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He is 71 and getting older. A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you've had absolute power for a decade and aren't overly concerned about consequenc

by ethbr1 2y ago

He is 71 and getting older. A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you've had absolute power for a decade and aren't overly concerned about consequences in 20 years.

vkou 2y ago
A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you realize that your metric for 'crazy' and 'not crazy' is less about gauging the mental state of the person making those decisions, and more about how much/little they upset Western interests.
- ethbr1 2y ago
  Invading sovereign nations is pretty crazy. (Said to castigate both western and non-western countries) Sometimes the standards of human decency are global.
  - dmz73 2y ago
    If you look at the history of the last 2000+ years in Europe and Asia, invading sovereign nations (or whatever you want to call the equivalent over that period) is pretty much the norm...so not crazy. Is it violating the standard of human decency if that seems to be the norm? Maybe we humans are not as decent as we would like to thing we are.
  - vkou 2y ago
    We never call a Western or west-aligned politician who is doing it 'crazy'. We have a lot of other negative terms for it, but for a very recent example, nobody in the press (even the press hostile to them) doubted Dubya's or Tony Blair's mental state in 2003. Somebody opposed to us doing it, is, of course, mentally ill. There's no other explanation for it!
dangus 2y ago
I think it's a mistake to give in to the temptation to jump to the conclusion that China is a tunnel-vision cult of personality everything-the-crazy-dictator-wants-he-gets government. The Chinese government under Xi has a well-established track record of long-term planning that has done nothing but elevated China's status and leverage in the world. It really couldn't be further from (e.g.) Putin's style of governance.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ethbr1 2y ago
  Sidelining potential political competitors and/or forcing them out of the public sphere doesn't inspire confidence in Xi's ability to resist using power conveniently. > The Chinese government under Xi has a well-established track record of long-term planning that has done nothing but elevated China's status and leverage in the world. Some of its neighbors in the South China Sea would beg to differ. E.g. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V80MGYrWWaM&t=80s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V80MGYrWWaM&t=80s
  - dangus 2y ago
    I’m confused at what your video is supposed to disprove about what I said. China rammed into a Philippine ship knowing they would face zero consequences. Did they face any consequences? China’s neighbors can hem and haw all they want. China is the superpower in the Eastern Hemisphere.
    - ethbr1 2y ago
      Your use of "status" sounded like "people like them." If you were intending it in the sense of "people fear them," then agreed.
      - dangus 2y ago
        By status I mean geopolitical power and leverage, not fear or admiration.
- throwawaymaths 2y ago
  > elevated China's status In 2024 china issued 17% less residence visas than 2019. Maybe. But the trend is down.
  - dangus 2y ago

by ethbr1 2y ago

He is 71 and getting older. A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you've had absolute power for a decade and aren't overly concerned about consequences in 20 years.

vkou 2y ago

A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you realize that your metric for 'crazy' and 'not crazy' is less about gauging the mental state of the person making those decisions, and more about how much/little they upset Western interests.

ethbr1 2y ago
Invading sovereign nations is pretty crazy. (Said to castigate both western and non-western countries) Sometimes the standards of human decency are global.
- dmz73 2y ago
  If you look at the history of the last 2000+ years in Europe and Asia, invading sovereign nations (or whatever you want to call the equivalent over that period) is pretty much the norm...so not crazy. Is it violating the standard of human decency if that seems to be the norm? Maybe we humans are not as decent as we would like to thing we are.
- vkou 2y ago
  We never call a Western or west-aligned politician who is doing it 'crazy'. We have a lot of other negative terms for it, but for a very recent example, nobody in the press (even the press hostile to them) doubted Dubya's or Tony Blair's mental state in 2003. Somebody opposed to us doing it, is, of course, mentally ill. There's no other explanation for it!

dangus 2y ago

I think it's a mistake to give in to the temptation to jump to the conclusion that China is a tunnel-vision cult of personality everything-the-crazy-dictator-wants-he-gets government. The Chinese government under Xi has a well-established track record of long-term planning that has done nothing but elevated China's status and leverage in the world. It really couldn't be further from (e.g.) Putin's style of governance.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ethbr1 2y ago
Sidelining potential political competitors and/or forcing them out of the public sphere doesn't inspire confidence in Xi's ability to resist using power conveniently. > The Chinese government under Xi has a well-established track record of long-term planning that has done nothing but elevated China's status and leverage in the world. Some of its neighbors in the South China Sea would beg to differ. E.g. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V80MGYrWWaM&t=80s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V80MGYrWWaM&t=80s
- dangus 2y ago
  I’m confused at what your video is supposed to disprove about what I said. China rammed into a Philippine ship knowing they would face zero consequences. Did they face any consequences? China’s neighbors can hem and haw all they want. China is the superpower in the Eastern Hemisphere.
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    Your use of "status" sounded like "people like them." If you were intending it in the sense of "people fear them," then agreed.
    - dangus 2y ago
      By status I mean geopolitical power and leverage, not fear or admiration.
throwawaymaths 2y ago
> elevated China's status In 2024 china issued 17% less residence visas than 2019. Maybe. But the trend is down.
- dangus 2y ago