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But they could just do that directly - like Russia and China have done with Yandex, VK, WeChat, TikTok, Baidu, etc. But for some reason the EU is still hooked

by _vbnz 4y ago

But they could just do that directly - like Russia and China have done with Yandex, VK, WeChat, TikTok, Baidu, etc. But for some reason the EU is still hooked on neoliberalism and anti-protectionism, even when it has ravaged the continent with the energy crisis and the US monopolising the Tech industry, etc. (remember that the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn, ARM, Linux and Nokia were all European once). Like in this case - it'd be better to just invest directly into support for EU-based FOSS consultancies to contribute and maintain critical libraries like OpenSSL, LibreSSL, Linux, etc. - and then all EU government and industry would benefit with that, whilst keeping the jobs and investment in the EU. They're just so short-sighted and dogmatic about neoliberalism (as well as doing whatever the US asks, regardless of the negative effect on Europe). It's no wonder we're being eclipsed by China. Just look at the GDP per capita and Productivity since 2008 - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=GB-US-ES-DE-FR-IT https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?location...

Foobar8568 4y ago
So much this. This morning I was thinking about the supposed CIA handbook to ruin companies, at this stage I wonder if it wasn't done for states. My wife asked me why I don't create startup, well it's all due to these bullshits.
- varispeed 4y ago
  Because the idea behind it is that commoners like me and you shouldn't be able to start a business without backing of an investor blessed by the EU officials. That's how they are introducing neo-communism by the backdoor. Technically private initiative is still legal and possible, but it is not in practice. So if you have an idea, your only option, eventually will be to get hired at one of big corporations and try to sell your idea at one of their start-up incubators. Difference is that you'll always be a salaried worker (and remain in working class) and shareholders will profit from your idea not yourself.
  - swores 4y ago
    > That's how they are introducing neo-communism by the backdoor. Even by HN's typical standards of political discussions, this sentence is quite something. You can't actually be serious? This bill looks pretty shit, but you're jumping from that to a conspiracy theory that just doesn't seem to match reality at all?
    - bjornsing 4y ago
      It’s not just this law though. They keep coming at a steady pace.
  - AnimalMuppet 4y ago
    That's not neo-communism. That's neo-serfdom or something, but not neo-communism. (Of course, Communism as actually implemented wasn't what Communism was supposed to be, either. It was in fact just another neo-serfdom.)
    - varispeed 4y ago
      Under Communism you are a serf, unless you are higher up in the party.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
that_guy_iain 4y ago
> But for some reason the EU is still hooked on neoliberalism and anti-protectionism, even when it has ravaged the continent with the energy crisis and the US monopolising the Tech industry, etc. (remember that the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn, ARM, Linux and Nokia were all European once). So the EU and it's consumer/people right's over company rights caused Russia to invade Ukraine and therefore decrease the supply of energy causing an increase in prices??? This is one of the craziest, nonsensical takes I've ever read.
- nivenkos 4y ago
  Ukraine is not a member of the EU nor NATO, there were no obligations to intervene or introduce the self-destructive sanctions, etc. We haven't intervened in Armenia or Ethiopia for example.
  - that_guy_iain 4y ago
    This comment is also nonsensical. Russia increasing the energy prices would have happened if NATO stepped in or not. In fact, they would have increased a lot more.
    - ExoticPearTree 4y ago
      Isn't this how the markets work? You extract the maximum amount of profit. It is not like the Russians were forcing the EU to buy gas from them. The EU were the ones trying to force Russia to sell gas to everyone, and not only that, but to also deliver it to specific transit routes. Like "you can't cut off Ukraine" because they're gonna freeze or something. There's a lot of nonsense that is happening just because bureaucrats are stubborn and think the world should work how they dream it at night.
      - that_guy_iain 4y ago
        It’s exactly how markets work. Build a dependency and remove Competitors and raise prices. Also, part of the issue isn’t Russia raising their prices but a reduction in supply either from Russia removing a supply or countries not wanting to buy from Russia.

by _vbnz 4y ago

Foobar8568 4y ago

So much this. This morning I was thinking about the supposed CIA handbook to ruin companies, at this stage I wonder if it wasn't done for states. My wife asked me why I don't create startup, well it's all due to these bullshits.

varispeed 4y ago
Because the idea behind it is that commoners like me and you shouldn't be able to start a business without backing of an investor blessed by the EU officials. That's how they are introducing neo-communism by the backdoor. Technically private initiative is still legal and possible, but it is not in practice. So if you have an idea, your only option, eventually will be to get hired at one of big corporations and try to sell your idea at one of their start-up incubators. Difference is that you'll always be a salaried worker (and remain in working class) and shareholders will profit from your idea not yourself.
- swores 4y ago
  > That's how they are introducing neo-communism by the backdoor. Even by HN's typical standards of political discussions, this sentence is quite something. You can't actually be serious? This bill looks pretty shit, but you're jumping from that to a conspiracy theory that just doesn't seem to match reality at all?
  - bjornsing 4y ago
    It’s not just this law though. They keep coming at a steady pace.
- AnimalMuppet 4y ago
  That's not neo-communism. That's neo-serfdom or something, but not neo-communism. (Of course, Communism as actually implemented wasn't what Communism was supposed to be, either. It was in fact just another neo-serfdom.)
  - varispeed 4y ago
    Under Communism you are a serf, unless you are higher up in the party.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

that_guy_iain 4y ago

> But for some reason the EU is still hooked on neoliberalism and anti-protectionism, even when it has ravaged the continent with the energy crisis and the US monopolising the Tech industry, etc. (remember that the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn, ARM, Linux and Nokia were all European once). So the EU and it's consumer/people right's over company rights caused Russia to invade Ukraine and therefore decrease the supply of energy causing an increase in prices??? This is one of the craziest, nonsensical takes I've ever read.

nivenkos 4y ago
Ukraine is not a member of the EU nor NATO, there were no obligations to intervene or introduce the self-destructive sanctions, etc. We haven't intervened in Armenia or Ethiopia for example.
- that_guy_iain 4y ago
  This comment is also nonsensical. Russia increasing the energy prices would have happened if NATO stepped in or not. In fact, they would have increased a lot more.
  - ExoticPearTree 4y ago
    Isn't this how the markets work? You extract the maximum amount of profit. It is not like the Russians were forcing the EU to buy gas from them. The EU were the ones trying to force Russia to sell gas to everyone, and not only that, but to also deliver it to specific transit routes. Like "you can't cut off Ukraine" because they're gonna freeze or something. There's a lot of nonsense that is happening just because bureaucrats are stubborn and think the world should work how they dream it at night.
    - that_guy_iain 4y ago
      It’s exactly how markets work. Build a dependency and remove Competitors and raise prices. Also, part of the issue isn’t Russia raising their prices but a reduction in supply either from Russia removing a supply or countries not wanting to buy from Russia.