SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Just came across an exceptionally disturbing article on the state of US-Russia relations
https://apnews.com/b0d2b33596fc4604b2cd4384c9e2bd32
First two paragraphs
It has the makings of a new Cold War, or worse.
The deep chill in U.S.-Russian relations is stirring concern in some quarters that Washington and Moscow are in danger of stumbling into an armed confrontation that, by mistake or miscalculation, could lead to nuclear war.
American and European analysts and current and former U.S. military officers say the nuclear superpowers need to talk more. A foundational arms control agreement is being abandoned and the last major limitation on strategic nuclear weapons could go away in less than two years. Unlike during the Cold War, when generations lived under threat of a nuclear Armageddon, the two militaries are barely on speaking terms.
Calling the situation we are in
mistake or miscalculation
Is the biggest farce and lie I have seen yet from the media. I will cut some slack to the AP because they are not as bad as the rest, but it's the fake news media who have been pushing us to the brink of war and rabid anti-trumpers in the government risking pushing us closer to conflict out of spite
I think our country does plenty of killing also, Joe, so you know. There's a lot of stupidity going on in the world right now, a lot of killing, a lot of stupidity
Said by Trump on "The Morning Joe"
Trump made the remark during an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, saying he respected his Russian counterpart.
"But he's a killer," O'Reilly said to Trump.
"There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?" Trump replied.
Said by Trump on "The O'Reilly Factor"
https://www-m.cnn.com/2017/02/04/politics/donald-trump-vladimir-putin/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dtrump%2Bquote%2Bbill%2Boreilly%2Bputin%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26client%3Dfirefox-b-1-m
Putin sucks, the US leadership has always sacked, maybe we should just bury the hatchet, strengthen our defenses, start trading, and stop the Saber rattling. Maybe admitting our own faults in the relationship while pointing out theirs will give us a situation where MAD is less necessary
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Sulla on Monday April 15 2019, @06:20PM (4 children)
These seem like things that either should have happened or where unavoidable.
I was reading a book from some guys who had worked Kissinger's diplomacy team when China was being opened up on what the end game would be. The plan in regards to China was a continuation of the Japan and South Korean policy of excessive investment to force a country through an industrial revolution causing the formation of a middle class and resulting in democratic reforms and a powerful economic and political ally for the US. Kissinger's plan called for shifting manufacturing to Thailand and Vietnam after China started getting a middle class because they too would be looking for places to produce the cheap goods they no longer wanted to (like Japan and SK). The problem was that China pegged their currency and forced wealth toward party members and away from a middle class, leading to the current communist state where people are still living pretty terrible lives and have no political power to stop issues like excessive pollution or an over-active police state.
The China plan gave us long-term cheap stuff, undercut our manufacturing base without building a new middle class to buy our products (like Japan and S.K.), and resulted in a need to balance the books or risk being overtaken. We should have dumped our deals with China (preferred nation, trade deficit) as soon as we realized we were the ones being played (Reagan and Carter both fell for it, as has every president since) and moved on to Vietnam or Thailand or anywhere else.
What we need to do in regards to China is balance our books and shift our business elsewhere if they don't want to play ball. We can be friends and not be bending over backwards for them. Taking your business elsewhere for a time does not mean we must have conflict.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 16 2019, @01:54AM (3 children)
"Taking your business elsewhere for a time does not mean we must have conflict."
That all depends on how much business is lost by China and which rich assholes are in danger of losing their power. Trigger enough of an economic meltdown and they may find that war is a preferable option.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Tuesday April 16 2019, @03:05AM (2 children)
If withdrawing business triggers war then continuing business is just tribute, far better for us to take on the Dragon now than in twenty years.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday April 16 2019, @06:33AM (1 child)
And yet when I said something to this effect, Hallow said I was being stupid and denigrating "productive labor."
This is especially bizarre to be living through because my girlfriend is ethnically Chinese, though she's third-generation Malaysian. And given where I grew up, I have absorbed a *lot* of Chinese culture, to the point that I can do some herbology, read a few hundred hanzi for meaning from their radicals even without knowing how to say them, and use chopsticks like I came out of the womb holding a pair of them.
It's perhaps this exposure that makes me as worried about China as I am. Very few Americans seem to understand what it is for a nation that's been around for over 4,000 years to be humiliated for a couple of centuries, or the scale of the revenge they must be seeking.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Tuesday April 16 2019, @02:27PM
Historically Chinese treatment of conquerors has been rather mild. Invader comes in, once past defenses is welcomed, then the Chinese make the person as Chinese as possible, and eventually the conquerors are Chinese. Certainly there has been massive cultural exchange between the Chinese and the US, we adopt a lot of their practices and they are adopting some of ours, I had hoped this would lead to a lower longterm tension as Kissinger hoped it would - best way to get rid of an enemy is to remove the reason for war. Where we are at now you have Ji wanting to make this the Chinese century and be the one who gets the credit for it, so he has been rushing things a little. This trade war dropped their growth significantly and I am sure is passing them off.
The people I have found here in the states to be the most anti-Chinese are the immigrants whose family came here before the Revolution. They also appear to fear modern Chinese power the most.
America's whole navigation through this thing is to decide what future we have. Either we become competitive enough that we stay ahead of China, or we maintain the same level of power, we fall behind and slowly descend to a Russia tier standard of living, or we go to war. I would much rather maintain an equality with China than the other options.
I am not sure how much China would want revenge against the US specifically though. Europe oh God yes, I can see why they would want to hurt them. The Japanese as well. But our history with China has been fairly peaceful, even going so far as to ally with them against their greatest historical enemy the Japanese. I figure in a world of China as the only superpower we will avoid the brunt of the revenge,.
I don't know how the 4000 year history argument holds up when the current party is doing a lot of work to erase it.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam