Across the board, nighttime visibility on US roads has gotten worse for drivers and cyclists alike imo.

That would be why I asked if it’s their first one. They look different in different places and not everyone knows they even exist.

Those are regular spoons, not soup spoons. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=soup+spoons&iax=images&ia=images

i’m confused. it looks like a normal soup spoon. is it unusually large for a soup spoon or is this your first soup spoon?

Yeah so 2 examples that either predate the Monroe doctrine or are outside of the bounds. Do you always selectively read and assume everyone is a tankie or just right now? Also way to ignore the substance of my comment. Go away if you’re gonna be unnecessarily argumentative.

The main reason is the Monroe Doctrine. The United States literally made it its business to terrorize any “communist” state, even if it’s democratically elected. That breeds the conditions for paranoia, the desire for increased protection, etc.

But, in the context of endgame scenarios against dictators, the main factor usually is how the military responds, especially when asked to brutalize the population. If the military parts ways, they may start a coup of their own or they may (rarely) defer to the population.

So, by extrapolation, I imagine it’s also true here: other powerful factions allow it because it opens opportunities for them to garner more power too. Business execs, politicians, and military officials alike are duking it out for influence amongst themselves as well.