Making sense of the current political climate

[Afro_Vacancy]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjian ... tion_camps

Like those?

But at least they have a great economy, nice roads, a good economy, freedom is overrated, plus it makes people unequal to the point that some of them think that they need to buy 4000€ sweaters while others can't even afford the latest God of War game and to eat sushi every other day.

And you now what would fix that? Re-education camps to make them understand that this money could be put to better use if they just accepted that we could steal it from them.

Captalism and freedom are immoral bruh, obviously we'll get eaten by China if we don't become as authoritarian as them as fast as possible.

Both of China and the USA are capitalist economies.

China isn't a great place to be poor (neither is the USA), but that's not what I'm discussing. I'm discussing power and growth in the coming decades. China is taking steps to be a more powerful civilization. The USA is not. Low taxes means more spending on consumer goods, and less on investments.

With respect to re-education camps, the USA has the world's largest prison population. A heck of a lot of Black men go to jail, for very long sentences, for trivial non-crimes such as marijuana possession. Both are awful, and neither side has the moral high ground.

[Rudiger]

No, China is gradually building a very impressive base of infrastructure. Not just roads but also airports, trains, universities, laboratories, and hospitals.

It is true that there are examples off buildings falling, but that happens. They're growing pains, all countries have a few infrastructure disasters. Do you know how long Massachusetts took to build the big dig? But in the big picture they are doing quite well. Their rate of growth has been high for several decades. This is a google image link for the Shanghai skyline:

It looks like a few of the buildings are still standing.

The Venezuela argument is hypothetical. We'll see how much damage they suffer from those events.

I don't know if you're unaware or it's unintentional but the real estate scams of China is a major issue in the country, and has been repeating itself for nearly 2 decades and shows no sign of slowing down. This isn't some infrastructure accident that happens here and there, it's completely intentional and part of their rip off culture with the victims being the middle classes who save up for decades and don't know better.

Is there a major city in the world that hasn't drastically changed and modernised in the last few decades? I guess Thailand and Vietnam have huge infrastructures too. That skyline you're parading is built off the exact same scams I'm referring to, and unlike in your country, those people's millions are not resulting in bank and student loans to the lower rungs of society.

When someone spends a few grand on a sweater then the extra tax goes towards fixing that pothole outside the shop, the remaining profit goes to the shop, who in turn spends that money on other goods that also slices tax from it. The money doesn't vamoose or somehow end up back in a sweatshop, it's called consumer confidence, and it's a very difficult balance to maintain, but it's really disillusioning to me that you liken it to needlessly breaking windows.

Venezuela isn't hypothetical when major Chinese diplomats have been visiting the capital for months now, as well as the government holding emergency meetings any time a news story breaks (including the recent talks of a coup).

I'm trying to get my head around how the term "hypothetical" could apply to that, really.

But even if it is nothing to you and it turns out to be nothing to the Chinese in the end, it says a lot when they are anxious and desperately monitoring the fate of a third world country.

Added in 13 minutes 32 seconds:

With respect to re-education camps, the USA has the world's largest prison population. A heck of a lot of Black men go to jail, for very long sentences, for trivial non-crimes such as marijuana possession. Both are awful, and neither side has the moral high ground.

Hahaha, OK so imprisoning people for breaking the law is just as bad as openly and blatantly illegal "re-education" camps where minorities are tortured. Both as bad as each other.

America desperately needs prison reform no doubt and genuinely heartbreaking judicial decisions are the norm, but you do know it's ok to realise your country isn't as shitty as some other terrible countries? It doesn't make you more enlightened, and balanced, to downplay the atrocities of other cultures, and act as if your fellow countrymen are just as corrupt and barbaric? Because they aren't, and neither are a lot of developed countries.

It just stinks of "you know we could all learn a thing or two from those wise foreigners" yeah like 95% of the country being in poverty, having a gigantic population and no clue how to prosper with it. Great.

