5 ms·

Singapore is a compact city-state, Malaysia has almost 500x the land area split across two major land masses to boot. The classic divergence is North vs South

Singapore is a compact city-state, Malaysia has almost 500x the land area split across two major land masses to boot. The classic divergence is North vs South Korea, which were practically identical until the Korean War. Historically the North was richer, now the South is orders of magnitude wealthier.

tut-urut-utut 4y ago
Obviously two Koreas had different priorities. What you said is true, but on the other hand, North Korea is an independent nuclear power, while South Korea is a kind of corrupt vassal state hosting foreign army on their soil.
- ianhawes 4y ago
  “Independent” if we pretend China doesn’t exist.
- everybodyknows 4y ago
  > vassal state hosting foreign army on their soil. By that criterion, Japan and Germany are likewise "vassal states".
  - tut-urut-utut 4y ago
    Of course they are. When was the last time Germany actually did something against the interest of the Empire?
    - laverya 4y ago
      When they decided to rely on Russia for their energy security?
      - tut-urut-utut 4y ago
        They did not really decide. What was the reasonable alternative?
        laverya 4y ago
        Not shutting down their nuclear power plants is an easy first step. Building more nuclear, developing local fossil fuel sources, and building LNG offload terminals would all be good second steps, though of course also more expensive.
        tut-urut-utut 4y ago
        That's not a reasonable alternative. More nuclear - after Fukushima not a realistic option. LNG - would be useleff today, since the Empire decided to limit LNG exports. And even if the Germany could claim complete LNG world export capacities all for itself, it would still not be enough. local fossil fuel sources - there are none that are not already in use
        laverya 4y ago
        Fukushima may have been bad (this is debatable, it was bad in public opinion more than anything else), but viewed in comparison to "not having enough power leading to industry shutting down (happening now) or people freezing to death (this winter)" or "not being able to oppose Russia" perhaps it's not quite so unrealistic. As far as I know the USA has not restricted LNG exports. LNG is still very cheap in the USA in comparison to the rest of the world because our export terminals are operating at capacity. (To be fully effective, more global LNG export capacity may need to be developed - this is very possible as the US has excess capacity, but it is of course more expensive than just importing from Russia) There are local fossil fuel sources! Lots of coal, for instance. Yes, this option sucks, and releases a ton of pollution! But you can still do it!
- laverya 4y ago
  > North Korea is an independent nuclear power South Korea, like Japan, is a "latent" nuclear power - meaning they have the ability to quickly (likely a matter of months) produce nuclear weapons given current resources and expertise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_latency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_latency
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

tut-urut-utut 4y ago

Obviously two Koreas had different priorities. What you said is true, but on the other hand, North Korea is an independent nuclear power, while South Korea is a kind of corrupt vassal state hosting foreign army on their soil.

ianhawes 4y ago
“Independent” if we pretend China doesn’t exist.
everybodyknows 4y ago
> vassal state hosting foreign army on their soil. By that criterion, Japan and Germany are likewise "vassal states".
- tut-urut-utut 4y ago
  Of course they are. When was the last time Germany actually did something against the interest of the Empire?
  - laverya 4y ago
    When they decided to rely on Russia for their energy security?
    - tut-urut-utut 4y ago
      They did not really decide. What was the reasonable alternative?
      - laverya 4y ago
        Not shutting down their nuclear power plants is an easy first step. Building more nuclear, developing local fossil fuel sources, and building LNG offload terminals would all be good second steps, though of course also more expensive.
        tut-urut-utut 4y ago
        That's not a reasonable alternative. More nuclear - after Fukushima not a realistic option. LNG - would be useleff today, since the Empire decided to limit LNG exports. And even if the Germany could claim complete LNG world export capacities all for itself, it would still not be enough. local fossil fuel sources - there are none that are not already in use
        laverya 4y ago
        Fukushima may have been bad (this is debatable, it was bad in public opinion more than anything else), but viewed in comparison to "not having enough power leading to industry shutting down (happening now) or people freezing to death (this winter)" or "not being able to oppose Russia" perhaps it's not quite so unrealistic. As far as I know the USA has not restricted LNG exports. LNG is still very cheap in the USA in comparison to the rest of the world because our export terminals are operating at capacity. (To be fully effective, more global LNG export capacity may need to be developed - this is very possible as the US has excess capacity, but it is of course more expensive than just importing from Russia) There are local fossil fuel sources! Lots of coal, for instance. Yes, this option sucks, and releases a ton of pollution! But you can still do it!
laverya 4y ago
> North Korea is an independent nuclear power South Korea, like Japan, is a "latent" nuclear power - meaning they have the ability to quickly (likely a matter of months) produce nuclear weapons given current resources and expertise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_latency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_latency

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]