ComradeYellow

Also from the article I posted:

O'Rly? How Russia-China are stage-managing the Taliban | The Vineyard of the Saker These are the key takeaways. – No problem for women to get education all the way to college, and to continue to work. They just need to wear the hijab (like in Qatar or Iran). No need to wear a burqa. The Taliban insists, “all women’s rights will be guaranteed within the limits of Islamic law.” – The Islamic Emirate “does not threaten anyone” and will not treat anyone as enemies. Crucially, revenge – an essential plank of the Pashtunwali code – will be abandoned, and that’s unprecedented. There will be a general amnesty– including people who worked for the former NATO-aligned system. Translators, for instance, won’t be harassed, and don’t need to leave the country. – Security of foreign embassies and international organizations “is a priority.” Taliban special security forces will protect both those leaving Afghanistan and those who remain. – A strong inclusive Islamic government will be formed. “Inclusive” is code for the participation of women and Shi’ites. – Foreign media will continue to work undisturbed. The Taliban government will allow public criticism and debate. But “freedom of speech in Afghanistan must be in line with Islamic values.” – The Islamic Emirate of Taliban wants recognition from the “international community” – code for NATO. The overwhelming majority of Eurasia and the Global South will recognize it anyway. It’s essential to note, for example, the closer integration of the expanding SCO – Iran is about to become a full member, Afghanistan is an observer – with ASEAN: the absolute majority of Asia will not shun the Taliban. ________ Whether they live up to it is anyones guess but the rhetoric here at least is a vast improvement from the old days.

Historically, it's not poverty or hunger that starts conflicts on American soil, it's the power of an idea. The idea that the U.S. should be a sovereign Independent nation away from Tyrant King George, the idea that their slaves might be taken away, ect. The idea that the country could take a more left wing and transitional turn in the near future seems to causing Johnny AR-15 a quite a significant stir lately. Even if its not in reality an earth shattering or Stalin-esque type of turn, and it's well within the confines of teh Constitution/based on American principles, the fear alone is all it would take to trigger them into action. Americans are dumb strange like that.

There was no chance of Civil War in the U.S. during the Cold War, as WW2 was still fresh in the minds of the public and the country was both rich and unified*. U.S. had the greatest economy and a functioning democracy in those days, as opposed to the U.S.S.R. which was both economically and politically ineffective**. Things just seem...different now. U.S. economy and political situation appears to be showing signs of decay and people are quite riddled with anxiety and uncertainty about the future *The Consciousness Revolution of the 1960's was indeed a time of turmoil for the U.S., but the political and business class at that time was composed of the elder generations who kept the country ironclad together. The kids at that time are now elders and in charge and now we have two camps: One that is trying to perpetuate the gains of the 60's into the country for good and the other trying to roll it back into some kind of white supremacist pastime before that. Hopefully the former wins, as it would fundamentally change U.S. policy for good and we would be left with a situation in which all sides on the geopolitical landscape would win. **Largely thanks to Kruschev and his complete cutoff of the Stalin years into Soviet History. An Ancient once said "The Best way to destroy a country is to dismantle its history". Deng Xiaoping may not have been all in with Mao Zedong policies, for good reason, but he he still honored Mao for what achievements he did accomplish and enshrined him in the CCP history as one of the greats.

Or just wait until the U.S. tears itself apart on idiotic cultural shenanigans. Should be the winning strategy for everyone tired of the U.S. war machine. Don't provoke the beast, just sit back, lay low, and wait until they start killing each other. Rainbow LGBT and minority Freedom and Liberation Front vs. John Deere Good ol' Boy Buckskin slackjaws (O.K., I'm sure the battle lines will be a bit more nuanced and complex than that but I can't help but make some comedic gestures about the Western obsession with identity lol).

America once won its wars. Now it just leaves them - Asia Times The American public just doesn't seem to want war anymore, and seem far more obsessed with domestic cultural issues than anything. The 1960's episode has really manifested itself into U.S. culture and I don't see it going away. I do not see social conservatives winning out in the U.S.

