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Around seven years ago I worked in a coffee shop and we would get a daily newspaper for the customers to read which I would browse on breaks or when it was quie
by rcarr 4y ago
Around seven years ago I worked in a coffee shop and we would get a daily newspaper for the customers to read which I would browse on breaks or when it was quiet. I remember there was a sharp turning point where a distinct amount of anti Russian material started appearing and I got this odd but strong feeling that a war was on its way. I expressed it to a few customers whilst making small talk and everyone laughed it off. Fast forward to present day and look where we are.
I haven't had as strong a feeling that a war is on its way with China, but the same uptick of anti Chinese sentiment appeared a few years ago starting with the Huawei ban and has been growing since. And you've got top US generals and financiers saying a war is looking more likely than not within the next five years. So yeah, I'd say it's a combination of both a genuine security concern and a priming of the populace to get them ready for any potential conflict coming down the road.
I'm not saying that there wasn't any anti Russian and Chinese sentiment expressed occasionally before, but I just have this instinctual feeling that these were the dates where it upticked and solidified into something else, a pattern or a 'narrative' if you will. If there's any web scraper geniuses out there it'd be interesting to know if the data supports the hypothesis. It would be Winter 2016/2017 for Russia and probably 2018/2019 for China. But considering this is when it became consciously noticeable, it may have began a good while earlier.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoRussian Troops Amassing on Ukraine Border Russia Invades Ukraine These anti-Russia headlines are getting out of control!
- rcarr 4y agoThose weren't the headlines in 2016 though. The "troops amassing" headlines only started appearing about 6 months before it all kicked off (that I can recall), after the US intelligence services became pretty much certain it was going to happen. Even then European leaders had their heads buried completely in the sand, Macron flying back and forth making a fool out of himself thinking he could talk Putin out of it. In 2016, it was more general and then a year or two later there was the whole Salisbury incident and it intensified even more. It's kind of mad really that it took til 2016 for the sentiment to properly turn considering they invaded Crimea in 2014. Looking back, the entirety of Europe was in a state of denial because they were addicted to the cheap energy. Edit: Just realised I might have misinterpreted this and that you're instead talking about the headlines from 2013/2014. It seemed to me like it died down pretty quick after the Crimean invasion until 2016 but I'm probably entirely wrong and just wasn't paying enough attention.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoI'm aware. I'm highlighting that maybe Russia or China have earned the negative sentiment from their actions.
- rcarr 4y agoOh yeah, I am in total agreement with you. I'm just speculating that the powers that be who are making the actual chess moves might have known (or strongly suspected) what was going to happen long before it actually happened, that it might be happening again, and that we (the average joes) might be able to pick up on some of that through sentiment analysis of the headlines.