeper, broader, and more global than ever before. The world is splitting into two great spheres of influence: one orbiting the United States, the other orbiting China.

There will be two dominant currencies: the dollar and the yuan. The old standard and the new ambition. There will be two forms of settlement and exchange: gold and Bitcoin — the timeless store of value and the digital rebel.

And as the world divides economically, it will divide socially and intellectually.

There will be two kinds of people: the rich and the poor. Not middle class and working class. Just those who have—and those who do not.

There will be two levels of intellect and capacity: those who use AI, and those who don’t.

This is the real split that matters. Because AI won’t just widen the gap — it will define it. The nations and people with access to AI will leap forward. Those without it will be left behind, not in decades, but in years.

And here’s the hard truth: most small countries won’t be able to afford it. They won’t have the infrastructure, the data, the chips, or the power.

As of now, only three nations have significant exposure to AI: The United States, China, and France. France is trying to hold its own. But in the AI era, being “good” won’t cut it. You must be big, fast, and brutal.

Three Blocs. then Two, then One Future.

France may surprise us yet. It may become the center of the European bloc, a stabilizing force in an increasingly unstable world. If so, the future won’t be two spheres — but three: China, the United States, and Europe.

But here’s the rub: Europe can’t stand alone forever. It will eventually have to pick a side. Culture may lean westward, but economic dependency could pull it east.

I wish I believed we could all live in peace. But we can’t. Not while nations chase power over cooperation, dominance over progress, control over peace. Because the truth is, despite all the slogans, no one is building a better world. They’re all trying to own it.

Europe’s Weakness: Too Many Partners, Not Enough Power

On paper, Europe could be the third great bloc. But in practice? It’s a patchwork. Disorganized, bureaucratic, and divided.

Some countries are just along for the ride. They contribute little in terms of innovation or strength. When your partners are nice but poor, you can’t count on them when the world gets rough.

France may try to lead, but if Europe stays fragmented and dependent, it won’t be a bloc — it will be a buffer between two empires.

The Fall of an Empire: Britain’s Irrelevance

Great Britain, once the head of a global empire, now produces little of consequence. It clings to its “special relationship” with the U.S., but Washington doesn’t need London anymore. Britain is the money laundering capital of the world and little more.

Its strategic relevance is declining. Technologically, it’s fallen behind. In the new order, Britain is no longer a player. It’s a nostalgic echo, renting out its reputation just to stay in the room. It is what it is.

Predators and Prey, Part I

There are predators and there are prey.

That’s not just true in nature. It’s true in the stock market. It’s true in business. And it’s brutally true in geopolitics.

The strong take. The weak adapt — or fall. The world rewards power and punishes weakness. Alliances form not out of love, but out of mutual advantage and mutual fear.

I didn’t invent this reality. I’m not celebrating it. But I’m not pretending it doesn’t exist either. It is what it is is what I say.

The Rest of the World: Too Small, Too Late

Great Britain, France, and Italy are a mess. They don’t have the size to matter globally anymore. If they joined forces, maybe. But they won’t. The only thing they have in common is blame.

Australia is a different story. Strategic, wealthy, and aligned with the U.S. — but also isolated. China wants Australia neutralized. It needs to control that maritime gateway. If Australia stays in the American bloc, it will be a big win for the U.S.

Predators and Prey, Part II: Africa and the Global South

Africa has always been prey. Colonialism exploited it for people, minerals, and land. And even today, African nations are preyed upon by their own corrupt elites. The same applies to much of South America.

You can blame the predators, but the prey often cooperates. Corruption is the real predator, and it lives inside the palace gates.

Unless something radical changes, these regions will remain what they are: broken, bitter, and behind.

Colonial Wounds and the Psychology of Victimhood

Yes, countries were preyed upon. But at some point, victimhood becomes an identity, and an excuse. The former colonies must build, not just blame. Otherwise, they’ll stay stuck in a loop of resentment while the elites prosper.

The world doesn’t reward anger. It rewards adaptation.

I’ve Seen It Myself

I’ve been to Haiti, Barbados, Somalia, Pakistan,. I’ve seen the poorest living without water, electricity, or stable shelter. Meanwhile, I’ve seen mansions that rival the wealthiest American estates, owned by elites untouched by hardship.

The game is rigged. Not unfair. Rigged. It is what it is.

The Great Divide

These countries will remain poor because their leaders will sell them out to the highest bidder. The divide between rich and poor countries will continue to grow.

Not just a divide in wealth — a divide in power, in access, and in technology. It is what it is.

The Middle Powers and the Illusion of Choice

Countries like Singapore, the Philippines, Mexico, and Canada will eventually have to choose a side. If they wait too long, they risk irrelevance.

