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Glad to see Apple make progress diversifying away from China. China is just not reliable enough to be your sole supplier anymore. Fifteen years ago with the fi

by joshe 5y ago

Glad to see Apple make progress diversifying away from China. China is just not reliable enough to be your sole supplier anymore. Fifteen years ago with the first iPhone it was low risk. Unfortunately governance has gotten more incompetent and more repressive over the last 10 years of the Xi era. There is also the small but real risk of a complete trade stoppage if China invades Taiwan. I'm not sure how the party lost control enough to let Xi walk in as dictator, but as with Russia, Chinese politics is controlled by the whim of one man.

jsemrau 5y ago
Not sure if you have seen this [1] amalgamation of several social videos, really the lockdown enforcement in Shanghai is not for the faint of heart. [1] https://app.finclout.io/t/3rjOePV https://app.finclout.io/t/3rjOePV
- RyanShook 5y ago
  Thanks for sharing that. I keep trying to figure out why China continues to lock down their cities since it hurts their economy so badly. Isn't the main driver in a need to remind the citizens who is in control? These case counts are so low...
  - jsemrau 5y ago
    My theory is that they don't have the medical infrastructure. In the video it is mentioned that some people caught Covid because the doctors were re-using swab-test.
athrowaway3z 5y ago
Loyalty bought by incidental prosperity and fear, over a long period of time. Not sure why you'd believe the Chinese state ever had a chance to avoid a personality-cult dictatorship. They might have adapted to block another Mao, but dictators arise in every system as do the suckers who believe in their self proclaimed righteousness. The best way to deal with them seems comedic humiliation as they challenge others to serve for a bounded period of time.
- thematrixturtle 5y ago
  China's leadership structures were revamped considerably (term limits, defined processes for succession etc) after Mao, precisely to prevent something like that happening again. And they worked well for a while, but unfortunately Xi managed to amass enough power to circumvent them and set himself up as dictator for life.

by joshe 5y ago

jsemrau 5y ago

Not sure if you have seen this [1] amalgamation of several social videos, really the lockdown enforcement in Shanghai is not for the faint of heart. [1] https://app.finclout.io/t/3rjOePV https://app.finclout.io/t/3rjOePV

RyanShook 5y ago
Thanks for sharing that. I keep trying to figure out why China continues to lock down their cities since it hurts their economy so badly. Isn't the main driver in a need to remind the citizens who is in control? These case counts are so low...
- jsemrau 5y ago
  My theory is that they don't have the medical infrastructure. In the video it is mentioned that some people caught Covid because the doctors were re-using swab-test.

athrowaway3z 5y ago

Loyalty bought by incidental prosperity and fear, over a long period of time. Not sure why you'd believe the Chinese state ever had a chance to avoid a personality-cult dictatorship. They might have adapted to block another Mao, but dictators arise in every system as do the suckers who believe in their self proclaimed righteousness. The best way to deal with them seems comedic humiliation as they challenge others to serve for a bounded period of time.

thematrixturtle 5y ago
China's leadership structures were revamped considerably (term limits, defined processes for succession etc) after Mao, precisely to prevent something like that happening again. And they worked well for a while, but unfortunately Xi managed to amass enough power to circumvent them and set himself up as dictator for life.