You speak like a dark web Gen-X er, always pointing the blame to Easterners for your woes, when in fact it was the U.S.A. who allied with these people against the fascist pukes from Germany, Italy, and Japan. It seems only educated youngsters actually have a solid grasp on U.S. history, whilst older people seem to only think in Cold War terminology. Whelp I guess they don't call it the cyclical nature of history for nothing. Yeah sorry I'm immune to white supremacist Cold War lies and propaganda, as were many other youngsters in 1861 and 1941 when the banners were called to dispel such nonsense and set the record straight. and lol @Azdeus for always being the diligent sinophobic Swede who sees "Asiatic hordes" as the the ultimate menace. Rings a bell.

How Could the U.S. Navy Take On China's 500-Ship Navy? | The National Interest Worry not, Westerlings, China doesn't want a naval fleet designed for world domination (Except, perhaps, to protect their lucrative trade routes), they just need a navy that is capable of whipping anything that comes at them in the South China Sea. This fear mongering of Chinese domination on military sites is becoming so sad it's almost laughable. For centuries, China has had the worlds largest economy*, and yet they've never once attempted to enslave, subjugate, or colonize anybody, unlike some we know. *For kicks, I randomly looked up the year 1500 and who had the largest economy at that time, and the result was....China!

In China Marxism is seen as a noble ideal that's something achievable in the future, not something that must be forceably implemented. It's capitalist in practice but Marxist sentiment still runs deep in the hearts and minds of the Chinese public. It's called being realistic and not overtly ideological. Capitalists serve the public, not rule over them and flamboyantly control the country by throwing money at politicians making themselves TV stars like in the U.S. Meanwhile in Germany Rise in far-right extremists seen in Germany last year - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com) Color me not surprised.

Marxism resurges among young Chinese after CPC’s centenary proves a success - Global Times See? If this were a fascist regime, these kids would be rounded up and put in camps, or worse. Yes I'm aware Global Times is "Official" state news but that's kinda the point, government is praising kids who want a more orthodox Marxian resurgence.

LOL yeah that always ends well. Insanity, results. And China and Russia are handling the situation quite maturely. They are not intervening in the situation militarily but have hit diplomatic relations with the Taliban in case they win. No extremist elements and no sending fanatics into their border in return for full recognition and economic development via Belt and Road. See? China knows how to do diplomacy like a champ. Even though the CPC and the Taliban are quite ideologically incompatible, there's such a thing making the best of a bad situation without resorting to swords and steel.

Not sure why this got to the Coronavirus thread but I think it's fair to say that MAGA is quite fascistic. Worshipping a strongman leader perpetuating some kind of mythical past on a crusade against the left is quite comfortably in the realm of fascism. I mean sure perhaps it wasn't very hardcore and was a bit levitated from it, and Trump was a woefully inadequate and poorly skilled leader (Thank God for that!) but the rythim is there. He and his supporters are going to continue creating problems for the U.S.A. Also I don't see the U.S. going full "dictator", they don't have a history of that. I mean I guess anything is possible but I'd call it unlikely. Some great "no nonsense" leader who can actually get the job done by aggressively and skillfully solving problems and damning the torpedoes wouldn't be a bad thing for a term or two though. Every once in a while you gotta elect a sledgehammer to crush glaring and long embedded problems.

U.S.A. will not collapse or be like China, ever. I just hope Western liberalism sees an improvement sometime in my lifetime, is all. Simple really, you want Socialism with Chinese Characteristics move to China, you want Western liberalism move to U.S.A. or Europe. 'Tis a big planet, there's room for a multitude of systems that can peacefully coexist. As of now, it is of my opinion strongly that Trumpism is the greatest threat to the U.S.A. and therefore the planet writ large.

Opinion: The rule of law is pushing back against Trump's big lie (msn.com) Democracy without the Rule of Law isn't democracy, it's chaos. Trumpism is fascism and chaos. However, I think American Rule of Law needs an overhaul, one way to turn me off from you and not engage with you is to continuously cite Constitutional theory from weathered papers written centuries ago. What does American democracy stand for? Hopefully something better, soon.