Oh wait sorry it's actually about only half the country now that's "impoverished", because their standard of poverty is living on 3 dollars a day.

We should stop buying stupid items and stop eating our cheeseburgers and learn how a real society runs from the wise azns, look at the skyline of one of their few major cities. Fucking hell.

[Afro_Vacancy]

I don't know if you're unaware or it's unintentional but the real estate scams of China is a major issue in the country, and has been repeating itself for nearly 2 decades and shows no sign of slowing down. This isn't some infrastructure accident that happens here and there, it's completely intentional and part of their rip off culture with the victims being the middle classes who save up for decades and don't know better.

Is there a major city in the world that hasn't drastically changed and modernised in the last few decades? I guess Thailand and Vietnam have huge infrastructures too. That skyline you're parading is built off the exact same scams I'm referring to, and unlike in your country, those people's millions are not resulting in bank and student loans to the lower rungs of society.

When someone spends a few grand on a sweater then the extra tax goes towards fixing that pothole outside the shop, the remaining profit goes to the shop, who in turn spends that money on other goods that also slices tax from it. The money doesn't vamoose or somehow end up back in a sweatshop, it's called consumer confidence, and it's a very difficult balance to maintain, but it's really disillusioning to me that you liken it to needlessly breaking windows.

Venezuela isn't hypothetical when major Chinese diplomats have been visiting the capital for months now, as well as the government holding emergency meetings any time a news story breaks (including the recent talks of a coup).

I'm trying to get my head around how the term "hypothetical" could apply to that, really.

But even if it is nothing to you and it turns out to be nothing to the Chinese in the end, it says a lot when they are anxious and desperately monitoring the fate of a third world country.

Other majors powers (France, USA, etc) also closely monitor developments in the third world. Third world countries can have strategic importance, for example they might be located at significant locations, or they might have abundant access to particular natural resources.

It is true that many cities around the world have been profoundly changed in the past twenty years. However, the Chinese cities are the most changed, with the notable exception of Dubai.

Expect China to do very well at everything from the Olympics to Nobel Prizes to the Film Industry in the coming decades. They're making the necessary investments. They just placed an impressive probe on the dark side of the moon.

Added in 5 minutes 33 seconds:

Hahaha, OK so imprisoning people for breaking the law

They get imprisoned for being Black. It's now well-documented that the war on drugs was initiated to destabilize the African American community. Former government officials who helped establish the war on drugs have admitted as such. Marijuana possession is just a pretext.

Have you ever smoked pot? Did you spend ten years in jail? If not, why not?

Oh wait sorry it's actually about only half the country now that's "impoverished", because their standard of poverty is living on 3 dollars a day.

Chinese GDP per capita is ~$9,000/year.

We should stop buying stupid items and stop eating our cheeseburgers and learn how a real society runs from the wise azns, look at the skyline of one of their few major cities. Fucking hell.

Ultimately, westerners are choosing to squander their ancestor's legacy on cheap consumer goods and services and living a life of sloth. I don't know if much can be changed.

[Rudiger]

Other majors powers (France, USA, etc) also closely monitor developments in the third world. Third world countries can have strategic importance, for example they might be located at significant locations, or they might have abundant access to particular natural resources.

It is true that many cities around the world have been profoundly changed in the past twenty years. However, the Chinese cities are the most changed, with the notable exception of Dubai.

Expect China to do very well at everything from the Olympics to Nobel Prizes to the Film Industry in the coming decades. They're making the necessary investments. They just placed an impressive probe on the dark side of the moon.

Added in 5 minutes 33 seconds:

They get imprisoned for being Black. It's now well-documented that the war on drugs was initiated to destabilize the African American community. Former government officials who helped establish the war on drugs have admitted as such. Marijuana possession is just a pretext.

Have you ever smoked pot? Did you spend ten years in jail? If not, why not?


Chinese GDP per capita is ~$9,000/year.


