Thread by @levelsio (@levelsio)

The Dutch took over in supremacy around 1620 from the Portuguese (and Spanish) and Amsterdam became the financial center of the world 🇵🇹 Portugal was 1 million people, the 🇳🇱 Dutch Republic was 2.5 million, so 2.5x the size, more people and more rich and dominated them at sea 🇬🇧 Then around 1700 the British who were literally a poor backwater island looked what the Dutch were doing it, copied it very well and scaled it, they had 5 million people (2x more than the Dutch) and 7x more land (and resources) 🇺🇸 Then in 1950, after World War 2, the Americans took over from the British. The US had 150 million people, while UK had just 50, so US was 3x more, and they had 40x more land (and resources) Do you see the pattern? The country who takes over next from the top empire usually copies them, and then has more people and more resources