American Politics Discussion Thread

[superdeath]

[Charr Babies]

Sorry, I’ve been away for the weekend for some R&R

Ya, I knew you will find all sort of excuses for yourself to have watched the video, but of course your hypocrisy would never allow that maybe I have my excuses too. (Not bothering to argue the moot point on our different perspectives of the video. But I know, that’s your entire defense.)

Summing it up, with all the word you have written, tried as you might, you have only raised the issue of “...that 20% of oil not being USD will NOT cause USD to be the international currency…” and offered Your OWN Opinion. (as you would have said, without supporting evidence and links) And still failed to debunk anything among the many subjects the video touched on.

Perun’s vid (this is only as "by the way", I really don't care to pull your character smear tactic on cyrus jenssen and do it to perun)

See here I am smarter than you on media consumption that you really should take a lesson from. I wasn’t going to spend my precious hour+ to watch an opinion piece. I skimmed through the last few minutes. There were some mention about leaders (Talking about China, but using Ukraine war as an example) not fully understanding their risks, in one short sentence suggested Russians (and China with Taiwan) (and, as if Russians are losing) are the aggressors in the Ukraine war. Only westerners buy that perspective. Anyway, we talked about this already, or that’s some topic to revive another day.  

In those last few minutes he brought up China’s corruption couple of time per minute to support his wishful thinking that China’s military is weak. I don’t care to dispute whether that’s true or not that China’s military is weak or that China’s corruption is as rampant, but clearly, we can see your typical double standards / hypocrisy in his OPINIONS. If the level of corruptions has such detrimental effects then surely, if he applies the same standard, the us military would be even weaker since the us is more corrupted.

This is a small portion of the media frenzy just months ago. Lots of LINKS supporting each other


I hope, in time, you may learn to distinguish fluff and buff opinions. Just because you want to believe something does not make it real. Spend more time to look at and from the other perspective. That would be the first step you take outside your bubble. I swear it would be worth the effort.

Right, about links. What use are links to - more opinion pieces and more lies supporting lies!? If there is one lesson I want you to take away from this conversation, TRUTH is not a popularity contest.

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[Mjmd]

My logic is that 80% shows a strong ongoing signal of USD being the international currency and the only reason for current % decrease is that we used our substantial international pull and control of the currency to impose sanctions on Russia and Iran which makes up majority of the remaining 20%. This shows strength, not weakness. Now it COULD lead to further weakness as countries are leery of being sanctioned by US. I acknowledge that. But you still have a base of strength and forward momentum that is far from guaranteed to be overcome. There is a vast difference between analyzing some low odds but certainly possible scenario and saying "GAME OVER" or anything close to that.

We've gone over who the aggressor is many times now. Its Russia.

Perun's corruption examples throughout are mainly from CHINESE MEDIA!!!! (and just as a note your video 0 sources; mine 30 sources) He even notes that this is as a potential issue in his video near the beginning. He does have a bad example near the end, but he notes that. This is an example of a good video. "Heh, I found this funny but its almost certainly not representation and might not even have happened". He thoroughly debunks many western fluff articles on the nuclear corruption having a significant impact. IE this "major story" probably only impacts a small subset (6% from memory) and overall the Chinese nuclear arsenal has made leaps and bounds like many of their other branches. I watched your entire video. You can watch mine.

Oh please list your source for the US military being more corrupt than Chinas.

But yes sources matter. While having 0 is really really bad. Having bad sources is also bad. People may not believe western corruption examples about China, so only using Chinese ones while probably not fully accurate, at least gives you a baseline minimum. And there is a large difference between just beating down on "haha China is corrupt and inept" to "China is corrupt, but it probably is mostly factored in and doesn't matter much especially related to the recent story that has generated a lot of out of proportion clickbait". Again, the 'analyze' portion of my process.

I thought maybe your silence was you actually processing that many C'harr Babies' equivalents watch the opposite spectrum of garbage youtube GAME OVER videos. I'm ever an optimist.

[Charr Babies]

He even notes that this is as a potential issue in his video near the beginning. He does have a bad example near the end, but he notes that. This is an example of a good video. 

It is my opinion that god created women to annoy the hell out of men and drive them crazy. I might have overstated this.
(He even notes that this is as a potential issue in his video near the beginning) 
Note: Common smearing tactic. Put the lies out there, and if it was retracted later, no one is paying attention anymore. The lies sticks
He (or his production team) edited the video. Instead of making note, how about not including the lies in the video. It wasn't a streaming live video, in fact, that could very well be part of the script. Same Tactic. The seed is planted.
I don't know how you can be so gullible to not know this

Women are not all that bad, Men are probably just annoying to women.