Ultimately, westerners are choosing to squander their ancestor's legacy on cheap consumer goods and services and living a life of sloth. I don't know if much can be changed.

I've known some Chinese people that left the country in their 20s and didn't know what Tiananman Square was about, or that there was some weird thing about Tibet or something. These people insist that the censorship and government control is even tighter now than in their youth, and only see it becoming more like North Korea. They'd laugh their asses off if they heard you talking about progressing infrastructures, film awards and GDP (which is NOT salary as you know, that's a few hundred dollars a month on average, China is beginning to catch up to India in that regards and you think it's Monaco). Oh don't forget a space probe to some dark space, that's invaluable to the average Chinese household.

I'm sorry but this is just such fluff, it really is.

Let the Yanks waste their money on stupid shit, like I said, it just gets taxed and taxed, if consumer confidence is up, and they live within their means, let them buy all the stupid crap they can afford.

Because that tax doesn't go nowhere, like you seem to think. Maybe it does go absolutely nowhere in some countries but not yours, even if you do spot a few too many potholes on the way to work compared to the 70's, it sure beats working 12 hours for a $20 bill.

[Afro_Vacancy]

I've known some Chinese people that left the country in their 20s and didn't know what Tiananman Square was about, or that there was some weird thing about Tibet or something.

Yeah, I know some Chinese people like that as well. I also know some Americans who don't know about their country's role in bringing Pinochet to power, as one example among many examples.

Most people around the world don't know about their own country's human rights failings. The notable exception is Germany. Germans are taught in school and in their popular culture of their country's war crimes.

There might be a few other exceptions.

Because that tax doesn't go nowhere, like you seem to think. Maybe it does go absolutely nowhere in some countries but not yours, even if you do spot a few too many potholes on the way to work compared to the 70's, it sure beats working 12 hours for a $20 bill.

There is some tax revenue in the USA, but not enough to maintain a powerful civilization in the long-term. The prerequisites of civilization, such as a military, infrastructure, science, the arts, et cetera, cost money. There's no way around that. They've spent the past fifty years slashing taxes. They now have an excess of consumer goods with respect to investments.

They'd laugh their asses off if they heard you talking about progressing infrastructures, film awards and GDP (which is NOT salary as you know, that's a few hundred dollars a month on average, China is beginning to catch up to India in that regards and you think it's Monaco).

China has a better median living standard than India.

I also know some Chinese people who moved to the west in their 20s. Many of them subsequently moved back to China. That's a recent change, that almost never happened twenty years ago.

[Rudiger]

Yeah, I know some Chinese people like that as well. I also know some Americans who don't know about their country's role in bringing Pinochet to power, as one example among many examples.

Most people around the world don't know about their own country's human rights failings. The notable exception is Germany. Germans are taught in school and in their popular culture of their country's war crimes.

There might be a few other exceptions.


There is some tax revenue in the USA, but not enough to maintain a powerful civilization in the long-term. The prerequisites of civilization, such as a military, infrastructure, science, the arts, et cetera, cost money. There's no way around that. They've spent the past fifty years slashing taxes. They now have an excess of consumer goods with respect to investments.


China has a better median living standard than India.

I also know some Chinese people who moved to the west in their 20s. Many of them subsequently moved back to China. That's a recent change, that almost never happened twenty years ago.

I don't think you understand about the Tiananman Square/Tibet thing, it's not that they didn't know out of poor education or ignorance, but because of censorship. One woman's mother would only agree to discuss such a thing when outside of the country (the first time being when her daughter was of course in her 20s).

Even in their own home in China to this day she wouldn't dare speak of it.

This type of Chinese person is completely different from the average emigrating for University or whatever, they are escaping, we are culturally talking about 2 completely different things here. The type you are talking about, it's no big deal for them to move back. It would be a big deal or just flat out insanity for 90% of them to move back.

[CaptainForehead]

The priority should be to lower costs.