There is no third bloc. It’s a fantasy. Like a third political party in the U.S. — sounds good, never wins.

From Nations to People: The New Divide at Home

The middle class was once the goal. Now it’s vanishing.

You work to pay bills. You retire poorer than you expected. And you can’t escape it by just “working hard.”. Inflation is the truest tax to the middle class.

The world isn’t split between rich, middle class, and poor anymore.
It’s split between predators and prey. It is what it is.

The Redefinition of Rich and Poor

Poor in the U.S. means having air conditioning, TV, and food — but also no financial future. Many are addicted to substances, debt, and the lie that they can’t do better.

I’ve been poor. I’ve been rich. If you have a skill and the right mindset, you can escape. But most don’t understand that poverty isn’t just a bank balance — it’s a mindset. It is what it is.

The Middle Class: Comfortable Prey

Middle class people are preyed on by interest rates, taxes, mortgages, and inflation. They look stable, but they’re just poor people with better toys.

You can’t work your way out of that trap. You have to own something. You have to think in terms of net worth, not just income.

The system doesn’t want you to understand that.

Everyone’s Prey — Even the Rich

Rich people are predators in this model, but they’re prey too. Prey to bad decisions, taxes, and ego.

The only real difference is that they understand net worth. They grow wealth while others grow debt.

The New Education Divide: Access Over Accreditation

College used to be the gatekeeper. Not anymore.

The new elite are self-taught. They use YouTube, ChatGPT, open-source tools. They learn fast, build fast, and they aren’t waiting for anyone to validate them.

The real divide now? Those who use the tools, and those who don’t.

AI: The Great Accelerator — and the Final Divide

AI changes everything. Warfare. Education. Employment.

Why hire a $120k programmer when you can get the same result from a $60k developer using AI? Why go to college when you can learn from home and scale your skills in months?

Meta and others are already eliminating entire departments. AI isn’t coming for your job. It already took it.

Two types of people remain: those who use AI, and those who are replaced by it.

AI: The Final Divide

Not everyone will get the best AI. Poor countries won’t be able to afford it. Some won’t even have electricity or bandwidth to run it.

The divide continues: predator vs. prey.

Are you an AI predator? Or an AI prey?

Are you in a country with control — or being controlled?

Like in The Highlander, in the end there can only be one.

The world is dividing. And in the end, there can only be one winner.

That’s where we’re heading. Pick your side early.

That’s what I see.

That’s what is. and as I always say, ‘It is what it is.’

Epilogue – An AI critique and fact check

One of the most amazing uses for AI is to fact check yourself and any thesis you may have. Its cold-hearted view of the world would make Marcus Aurelius blush. So I included just in case you wanted to now more. So if you read so far, keep reading, someone has to.

Europe’s “Third Pole” Reality: The original thesis envisions France and Europe as a potential independent bloc rivaling the U.S. and China. In practice, this goal of a fully equal “third power” remains aspirational. French President Emmanuel Macron has indeed urged Europe to avoid being a “vassal” and to become a “third pole” in world affairs. However, critics note that Europe’s strategic autonomy is limited by reliance on the U.S. for security (e.g. NATO) and by internal divisions. As Foreign Policy bluntly put it, only the U.S. and China currently qualify as true great powers, with other contenders “nowhere in sight”. The European Union, while an economic giant, lacks unified military might and still lags in cutting-edge tech. A French parliamentary report warned in late 2024 that Europe’s progress in AI is “insufficient” to compete with American and Chinese advances. In short, Europe plays a crucial role but is not yet an equal superpower – a necessary correction to an overestimation of its autonomy.

Great Britain’s Role: The somber view of Britain’s geopolitical decline is largely accurate, but nuance is needed. It is true that post-Brexit Britain faces diminished economic clout (UK GDP is about 4-5% smaller than it would have been without Brexit, according to some estimates) and reduced influence in European decision-making. Social unrest and economic struggles have tarnished Britain’s former luster – “once the global leader… now [it] struggles with uncontrollable poverty and a shrinking global influence,” as one analysis put it. However, it would be a mistake to write Britain off entirely. The UK “still punches above its weight” militarily, maintaining one of the world’s top defense budgets, a nuclear arsenal, advanced fighter jets and aircraft carriers, and a permanent UN Security Council seat. In geopolitical terms, Britain remains a significant mid-tier power aligned with the U.S., even if its days as a standalone global hegemon are over. The epilogue thus tempers the original essay’s near-obituary for Great Britain with a recognition of its remaining strengths alongside its decline.

