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Is expansion all that matters to you? What about human rights and personal sovereignty? Do you think China is a bastion of democracy and freedom? The benefits o

Is expansion all that matters to you? What about human rights and personal sovereignty? Do you think China is a bastion of democracy and freedom? The benefits of security and stability do not outweigh the alternative when authoritarian governments decide to curb stomp the natural rights of people that don't want to comply with their agendas. You sound like an individual who would gladly take the mark of the beast if it was offered to you. Count me out (of this back and forth as well).

alephnerd 8mo ago
> Is expansion all that matters to you I care about expanding public service delivery capacity. In developing countries, the only cheap and efficient manner to do so is via DPI. The only countries that escaped the middle income trap have either been subsidized by EU development grants, oil exports, or US largess. For countries where none of those are the option, you need to make do with what you have. > The benefits of security and stability do not outweigh the alternative when authoritarian governments decide to curb stomp the natural rights of people that don't want to comply with their agendas When the decision is between luxury beliefs or survival, and in a country like Ethiopia whose developmental indicators are comparable to Afghanistan, the latter will always win.
- tinfoilhatter 8mo ago
  I wonder why their developmental indicators are so poor? Perhaps it's because of NGOs like the IMF and World Bank and the loans they issue to these nations and the structural adjustments that keep these nations in cycles of poverty. Amazingly it's the same NGOs that are handing out money to implement digital identities. I'm noticing a pattern here...
  - alephnerd 8mo ago
    > IMF and World Bank and the loans they issue to these nations and the structural adjustments that keep these nations in cycles of poverty IMF led reforms in the 1990s are what allowed PRC, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh to start breaking out of the cycle of poverty that trapped their then developmental peers like Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan. Also, the IMF and WB are not NGOs. Heck, countries like China and India are some of the largest shareholders in both. > I wonder why their developmental indicators are so poor Limited institutional capacity because most countries in the world were either in the midst of or recently ended major civil wars or conventional wars in the 1980s-90s.
    - tinfoilhatter 8mo ago
      Or it could be because of... https://www.jstor.org/stable/26363914 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26363914 Which is the situation that led to the conflict in Ukraine in 2013/14 - an IMF loan that was up for renewal with harsh structural adjustments. The IMF / WB consistently consult with NGOs and allow them to heavily influence their policies. You can point to four success stories of countries accepting IMF loans and recovering. There are 86 to 91 developing countries as of late 2025 that are still indebted to the IMF, especially in Africa. It's a monetary tool for Western hegemony. Pretending it's anything else is disingenuous.

alephnerd 8mo ago

> Is expansion all that matters to you I care about expanding public service delivery capacity. In developing countries, the only cheap and efficient manner to do so is via DPI. The only countries that escaped the middle income trap have either been subsidized by EU development grants, oil exports, or US largess. For countries where none of those are the option, you need to make do with what you have. > The benefits of security and stability do not outweigh the alternative when authoritarian governments decide to curb stomp the natural rights of people that don't want to comply with their agendas When the decision is between luxury beliefs or survival, and in a country like Ethiopia whose developmental indicators are comparable to Afghanistan, the latter will always win.

tinfoilhatter 8mo ago
I wonder why their developmental indicators are so poor? Perhaps it's because of NGOs like the IMF and World Bank and the loans they issue to these nations and the structural adjustments that keep these nations in cycles of poverty. Amazingly it's the same NGOs that are handing out money to implement digital identities. I'm noticing a pattern here...
- alephnerd 8mo ago
  > IMF and World Bank and the loans they issue to these nations and the structural adjustments that keep these nations in cycles of poverty IMF led reforms in the 1990s are what allowed PRC, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh to start breaking out of the cycle of poverty that trapped their then developmental peers like Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan. Also, the IMF and WB are not NGOs. Heck, countries like China and India are some of the largest shareholders in both. > I wonder why their developmental indicators are so poor Limited institutional capacity because most countries in the world were either in the midst of or recently ended major civil wars or conventional wars in the 1980s-90s.
  - tinfoilhatter 8mo ago
    Or it could be because of... https://www.jstor.org/stable/26363914 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26363914 Which is the situation that led to the conflict in Ukraine in 2013/14 - an IMF loan that was up for renewal with harsh structural adjustments. The IMF / WB consistently consult with NGOs and allow them to heavily influence their policies. You can point to four success stories of countries accepting IMF loans and recovering. There are 86 to 91 developing countries as of late 2025 that are still indebted to the IMF, especially in Africa. It's a monetary tool for Western hegemony. Pretending it's anything else is disingenuous.