Lurker > Wutobliteration

Dash_Harber posted...

Authentic_fan posted...

News is not the only barometer of 'power'. They aren't going to release a press release every time a country in the EU is influenced by German policy even a bit, but those sorts of changes add up.

Well they aren't more influential than Britain. Brexit could crash Germany's economy.

Not saying Germany isn't a strong nation, but I find it hard to call them a powerplayer when there is a far more powerful nation right down the street from them, pulling even more strings in the same region.

You are right, but like I said, there is no upper limit on superpowers. I'm not saying they are more powerful than Britain or China or the US, but to say they are not even worth looking at is foolish, in my opinion.

what's your obsession with Germany...jeez. Germany is far from the real world powers of today.

In terms of a country's power, you look at their THREAT.
This means most of all,

1. their military might. This is the core benchmark for true power.

2. their economic stability and progress. A country needs a strong economy to support itself first and con

3. the nationalism within. If a country can rally its people up to arms and for its cause, it can go full-on without opposition.

As of now, the US is still the most powerful nation due to their military and GDP but China is going to overtake soon, especially with a certain president withdrawing into isolationism.

China has been by far spending the most into their military more than ever, and their technology is rapidly advancing. On the geopolitics side, they've been very involved with the rest of the world, filling the gaping holes left by the US and British colonial rule. Particularly in Asia, where they want to be king.

They'll be looking to invade Taiwan one day, already have Hong Kong in their grasps, prying Phillipines away from US influence.... and looking to compromise other SEA countries like Singapore (the only completely sovereign Chinese-majority country far far away) and Australia (where there's also a significant Chinese population).
Oh, and they're already taking over the South China Sea despite the international tribunal ruling against them, having built their military bases there.

Over on the other side of the world, they've been targeting been slowly 'colonising' Africa through debt-heavy investments. They've just built a freaking military base there too.

Sri-Lanka is another country that's already wedged up to the Chinese and now in deep s*** debt. Right now, third-world countries make for good targets by China to invest in and slowly pull in their reigns.

But their physical influence is not to do with just a show of arms, no, it's primarily a seeping nationalism. They've literally got most of their billions of Chinese inhabitants so much in brainwashed patriotism that Chinese who go overseas are able to spread the Chinese communist idealogy all over the world. It's what's happening in places like Australia and Singapore.

Authentic_fan posted...

Crash Germany's economy? Can you back that up with...evidence?

No because it hasn't happened yet.

It's all speculation as of now, but brexit could potentially do terrible things for Germany.

But see I've also read articles that say brexit is bad for Britain so idk

Brexit is bad for everyone. It's about as smart of a move as people voting for Trump.

pinky0926 posted...

I don't really buy into these fluffy "according to a source close to the person" stories but in this case I 150% believe all of it

It's fake news I tell you. It's all FAKE NEEWS.

source: me and because the news is against my beliefs and agenda

as the US withdraws from Africa, China fills the void

some human characteristics seem almost mutually exclusive...right?

Sephiroth1288 posted...

Wutobliteration posted...

look at China where you don't see anyone rambling about stuff like QAnon and Flat Earth and Pizzagate.

Yeah a government that massacres protesters is totally comparable to a country with a handful of crazies saying crazy things on the interwebs and a statistically insignificant number of murders at schools

I'm not in support of China but Tienanmen Square is about as history as America massacring Vietnamese people in the sixties. You don't see incidents like these in China anymore. You could say the stifling of speech has been effective because of that.

KamenRiderBlade posted...

You love a totalitarian government so much that censors, lies, brutalizes, massacres; go live there.

Don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out. Bye!

it's funny how people have to keep correlating things that are not actually mutually dependent on one another. You can have suppressed speech without totalitarianism, you realise?

Most countries don't have 100% free speech at all, with common laws such as against sedition and libel.

Wolf_J_Flywheel posted...

People still buy into this shit?

people like you still exist?

Sephiroth1288 posted...

Wutobliteration posted...

you can't educate everyone in such a big country. And neither can you expect them to work and act smart. But you can control what they use and regulate platforms.

Actually you can't. The list of stable countries with heavy censorship laws is VERY short.

censorship does not correlate nor even relate in most ways to stability of a country. That relies on an effective government.

what does relate is proliferation of misinformation and resulting stupidity in a society that prevents the rise and stay of an effective government from being elected.

Serious Cat posted...

Wutobliteration posted...

For instance, does free speech also include all right for racism, fascism and all other forms of irrational hate speech too? Many Americans argue it should, just for the sheer sake of absolute 'freedom', yet funnily they are unable to tolerate the very same things caused by the abundance of 'freedom'.

Up to the point where it infringes on the rights of others, yes. You might be confusing the idea of freedom of speech for the idea of freedom from consequence, which doesn't exist.

then it's not freedom of speech anymore.

Polycosm posted...

This isn't a 1st amendment issue. It's a social media issue. Social media is perilous to democracy because it enables people to live in isolated information silos and feeds our tribalist instincts. These tools (and the abundance of information they provide) aren't inherently bad, but people are inclined to use them in ways that are harmful. If we don't get smarter about the way we use social media, it will continue to amplify our dumbness.

you can't educate everyone in such a big country. And neither can you expect them to work and act smart. But you can control what they use and regulate platforms. That's why you have things like censorship.
This is far amplified in today's digital age where anyone who has access to a phone or computer is able to instantly be influenced. Whereas newspapers were one's only source of info before and could only reach thousands, you now have ANYONE not just in the USA but any part of the world reaching millions and billions of others elsewhere in the world.