Colonialism, Corruption, and Stagnation: The thesis rightly linked Africa and South America’s long-term economic stagnation to colonial legacies and internal corruption, but let’s clarify the evidence. Decades after colonial rule, many African nations still grapple with extractive economic structures and borders drawn by imperial powers, which hinder integration and development. Mismanagement and graft have compounded these issues: Transparency International consistently finds Sub-Saharan Africa as one of the worst regions for public-sector corruption. The result, as observed by Bloomberg News, has been “another lost decade” for Africa – real GDP per capita in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked in 2014 and then fell over 10% (to ~$1,700 by 2023), even as global GDP per head rose ~15% in that period. This confirms stagnation. Similarly, South America had a so-called “lost decade” economically; the UN reports the region’s average annual growth was only 1% from 2015–2024, implying zero per-capita income growth. These facts support the essay’s claims that historical exploitation and ongoing corruption have kept many nations in Africa and Latin America economically stagnant. The nuance here is that global factors (commodity price swings, debt crises, pandemic disruptions) also played a role – not solely local corruption – but the overall picture of stalled progress holds true.

Middle Class Erosion: The essay’s lament about the disappearing middle class and widening wealth gap is strongly supported by data. In the United States, the share of aggregate income earned by the middle class plummeted from 62% in 1970 to just 43% by 2022p. Over the same period, the upper-income tier’s share rose from 29% to 48%pewresearch.org, exemplifying how the rich have devoured a bigger slice of the pie. The middle-income cohort also shrank in size – from 61% of American adults in 1971 to about 50% in 2021pewresearch.org – reflecting many households falling downward or rising upward (mostly the former). Globally, wealth concentration accelerated during the pandemic: the top 1% of the world’s richest grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth created since 2020aljazeera.com. Meanwhile at least 1.7 billion workers are in countries where wages haven’t kept up with inflation, effectively growing. These facts reinforce the thesis that the “middle class” cushion is thinning, leaving a more polarized society of haves and have-nots. The correction is merely to underscore this is not just perception – it’s grounded in cold, hard statistics.

AI’s Impact and National Strength: The original portrayed artificial intelligence as a revolutionary force reshaping war, education, labor, and power – a stance very much in line with current realities. Far from speculative fiction, today’s battlefields and classrooms alike feel AI’s disruptive presence. In Ukraine, for example, warfare is increasingly a “clash between algorithms” as both sides deploy AI-enabled drones and autonomous systems. Unmanned swarms guided by AI are rendering traditional armor like tanks less decisive. The U.S., China, and others are pouring billions into military AI, racing to seize any edge. Education too is upended: by 2025 professors lament that ChatGPT has “unraveled the entire academic project,” with students using AI to cheat on essays and exams en massenymag.com. This isn’t hyperbole – surveys found roughly 1 in 4 K-12 teachers caught students cheating with AI tools within a year of ChatGPT’s release, and anecdotal reports of homework outsourced to bots abound. In the labor market, AI and automation threaten to displace tens of millions of workers. McKinsey estimates between 400 and 800 million global jobs could be automated by 2030, and up to 30% of hours worked in the U.S. could be handled by machines by 2030mckinsey.com. These figures substantiate the essay’s warning that AI will transform economies and military power – potentially widening the gap between tech-savvy “predator” nations and those left behind. A small corrective nuance: AI is a tool that can also empower, not solely a weapon or job-killer. But as the thesis implies, those who lead in AI will have outsized advantages. (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s oft-cited maxim that “whoever leads in AI will rule the world” still resonates in geopolitical circlesapnews.com.)

Predator-Prey Framing: The core metaphor of the thesis – viewing global relations and economics through a predator vs. prey lens – is provocative but largely aligns with a realist perspective. Stronger nations do often act in self-interest, exploiting weaker ones (through unequal trade, debt traps, or military interventions). For instance, China’s expansive lending in Africa has raised concerns of “debt trap diplomacy” – Beijing solidified itself as Africa’s biggest trading partner with $282 billion in trade in 2023gfmag.com, but African imports to China lag exports, yielding a hefty $64 billion trade deficitgfmag.com and billions in debt owed to China by countries like Angola, Kenya, and Zambiagfmag.comgfmag.com. Such dynamics can resemble predator and prey, economically speaking. Likewise, in the financial realm, one might argue banks treating subprime borrowers like prey – consider that U.S. credit card interest rates now average around 24% APR (a record high), with some popular cards charging nearly 30% interest on carried balanceslendingtree.com. Predatory lending, indeed. The essay’s Twain-esque cynicism that the powerful feast while the weak suffer is borne out in many arenas. The clarification here is not a refutation, but an acknowledgement that this framing, while stark, has factual teeth. One must be careful, however, not to over-generalize all global interactions as zero-sum – cooperation and mutual benefit do exist – but the cited facts show plenty of wolfish behavior in the world.