It is unfortunate that Democrats do not share this view.

The broken window fallacy is a thought experiment from 19th century economics. The idea is that randomly breaking windows might be helpful for the economy, as people will then need to spend money on repairing their windows. But it's not really true (in most cases).

It is still believed today. I saw a lecture by a senior official from IMF (or someone from the treasury) where he argued that economics dictated that the fastest way to come out of recession was to funnel money into useless projects, and that investing in infrastructure, or anything that improves efficiency would be suboptimal.

[pjhair]

Damn, what state do you live in? How old are you, and what did you do for undergrad/grad school? I've never made more than six figures, though im getting close to it, but my job is kinda chill and i can go on vacation whenever i feel like it

I currently live in Texas. My undergrad was in computer science. I am currently pursuing grad school in Comp Science with specialization in AI/Machine learning. My salary is actually not impressive for the field I am in. I have two other friends that are in the same field as me. One is making 180K a year and another is making around 140K. I am poor at negotiating salary and have't really pursued high salary jobs as that wasn't my priority so far. I was more interested in partying, traveling, etc. Both of my friends are married so unlike me, their career and family is their priority. Whereas I was devastated by divorce which messed up my priorities. Anyway, I am going to change that now.

Among my friends, I was by far the best programmer. In fact, in college I used to help them in their programming assignments or whenever they struggled with a problem. But having your priorities right and a stable family life is very important to excel professionally and personally.

[CaptainForehead]

I have two other friends that are in the same field as me. One is making 180K a year and another is making around 140K.

Damn.

Do they have a life? I think you mentioned you had a comfortable job.

[pjhair]

Damn.

Do they have a life? I think you mentioned you had a comfortable job.

The one making 180 K is really busy. He was for example working even on Christmas day but that is because that time of the year is busiest for them. The one making 140K is not that busy and seems to have a better work life balance.

I like comfortable jobs however there are jobs with high salary and decent work life balance. Even if I can't find them, I wouldn't mind working hard for a few years, pay off my loans and then go back to finding a comfortable job. The market for software engineers is really good right now. When I decided to look for a job a few months ago, within two weeks I had four job offers with salary as high as 120K (not including bonus). However, I accepted a job with a salary of 100 because I thought I will have a more relaxed work schedule that will allow me to finish my grad school on time.

[CaptainForehead]

The one making 180 K is really busy. He was for example working even on Christmas day but that is because that time of the year is busiest for them. The one making 140K is not that busy and seems to have a better work life balance.

I like comfortable jobs however there are jobs with high salary and decent work life balance. Even if I can't find them, I wouldn't mind working hard for a few years, pay off my loans and then go back to finding a comfortable job. The market for software engineers is really good right now. When I decided to look for a job a few months ago, within two weeks I had four job offers with salary as high as 120K (not including bonus). However, I accepted a job with a salary of 100 because I thought I will have a more relaxed work schedule that will allow me to finish my grad school on time.

Remember taxes.
If you get a 180k job, you'll only be getting about 50k above your 100k job.

[pjhair]

Remember taxes.
If you get a 180k job, you'll only be getting about 50k above your 100k job.

50K above my current salary is till a lot of money

[Rudiger]

50K above my current salary is till a lot of money

How many yachts you bench breh?

Lol broke ass bitch

[pjhair]

How many yachts you bench breh?

Lol broke ass bitch

I am not sure what you mean. I said my friend makes 180K, not me. Nevertheless, that salary is quite common actually in the US especially in bay/Seattle area.

[Rudiger]

I am not sure what you mean. I said my friend makes 180K, not me. Nevertheless, that salary is quite common actually in the US especially in bay/Seattle area.

Are you saying you don't understand the concept of bench pressing yachts???

Jks aside house prices around the bay are so ridiculous I can't get my head around how anyone settles or lives there. I don't understand how a mortgage could work out there.

Even rent prices, no wonder there's so many homeless.