We can probably teach them to behave better. 
(He does have a bad example near the end)
Note: but excusable of course because he's dissing China and Russia.

What I have just said above must be an awesome statement, if this is your example of a good video, I have no further comments. case closed

That's my last words on this conversation. Free free to babble on.

PS: Here a few examples of multi-generations (a whole lifetime) of lies, corruptions and war crimes

[Mjmd]

So "heh I found this funny story while researching but note that it could not have happened" is VASTLY different from here is some unsupported junk and I'm not going to clarify or explain that it isn't well supported. Youtubers are allowed to try add some humor to an hour of power point.

He isn't smearing China. In fact its more of a smear on western media which is actually why I used it (IE to prove you could find solid info). There were A TON of articles and stories based on that news article of Chinese corruption in their nuclear program. You probably didn't click on them, but trust me for a solid week they were out there and they weren't great. He goes through a logical look through the issue. IE its from an anomalous source, it could be true as their is corruption in China (see example from Chinese media), but even if true its only applicable to a small portion of their nuclear force, and its really not that big of a deal. IE all the click bait western media out there is mostly not reporting this very well. Now does he list examples where the Chinese have admitted to their own corruption. Yes. I wouldn't call that smearing. Its more of a "heh what are the chances this actually happened"; here is some support from Chinese media there is corruption, so it is possible. Edit: do please watch the whole thing. I promise it isn't a smear on China. Again, I really do think this is more of take down on proportion and way western media was handling.

Just because the US has lied and done bad things a lot doesn't mean they have more corruption. Note you could define corruption a few different ways, but in any case just because the US has doesn't mean China doesn't. There really isn't a point turning this into look who has done the most bad things. Depending on the type of corruption this might not even count. In any case this hardly disproves that China isn't more corrupt. Overall China has a higher corruption index on every study that looks into it. This doesn't mean they don't have a strong growing military with relevant capabilities and it doesn't mean they aren't a global power.

[GT]

Having been to both China (PRC and ROC ) and the US plenty of times, but holding neither Nationality (nor that of one of their friends/allies), I can testify that PLENTY of news about China in Western/US media is either massively hyperbolic and/or outdated. Or, while being true in nature, is taken out of context, and often narrated in a VERY toxic way.

Sure, there is crap going on in China, but I've yet to be mistreated by the police there. In fact, they seem to be somewhat more relaxed when approached vs. US police. Guess NOT having to worry about pretty much anyone holding a gun makes your life somewhat less paranoid.

Do I prefer to be able to voice my opinion freely in western countries? (Unless you'd have an opinion that's highly discouraged from, of course.. then you'll get the "silence treatment" at best)
Yes, I do. But I feel that "free speech" was somewhat made more limited in the course of the last 30 years. Or in fact not more limited, more like "dumbed down".

I was old enough to see and understand the 1990s, when "western democracy and capitalism" where seen as the clear winners.

Welp, it seems that capitalism won because it had a close roap on. When the "Western system" didn't had to prove to be better than it's Eastern competitor, it pretty much perverted itself. Politicians cut taxes to the rich, rather than the poor/middle class. Stuff like "Double Dutch" was encouraged. Ireland tax heaven, or for the Yanks, Delaware..

Rather than trying to make the World a fair place, capitalism showed it's ugly side - a side that was restrainted by what nowadays would be called "Social market economy". In fact, most Republicans of the 1960s or 1970s would probably be labelled as "Socialists" if not outright "Communists" by their 2024 counterparts.

Oh, and politics wasn't about blackmailing others. It was about bringing a country forward, building infrastructure, showing the world how magnificient your own place can be - and not trying to show the world that "We might be bad, but they're even worse".

Saying "China is more corrupt" is technically probably (still) true. But does it really help? There is a good chance one of the most corrupt US presidents ever will come to power again in half a years time. A person that is openly talking about purging his enemies in a way that Stalin would be proud. In Europe, right wing parties just have won the EU elections. We don't have to talk about the shitshow that Britain has become. With more and more people sliding towards poverty. Yet, all that politicians in the US are doing is trying to "be more against China than the other party".

The newest double down on Mercantilism won't help either. Snake oil at it's very best (or would that be worst?)