Added Facts and Examples

To enrich the thesis’s claims, let’s inject fresh evidence from 2023–2025:

Europe’s Limited Cohesion: President Macron’s push for European “strategic autonomy” gained visibility – he famously warned that Europe must not become a “vassal” in a US-China conflict over Taiwantheguardian.com. Yet Europe remains divided in practice. While France and Germany advocate engagement with China, countries like Poland and Lithuania take a harder line, aligning closely with the U.S. Moreover, Europe’s high-tech clout trails the pack. At a 2025 AI summit in Paris, even as France touted its new champion Mistral AI, experts acknowledged that Europe lacks native chip manufacturing and suffers from brain drain to U.S. tech firms. A French Senate report bluntly warned Europe risks becoming a “digital colony” of AI superpowers if it focuses only on regulation and not innovation. These examples reinforce the essay’s portrayal of Europe as a potential third force that hasn’t yet achieved true independence of action.
France’s Tech Ambitions: As a specific case, France is striving to punch above its weight in AI. In 2023–24 it invested in startups like Mistral AI, whose co-founder argued Europe can lead an alternative AI “world” outside the US-China duopoly. The French government inked contracts with Mistral for defense and employment agency projects, and Macron urged businesses to “buy European” tech. These efforts show France trying to defy the odds. However, the scale gap remains evident – Mistral’s entire data center project is a few hundred million euros, whereas U.S. firms spend billions on AI R&D, and China’s government funnels massive funds into AI labs. By the numbers, France and Europe are still playing catch-up.
China’s Spheres of Influence: The epilogue confirms China’s expanding influence in line with the thesis. In Africa, China has been the largest bilateral trading partner for 15 years running, with trade hitting a record $282 billion in 2023gfmag.com. Beijing’s investment comes with strings: countries like Angola owe China $20B+, often repaid in oil, and Beijing now holds significant leveragegfmag.com. In Asia-Pacific, China’s clout is also evident but contested. Take Australia – economically, Australia is entwined with China (a whopping 32% of Australian exports went to China in 2023exportfinance.gov.au, chiefly iron ore fueling Chinese steel). But security-wise, Australia has firmly sided with the US, UK, and Japan to counter Beijing. In 2021 it joined the AUKUS pact to acquire nuclear submarine technology, explicitly to bolster forces in the Indo-Pacific vis-à-vis China. Similarly, Singapore walks a fine line: it hosts a U.S. naval logistics base and values the American security presence, yet it also maintains strong trade with China and avoids openly choosing sides, embodying the delicate balance of a small state living among giants. Meanwhile, the Philippines in 2023 swung back toward the U.S. alliance, granting American forces access to four additional Philippine bases facing the South China Sea and Taiwanreuters.comreuters.com – a notable reversal from a few years prior when Manila courted Beijing. South Africa, for its part, has cozied up to China/Russia through the BRICS bloc – hosting joint naval drills with them and pointedly refusing to condemn Russia’s Ukraine invasion. These examples illustrate how nations are gravitating into blocs, as the thesis argued: a U.S.-led camp (with NATO, Japan, Australia, etc.), a China-Russia axis (BRICS and friends), and few truly non-aligned players of consequence. Even those trying neutrality (say, India or Brazil) lean one way or another on different issues. The world indeed seems split into big predator blocs and smaller countries choosing which den to shelter in.
Great Power Peripheral Roles: The mention of Mexico, Canada, and others in the prompt invites examination of their places. Mexico and Canada are effectively inseparable from the U.S. bloc due to economics and treaties. Mexico sends about 80% of its exports to the United States under the USMCA trade pact, and in 2023 it actually surpassed China as the U.S.’s #1 trading partner – a testament to nearshoring and North American integration. While Mexico’s leadership sometimes asserts independence in foreign policy (e.g. not sanctioning Russia), in any U.S.-China decoupled scenario Mexico clearly falls under the American economic umbrella. Canada, likewise, is a NATO ally, a fellow G7 nation, and thoroughly in the U.S. corner (though Canada, like Europe, occasionally dreams of middle-power mediation roles). Smaller powers like Singapore and Israel try to stay friendly with both East and West but ultimately rely on the U.S. security umbrella. Singapore’s Prime Minister captured this well, noting that if U.S.-China tensions worsen, Singapore will be “an economic friend to both, but a security friend to the U.S.” – a pragmatic stance mirrored by others like South Korea or Japan, who trade heavily with China but trust American military might for protection. These nuances enrich the essay’s point about global division: the fault lines are real, even if a few nimble states tread carefully around them.