U.S.A. wins by one Gold Medal, strange comeback considering China was comfortably ahead until yesterday. I call biased referees trying to keep the China down. I played sports in school and have personal experience with biased refs so you can't tell me it's impossible.

No. NK is backwards Marxist Leninism and China is Socialism with Chinese characteristics, basically an evolved form of Marxist Leninism. And I'd say the living standards in Shanghai are better than New York in some ways, as it has lots of efficient high speed railway, whilst New York's subway system is dated as Hell. Plus in Shanghai, food vendors are open at midnight, with lots of delicious food. Pollution levels are about the same in both cities (ranked "moderate" at IQAir World Air Quality Index (AQI) Ranking | AirVisual (iqair.com)) New York would probably be considered better for rich people but not for poor people.

Yeah well that's how white puritanical superstitious Westerners/Americans see China and especially North Korea, even though China offers lots of cheap public services and living costs are low, it's 40% cheaper to live in Shanghai than New York. Massachusetts, for instance, is consistently ranked as the smartest state in the union, yet it's 40% above the national average in living costs. You'd think the smartest state would figure out a way to reduce costs but I think they like it that way. Why? Elitism. most likely. Anyway it looks like the U.S. won the Summer Olympics, though it was a close call. China had adopted the Soviet model of state funded and regulated Olympics training for youths, I guess it might need more funding if the want to really kick @$$ next time around.

China unveils 600 km/h Transrapid train - Asia Times Yeah baby.

Ultrawealthy Americans are ditching their US citizenship in droves (msn.com) LOL, where are they gonna go, and what is the U.S. without it's rich folk? Fun fact: China's wealthy aren't taxed as heavily as Americans (but as I mentioned earlier are under increasing pressure from state regulators), so U.S. is pretty screwed if they set up shop in China. Without its brainy entrepreneurs, the U.S. would expose it's rotten underbelly even more, and I think you know what I mean here. "Rural" and "White" are the keywords. @Gorth Perhaps we can agree to disagree, you see it as blatant fascism, I see it as communism evolved and matured to a workable level, the real fascist in this story was Donald Trump in my book, not Xi Jinping who continues to cite Marxism and has read Das Kapital 3 times. Ask a Trump supporter of Marxism and you risk death, ask a Xi supporter about Marxism and you'll get a more positive and optimistic response.

China's biggest private companies are in chaos. It's all part of Beijing's plan (msn.com) ^Proof that China is not fascist. In fascist regimes, business leaders are seen as the heart, soul, and pillar of society, workers and peasants be damned and hit the slave pits. China is restructuring it's business community so that it adheres to a more balanced and equitable society overall. I mean sure, there's risks with taking a sledgehammer to the tech and tutoring sector, like it may slow growth in the short term, but if you want to tune your rig, you got to dismantle it first and then let it run with its new processes. Westerners are always so quick to pull the trigger with short term thinking in mind, China is playing the long game

The nostalgia is strong in this one,].

Every time I take a break from this thread, it just goes back to @Gromnir vs @Guard Dog like a 1980's air hockey match Allow me to raise the discomfort level by talking about a growing China China's Army Day: 94th anniversary of PLA founding - CGTN China is now obsessed with hitting centennial goals left and right, they've achieved a "moderately prosperous society in all respects" in 2021, exactly 100 years after the founding of the CPC, and virtually eliminated extreme poverty. When I was a boy, my step dad would always use the "starving people in China" card every time I complained about what was for dinner. This is no longer a fact, the average Chinese citizen makes a decent living now. Their next centennial goal is to achieve a "moderately modernized military" by 2027, exactly 100 years after the creation of the PLA. Their ultimate goal is to achieve absolute modernization and be a leading power in all respects buy 2049, and that includes being the foremost innovator in technology and other things. "Made in China" will be a thing of world class quality rather than the be the gold standard of cheap goods.