The US profited from free trade the most. It helped them to rebuilt Europe. They could become fully energy autarc WITHOUT oil. We could all be working together on fighting climate change. The US/EU is demanding China to not support Russia, while at the same time being openly hostile to it. Like, WTF?

Under Trump, when the deals with Iran were cut, the world could see that even a brutal theocracy seemingly can be trusted more than the so-called leader of the free world. (That was pretty much a BIG deal for any non-aligned nation!)

The West needs to shift it's focus away from political infighting to long-term solutions again. Not trying to blackmail China, but rather prove the population that your system is still better than theirs. Because, right now, Chinese are comparing how life is in China vs. in the West (They're not North Korea, they can see the world...) - and MOST of the Chinese have said that while 20 years ago, they'd have clearly prefered to be living in the US/EU, that perception has changed a lot, and that's not due to propaganda alone.. (in fact, current Chinese propaganda more often than not has a field day by simply showing what's going on in the US, no need to make stuff up)

The fact that the upcoming elections in the US is between an elderly gentlemen (to say it nicely) that clearly has passed it's prime and an open fascist, pathological criminal scumbag says enough.

Increase taxes for the rich, make "gambling" at the stock markets (Day trading, short selling etc.) either illegal or tax it massively, and especially close the loopholes. Push a "new green deal". Massive investments into infrastructure. Make cities safe again (I guess I am biased living in Singapore, but NEVER having to worry about getting robbed is a massive plus for me) so people don't have to worry about where they're going. FIX the country, not fingerpoint to others about their shortcomings.

But I don't have much hope... sadly, good chance that the US will become an autocratic cleptocracy very soon (again).

There are reasons why China most probably hopes for a Trump victory.. (Putin definitely does)

[greenline]

The fact that the upcoming elections in the US is between an elderly gentlemen (to say it nicely) that clearly has passed it's prime and an open fascist, pathological criminal scumbag says enough.

Trump is only an open fascist by the definition that is wide enough to include Futurism, and most people calling him by the term are not intelligent and/or honest enough to make that association clear. The few outlets that do also generally fail to make a compelling case for why a case of new age Futurism would be so much worse than the current system of declining New Deal... Fascism (it was, after all, a third-way merging of the corporate and state infrastructure).

There are reasons why China most probably hopes for a Trump victory.. (Putin definitely does)

Putin has stated openly he would prefer Biden being reelected. This may be misdirection, but it also could easily reflect that many of the people Trump associated with or hired were more hawkish towards Russia than the current administration is. Although Trump's current platform might see this trend reversed if he wins.

[Boro]

Fun little article

We have previously mentioned that in the late 1940s, CIA agents organized the Sicilian-American mafia to sell opium from China to the black community in American ghettos.

"The business started and was getting better, but with the rise of of Mao Ce-tung to power, the Chinese province of Jünnan became unattainable, so a new area had to be created, and this was the golden triangle on the Burma, Laos, Thailand triple border"

https://moszkvater.com/drogpolitika-es-afganisztan/

Recommending a translator, I manually edited the above quote's phrasing for more clarity

[greenline]

It's the answer to the real reason behind the Vietnam war and the domino theory for Southeast Asia. The spread of Communism in Vietnam and Laos would be entirely irrelevant, save for the US government being heavily involved in drug trafficking in that region.

The relevance today is seeing how incidental corruption inevitably draws large state involvement in protecting such investments. That Joe Biden has a son who is lavished in money, hookers, and cocaine is not really that scandalous on its own. But Hunter Biden was getting a lot of that money from personal investments in Ukraine, and now we see that regular Americans must see the budget inflated to the tune of billions of dollars to protect Hunter Biden's crack money.

[superdeath]

It's the answer to the real reason behind the Vietnam war and the domino theory for Southeast Asia. The spread of Communism in Vietnam and Laos would be entirely irrelevant, save for the US government being heavily involved in drug trafficking in that region.

The relevance today is seeing how incidental corruption inevitably draws large state involvement in protecting such investments. That Joe Biden has a son who is lavished in money, hookers, and cocaine is not really that scandalous on its own. But Hunter Biden was getting a lot of that money from personal investments in Ukraine, and now we see that  regular Americans must see the budget inflated to the tune of billions of dollars to protect Hunter Biden's crack money.

You cant honestly believe that. If Biden was worried about his sons crack habit, he can do so alot easier and with alot less chance of being caught.

Fund Ukraine, Fund Taiwan. (and any other country that is at risk of being taken over) No civilized country should have their sovereignty taken away from them by a foreign power. That includes the US.