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> It's personally been very eye-opening for me over the past decade to see just how much the size of a country's economy can wielded as club to silence internat
by realusername 8y ago
> It's personally been very eye-opening for me over the past decade to see just how much the size of a country's economy can wielded as club to silence international opposition and how easily the international community goes along with it
That's the big shift occurring since the end of WWII. Countries lost power and influence to businesses & companies, every decade it's been more and more visible until the situation of today.
- Sniffnoy 8y agoBut it's not Chinese companies that go around making these threats -- it's the Chinese government with their ability to control those companies or cut off access to them. Same old monopoly on violence that's doing this, just wielded against your trading partners rather than you directly.
- realusername 8y ago> But it's not Chinese companies that go around making these threats -- it's the Chinese government with their ability to control those companies or cut off access to them In China, there's not much difference between the big companies and the government anyway.
- Sniffnoy 8y agoThe point is that refusing to trade with someone because they said something you don't like is not a good way to make money, and as such, one way or another, companies wouldn't take such measures were it not for the government's influence, regardless of the precise means of operation of that influence. If it were like you say, we'd see the influence of the companies undoing such government policies so that they can be unrestricted in their trade and make more money. That's not what we see. (Or likely we see it in other areas, but it's clear which way the influence runs in this one.)