Comment by MangoToupe
Comment by MangoToupe 17 hours ago
I find it hard to swallow my jealousy of the chinese. It's hard to imagine america collectively accomplishing much of anything in my lifetime.
Comment by MangoToupe 17 hours ago
I find it hard to swallow my jealousy of the chinese. It's hard to imagine america collectively accomplishing much of anything in my lifetime.
I like the /s here
When China starts capturing and colonizing other continents, you can start being really jealous !
They're saying it tongue in cheek, and everyone here is wowing over the infrastructure.
But China still believes that Taiwan (and other places) is theirs.
I think one reason this infrastructure is possible is not just regulations, but first party construction + private companies for construction that can't grab corrupt contracts or overcharge because it's a gov contract. Whereas in the West getting a gov contract is the opposite; it's a business' chance to overcharge to fuck, paid by the public who are too distracted to petty squabbles to care.
I'm a foreigner in the UK and the infra here is ailing. The UK voterbase will complain about rising bills, costs, etc. But will they change the way they vote, will they protest for change, will they actually work together for once to demand value for their tax money? Nah, of course not. Because people would rather argue about which bathroom someone can use, rather than intelligent discussion, fair compromise and moving the fuck on to the next problem.
Outdated or not-- it's already happening. China is creating "economic colonization" zones across second/third world nations by lending loans such that countries that can't pay up have to settle by giving up strategic bastions of power.
Take a look at (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambantota_International_Port). Overtly, not owned by the Chinese government but you can draw your own feelings.
This is how western colonization started.
They've been doing it to the neglected railroads in Africa for decades now.
> I think people in the US have nice stuff to look forward to, like I don't know, a holiday in Disneyland with their kids,
Probably not for most Americans these days:
Well it's not the same game. Here in China we're in this phase of accomplishing big stuff to help each other and flex a bit and wow at our own development. When the British colonized America, it was exactly the same - an insane accomplishment to capture and re-develop that land into something half-working so far away. When China starts capturing and colonizing other continents, you can start being really jealous !
Now, the US is focused on other stuff like maybe having some return on their investment, or looking at its people as first-class problems rather than ants meant for a greater national goal. It's not that bad, it depends on what you focus on, I think people in the US have nice stuff to look forward to, like I don't know, a holiday in Disneyland with their kids, when Chinese people often don't see our kids for years while we're building bridges far away.
Plus you know, we don't get to vote for great politicians like in the US and are stuck instead with bureaucrats that care more about infrastructure than pleasing the people. Be proud of that, I'd love for us to have your president (yes, I'm teasing you :p)