Comment by breerbgoat

Comment by breerbgoat 2 days ago

33 replies

If you look at it from a geopolitical angle, it's much to be celebrated. It means US can rely on its democratic like minded friends to help protect the supply chain of cutting edge chips, against the now very visible alliance of dictatorships (Russia, China, North Korea, Iran).

And make no doubt about it, there is a democratic alliance vs dictatorships here. Russia is aggressively sourcing artillery shells from North Korea, ballistic missiles from Iran, and financing and weapons from China. China incidentally is the economic caretaker of Iran and North Korea.

US accuses China of giving ‘very substantial’ help to Russia’s war machine https://www.politico.eu/article/united-states-accuse-china-h...

China’s Double Threat to Europe: How Beijing’s Support for Moscow and Quest for EV Dominance Undermine European Security https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/chinas-double-threat-eu...

thomasahle 2 days ago

> If you look at it from a geopolitical angle, it's much to be celebrated.

I'm not sure. Taiwan is already a democratic ally. They are relying on the chip manufacture to keep them safe politically. Without that they'll quickly get "absorbed" by China.

The US decoupling and isolating technologically/economically from the rest of the world, likely makes war more likely. Not less.

  • codethief 2 days ago

    China has already been working hard on decoupling from the West, likely because they are anticipating conflict in the future, so I don't think we'd be doing ourselves a favor by continuing to rely on our supply chains in Asia. In-sourcing doesn't make that conflict more likely, but it does increase our options to react if push comes to shove.

  • consteval 2 days ago

    > likely makes war more likely

    Maybe, but it also makes the impact of war much less. Because if Taiwan DOES get absorbed, you're not 100% screwed.

isr 2 days ago

Ah, ok. If we're going to be throwing in personal takes on geopolitics, then here's mine.

Less of the "democracies vs dictatorships". It's more like "western imperialism (essentially US & vassals) vs the rest of the world (who wants out of imperialism, endless sanctions, endless wars, the odd genocide or two)"

  • breerbgoat 2 days ago

    I don't think that's true. I see Europe and US and much of the rest of the world giving weapons and financial support to Ukraine. I don't see any other country giving weapons and financial support to Russia besides China, North Korea, Iran, and India who is buying more of Russian oil.

    • bluGill 2 days ago

      There is more than Weapons though. Brazil is supporting the Chinese peace plan - the plan that China built without talking to Ukraine and looks like give Russia everything they want. A lot of Africa nations are drawing closer to Russia - they don't have much to give now, but may in the future. (just them not developing is a win for Russia)

  • Intralexical 2 days ago

    [flagged]

    • breerbgoat 2 days ago

      "vassals" is a common phrase/tactic used by netizens in China to try to drive a wedge between US and rest of its allies. Nevermind that they never mention their allies like Russia or Brazil/Italy who seeks economic alignment as vassals.

      • Intralexical 2 days ago

        I think some number of them are probably just legitimately psychopaths living in the West. Though maybe they latch onto the term after hearing it as a PRC talking point. If you genuinely can't imagine mutually beneficial positive relationships based on consent, then it's only natural that seeing the US work together with so many other countries would be scary and look like "US & vassals".

        "A billion people" and "thousands year old civilization" are also Chinese talking points I've noticed. Hence why I included it in my comment, to both call out the really degrading "vassals" narrative and also point out these dictatorships aren't as special as they like to pretend.

    • isr a day ago

      [flagged]

      • dragonwriter a day ago

        > Japan, Germany, are effectively still occupied.

        No, they aren't. Having allied forces deployed on your soil by mutual agreement is not occupation.

        > Once a US base gets established in your territory, you can never get it out.

        There are quite a long list of counterexamples; the US has closed lots of overseas bases (both in countries that remain on good terms with the US and in those where the relationship soured.)

        > Just ask the Iraqi's.

        "Iraqis", and the US closed large numbers of Iraqi bases in the 2020-2021 drawdown and the US and Iraq are currently (last I checked) in discussions on a complete drawdown of US military presence which would close the remaining bases.

      • pragmomm a day ago

        I would encourage you, if you claimed so in this thread that you are a US and UK citizen, to quickly move out of US and renounce your US citizenship. So the torture and rage that you're displaying here and the paradox of your identity doesn't drive you insane. Also you should renounce your UK citizenship, as UK and US are very close allies. Maybe try moving to Russia? I heard they're having another military mobilization, and is paying pretty well.

      • Intralexical a day ago

        > Once a US base gets established in your territory, you can never get it out.

        Lmao:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_in_Fra...

        Phillipines too:

        https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-27-mn-209-st...

        They are going back currently, as they're invited to. You know, because that's how consent works, when you don't see everyone else as objects in a conspiracy.

        Actually, the US just finished leaving Niger this week:

        https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-military-says-it-com...

  • Kavelach 2 days ago

    Very true, let's look at some of the strategic partners of the US: Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, Israel, a state currently committing genocide.

lynx23 2 days ago

Why is democracy relevant here? Seems like a rather random words thrown in to support your point, without any actual relevance. We're talking supply-chain here. And capitalism. Both really dont care what and if people voted.

  • consteval 2 days ago

    > Both really dont care what and if people voted

    They kind of do. The reason various Asian companies pulled ahead in their own respective industries is top-down leadership and support. You dump money into them, tell them what to do, and lower the overhead of competition and you can create a world-class company.

    We, in the US, can't really do that. We try a little bit, but we don't fully commit so it doesn't work out.

deletedie 2 days ago

Sadly the State Dept.'s moral panic over a non-aligned Military Complex rings somewhat hollow against the backdrop of 'very substantial' support in an on-going genocide.

Coincidentally, it was Chinese intervention that brought an end to the last genocide the State Dept. was facilitating; the delineation of allies likely warrants reflection