Chinese imperialism and future Australian sovereignty

[stui magpie]

[pietillidie]

^Australia's easiest chance to transition to a balanced economy was lost in the 00s when everyone clung like fools to the mining industry, pumping subsidies into greater dependency. Australia does absolutely nothing until it has to. That means everything it does is well after the horse has bolted.

The Chinese economy will persist long after whatever stage the present is, so a silly counter-reaction is just as dumb as having an imbalanced mining-led economy. Forget harping on about China like dummy-spitters who took the money in the good times, but did nothing to prepare for the present, including failing to give the entire country very, very basic 21st-century infrastructure such as reliable high-speed broadband.

Nope, the problem now is the same as it was then: economic imbalance led by bought-out politicians and the Gliberal-industry revolving door. It's a fraction of eff all to do with getting your knickers in a twist about China in a way that you failed to get your knickers in a twist about the political interference of mining companies, mining subsidies, the killing off of the mining windfall tax, green energy undermining even as prices dropped like a stone, environmental poisoning, climate change denial, decent broadband scuppering, dismissiveness of the tech industry as a cafe fad (now look at global market indices, FFS), and much more.

Balance the economy by starting here: Support a decent technology industry. Use your regional stability and reputation to attract more capital. Bolster strengths such as agricultural science, energy science, agricultural machinery manufacturing, alternative energy engineering, food technology, media and design, etc. Pump money into the strong sciences. Fund universities properly so they don't turn into educational vending machines. Grow the kahunas to collect taxes properly and set a windfall tax on mining to fund it.

Or, moan about China and imagine it away in magical wishes of mind while the world keeps turning.

The main problem is not kowtowing to China — that's particularly an annoyance to the egos of people who would rather be pushing Vanuatu around or joining with the US to invade peasants somewhere — but kowtowing to dim-witted domestic morons. You know, the ones everyone got their climate science from. China is and now always will be a major part of the world and regional economy, ups and downs and difficult phases notwithstanding. It is delusional to do anything but set smart and firm policy in relation to China, and to continue to work with regional partners, themselves massive forces, to nudge China in the right direction and make it accountable.

But none of that — none of it whatsoever — will matter if you keep listening to short-armed, chest-puffing thugs and dimwits in a science- and tech-driven world. Just wait for it: the same people who get everything wrong and have done for two decades will now cling pathetically to the China menace as further justification for impulsive reaction instead of responsible hard work.

Again and again. It's the yellow peril, the Muslims, the Indians, the Chinese, the boat people, the students, the foreign investors, the.... But never is it the actual problem: local, short-armed, big-mouthed, ignorant, easy-money chasing grifters and halfwits with a two-minute planning horizon.

[Tannin]

Ahem .. who is this "you" in the otherwise to-the-point screed above? It certainly ain't me!

[watt price tully]

[watt price tully]

[stui magpie]

[pietillidie]

^It's been a yes from me for 20 years.

The benefits accompanying two decades of Asian growth have been pi$$ed down the drain by Glib-led short-termist hacks and cons who need to be held accountable and removed from decision-making positions for good. Once the mining dollars started rolling in, no one bothered to do a damn thing at any serious scale in both domestic economic policy and regional international relations.

Mining money and a lazy clinging to US coat tails in Asia (including following two completely deranged Republican administrations into utter chaos and absurdity) kept social media busy while the Glibs did nothing but wreck any policy aimed at broadening domestic economic opportunity, from crippling the NBN and mining windfall tax, to crippling green energy technology and climate-driven capital, and talking down science and technology at every point and turn.

China hysteria is their latest PR front for retaining decision-making authority after two decades of fecklessness and grubby mutual palm greasing. Make no mistake; the more you focus on China hysteria, the more you support the very same grubby creeps who will never in a million years do anything positive for the Australian economy. Never have done, therefore never ever will do. Next, they'll jump from cheap mining dollars and killing off green energy, to setting themselves up as tech and alternative energy tollgates. They're corrupt parasites who don't know what a proper competitive economy looks like; they're government contract and corporate handout grifters by trade.

The Glibs are grubby rock apes; the ALP are beige nobodies stuck in the post-Marxian 1970s; the electorate has been groomed by them into becoming short-term handout grabbers, hysterical scapegoaters, Facebook conspiracy nutters, and reality TV/shock jock/Instagram halfwit worshippers. Don't expect any help from people with those credentials.

[5 from the wing on debut]

[stui magpie]

Meanwhile China shaping how the world reports about it.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/shut-out-from-the-country-this-is-how-the-australian-media-covers-china-20210430-p57nxy.html

[stui magpie]

[pietillidie]

[Pi]

I don’t buy into the ‘no force can stop China’ mantra; it essentially comes from Xi who must not blamed in one of his speeches and now often repeated by journalists and pundits alike as if they are speaking some kind of profound incontrovertible truth.

I don’t think China will collapse in the same way as the Soviet Union did; but like all communist / authoritarian regimes eventually they reach a point where they can no longer afford to spend the ever increasing amount of resources on regime preservation. The more criticism it gets the more it has to expend on its own survival.

This is an Interesting discussion on China.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV7PuqlMOzI

Whatever happens next is anyone’s guess but the further you have your interests away from China the better; glad I did it 18 years ago.

[stui magpie]

[pietillidie]

^There's nothing new to add: the solution is as it's always been, i.e., a new standards-based trade agreement with the sum of forces greater than China. There's nothing else to discuss on the matter. You're not even in the game in its absence, let alone war games.

Biden is the best chance to do this since the TPP, but this opportunity is even better because the TPP had other nasties in it that can be eliminated, and we are that bit wiser now. Biden's even happy to look at proper tax collection from digital multinationals, so you can deal with the tax problem at the same time, which underlies all manner of domestic issues.

The fact you even think you're 'on the path to war' suggests you're dragging yourself down to the level of Aussie shock jock nonsense when you're far smarter than that. You deserve to get belted for it because you refuse to step up, siding with the short-termists on issue after issue going back years. It's as if you fear being called a 'latte sipper' and think the only other option is to consign yourself to Trumpist-level company.

The EU and UK are aligning with the US on this already. I've noticed it just quietly in the news for a few weeks now. Have you been following South Korea, Japan and India on this? They're aligning as expected. (Now would be a good time to build rather than burn bridges with India, but it would take actual leadership beyond a news cycle to do so).

War is inevitable only in the dumbest sense of inevitability, i.e., it's the easiest and most instantly gratifying idea for people to resign themselves to, much like climate change denial or some new world order conspiracy theory. Far more exciting than the long-term business of international development and relations. But we're not always at war, contrary to some people's deep desire for that to be the case.

[stui magpie]

Goodthanks, bye,