Economic Inequality and Mobility: Expanding on the essay’s rich-versus-poor theme, we can add current stats to paint the picture. Credit card debt in the U.S. hit $1 trillion in 2023 for the first time, and with Fed interest rate hikes, credit card APRs soared to record highs (national average ~24-25% APR, up from ~16% a few years prior). This means those living on credit – typically lower-middle or working-class families – face mounting burdens, transferring even more wealth to big banks via interest payments. On the flip side, billionaire wealth is surging: in 2024 alone, billionaires globally added $2 trillion to their fortunes (about $5.7 billion per day)oxfam.org. The predatory imagery of the wealthy feeding on the system is stark when one considers that a handful of multinationals now dominate markets (Big Tech, Big Pharma, etc.), often squeezing out smaller competitors and amassing monopoly-like power. For instance, just five U.S. tech firms make up over 20% of the entire S&P 500 stock index’s value – a concentration unimaginable a generation ago. Social mobility data also show worrying trends: in many Western countries, younger generations no longer expect to be better off than their parents, a reversal of the post-WWII narrative. This context backs the essay’s assertion that the “nature of wealth and poverty” is changing – wealth is increasingly inherited or accrued from capital gains, while those without assets struggle to keep up despite working hard. The middle-class ideal of upward mobility through education and steady employment is eroding, as jobs become gig-based or automated and housing/education costs outpace incomes. In sum, fresh facts sadly affirm the essay’s realist take: the economic food chain is becoming more unforgiving, with big predators (mega-corporations, the ultra-rich) devouring market share and ordinary people feeling like prey to rising costs, debts, and unstable livelihoods.
AI Transformations: Concrete examples from 2023-2025 highlight AI’s transformative impact, underscoring the essay’s points. In warfare, Ukraine’s inventive use of AI-guided drones allowed it to strike far behind Russian lines (such as long-range drone attacks on oil depots) with minimal human oversightlawfaremedia.org. By 2024, Ukraine was procuring 10,000 AI-enhanced drones to bolster its defensescsis.org. Russia, not to be outdone, deployed its own AI-equipped kamikaze drones designed to outsmart Ukrainian electronic jammerseuromaidanpress.com. These developments prompted military analysts to call the Ukraine conflict a proving ground for “the future of war,” where algorithms play as big a role as soldiers. Outside of war, AI’s impact on education saw school districts scramble to adapt – some tried “AI detectors” (with limited success), others redesigned assignments to be AI-resistant (oral exams, handwritten work), and many colleges updated honor codes. By 2025, an entire generation of students had grown accustomed to AI assistance, for better or worse. In the economy, businesses accelerated adoption of AI chatbots for customer service and AI tools in software development (GitHub’s AI helper is writing code; lawyers are using GPT-4 to draft briefs). The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs report found about 75% of companies were “likely to adopt AI” in some form, even as they estimated a net reduction of 14 million jobs globally over five years due to automation. One striking stat: a Goldman Sachs analysis projected generative AI could boost global GDP by 7% but also “expose” 300 million jobs to automation – a double-edged sword. All these facts and figures give teeth to the thesis’s view that AI is a revolutionary force – it will create new winners (predators) in business and geopolitics, while those unable to harness it risk becoming prey in the new order.
National Strength in the AI Era: On the geopolitical chessboard, mastery of AI is now seen as integral to national power. The U.S. CHIPS and Science Act (2022) set aside billions to on-shore semiconductor production (the “brains” of AI) and restrict export of cutting-edge chips to China – an explicit attempt to hamstring China’s AI progress by denying it the best “prey” (advanced chips like Nvidia GPUs). China responded by redoubling efforts to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency and by investing in talent and quantum computing. Both nations’ five-year plans and defense strategies place AI at the center. Smaller countries are not standing still either: nations from Canada to Israel to Singapore are nurturing AI sectors to avoid lagging behind. Yet the gap remains stark – recent indices of AI readiness still rank the U.S. and China at the top, with only a few others (UK, Canada, South Korea) in the second tier. Developing countries mostly lag in AI adoption due to lack of infrastructure and skills. The World Economic Forum in 2024 warned of a growing “AI divide”, noting the urgency to ensure “billions of people in developing countries are not left behind” as AI . This emerging digital divide could amplify global inequality: if advanced economies use AI to turbocharge growth, while poorer nations cannot, the power imbalance worsens. Such facts bolster the essay’s Darwinian outlook that in the age of AI, strong nations will get stronger (if they harness AI), and weak ones risk further marginalization – a high-tech twist on predator and prey.

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