I'm an ardent believer that Too much of anything is bad. This includes what people perceive as good, including peace and stability.

For instance, does free speech also include all right for racism, fascism and all other forms of irrational hate speech too? Many Americans argue it should, just for the sheer sake of absolute 'freedom', yet funnily they are unable to tolerate the very same things caused by the abundance of 'freedom'.

look at China where you don't see anyone rambling about stuff like QAnon and Flat Earth and Pizzagate. Just obey the rules of the state, and you get to live in a peaceful society. I'd rather have suppressed speech than free speech honestly.

meanwhile in USA: gun shootings, a government jumping back and forth and too busy with lobbying, and a country full of misguided peeps falling into a deeper and deeper delusion because of the Internet and FOX news.

with so much misinformation and fake s*** floating around freely in the mass media and something called the Internet, maybe this is the pinnacle of what freedom of speech does to a society.
It's ironic how free speech is meant to be the counter to stifled speed and state propaganda actually, yet on the very extreme of free speech Americans are brainwashing themselves with propaganda put up by they themselves.

TheVipaGTS posted...

Jerry was a jackass, but i do understand....a cat was trying to eat him. of course he'd go all out to not die.

that's not it. People hate Jerry since he always gets the winning end, like 90% of the time. It gets the point where it looks more like he's the one bullying Tom.

Anyway I prefer the spin-off show where they work together as friends.

If you were the only one who knew about it, how would you like to spend the final two days of your life?

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-Relations/Free-trade-sphere-grows-leaving-US-in-the-cold

Japan's economic partnership agreement signed with the European Union on Tuesday looks to invigorate a host of other free trade efforts including the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and deals between the EU and South America, raising the unexpected possibility the U.S. will be left out in the cold as the world speeds toward multilateralism.
Under the new Japan-EU pact, both sides will tear down barriers on industrial products and agriculture. Europe's 10% tariff on Japanese passenger cars will be phased out over eight years, and levies on 92% of Japanese autoparts will vanish immediately. Mazda Motor, which exports from Japan over half the vehicles it sells in Europe, hails it as a "major accomplishment."
Tokyo will abolish tariffs on European wine and lower levies on soft cheeses, with a plan to abolish them entirely in the agreement's 16th year.

When a 2007 agreement between Japan and Chile removed tariffs on the South American country's wine, Japan's imports increased fivefold in a decade, while imports of California wine fell by 30%. The spread of free trade agreements that exclude the U.S. is likewise expected to hurt the competitiveness of American products.

Chief negotiators on TPP 11 -- re-worked to function without the U.S. following its withdrawal in 2017 -- gathered near Tokyo on Tuesday for a three-day meeting, during which they will discuss how additional countries can eventually join. Nations including Thailand, Colombia, South Korea and the U.K. have shown interest.

..

America's absence from major trade efforts is already creating challenges for free trade. Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who took office in May, has called for TPP 11 to be renegotiated. On other fronts, China is filling the vacuum left by the U.S. with trade deals that may not meet international standards. A free trade agreement took effect in January between the Asian economic powerhouse and Georgia, a key partner in Beijing's Belt and Road initiative targeting new trade routes through central Asia.

not like CE cares though

It's ok OP. Most CE users here only care about topics revolving around Trump, cops shooting blacks, guns, rape, homophobia and religion. If you wanna get a popular topic, you gotta say something like 'Guns should be accessible to everyone' then sit back and watch the yibber yabber among neckbeards.

depends on what type of girl. If it's one of those lolis, you have some mental issues

YOUHAVENOHOPE posted...

As bad as Russia gets, they're not quite as bad as China (though they have more egregious incidents of journalists dying, etc)

China has a shit ton of political prisoners still, censor the shit out of the internet, and are basically a giant walking human rights violation

Literally the UN and the world should have been in uproar when Xi Jinping essentially declared himself dictator

Putin is already there but idk... they aren't as harmful to the rest of the world as China is

the thing is, China is rising. Their system works. Minorities get persecuted and dissidents suffer but the majority who abide by the laws get by and prosper.

Meanwhile in Russia, the country is like one big crime organisation run by oligarchs. No one prospers since the government is just stealing money away from the people.

KhanJohnny posted...

China is much worse than Russia tbh

It's a budding totalitarian state. Again.

at least it doesn't go around poking and rigging other countries' elections. Ok, they do it for some african and other 3rd world countries but it's more like economic pressure and 'donations' than spreading dumb propaganda and trying to divide an entire society

or do you love them instead?

not just in terms of lousy quality but also in terms of say, lack of effort which may seem too lacklustre to actually justify their high subscriber count.

One channel I'd say is QPark's. I used to be a huge fan of his channel but seriously, it's becoming the same thing over and over now. His dance videos became a hit and suddenly that's all he ever produces now.
Doesn't really take much effort to go out of home, walk downstairs, start dancing like an idiot then finish the video just like that. I gotta give him credits for practicing the choreography though.

He could at least film in different locations, cities or even countries, jeez. He has the bucks to travel globally now.

Squall28 posted...

Awesome posted...

everybody with a brain knows that the next recession will be worse than the last one and that its coming soon.

Why's that?

'cos of the trade war. It'll be the biggest thing to crumble the economy. As pointed out, the effects may not be as noticeable just yet, unless Trump really goes ahead with that threat of taxing every single Chinese good