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What to do about China


Argus

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2 hours ago, Argus said:

1. Well, regardless, a system which produces a stream of nonentities is a system which is going to live up to the mediocrity of the nonentities in charge of it.

2. We tolerate mediocrity, as McCall said. Our politicians have no idea what to do about the major issues of the day. There is little in the way of leadership or vision at any level of government. The public service under those politicians is similarly full of mediocrities, often (like the politicians) promoted far over their abilities due to extraneous factors such as loyalty to those above, who they know, what identity group they're from, bilingualism (that's a big one), and where they're from.

1. It's a little Lewis Carroll but... the mediocrity is sometimes better than the alternatives like the dizzying highs and lows of the Venezuela and the Iran.  Maybe we muddle through, I don't know.

2. I was thinking that I disagree with you but I think I agree with you.  Mediocrity is, I maintain, better than highs and lows.  But I agree that we could be so much better, so so much.  We are by some counts the best in the world and yet I feel a tiny tweak in attitudes of Canadians, ie. stop being smug and comparing endlessly to the US.
 

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4 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

1. It's a little Lewis Carroll but... the mediocrity is sometimes better than the alternatives like the dizzying highs and lows of the Venezuela and the Iran.  Maybe we muddle through, I don't know.

2. I was thinking that I disagree with you but I think I agree with you.  Mediocrity is, I maintain, better than highs and lows.  But I agree that we could be so much better, so so much.  We are by some counts the best in the world and yet I feel a tiny tweak in attitudes of Canadians, ie. stop being smug and comparing endlessly to the US.
 

Maybe it's in the nature of conservatism to not be content with second or third best, to not be satisfied with what we have. Then again, that's a personality trait which motivates people like me to keep plugging away and not be content with being a security guard or something like that (which I was for a time).

We are not a united country. Quebec stays here because it's not economically feasible to leave without taking a huge hit to their standard of living, but there's no sense of patriotism or even interest in Canada beyond Quebec. The natives appear to want nothing to do with us except for (like Quebec) our money. Now we're bringing in literally millions of foreigners who will have little opportunity to assimilate nor encouragement to do so. A country with no sense of common purpose, no sense of shared history is a country waiting to break apart at the first heavy stress.

Our economy sputters along under the enormous weight of government bureaucracy and regulation, and heavy taxes, so much less than it could be, making us so much less richer than we could be.  And the economy is the life blood of a society for it pays for everything you need to make that society function.

We have no actual defenses against either civil strife or foreign attack (including by cyberwarfare). We have no military, to speak, very few police, and every computer system I'm aware of, from power grids to government to banks and industry is third or fourth rate, an open book and easily penetrated by almost any foreign government that wants to do so.

And all of the above things are getting worse, not better.

How many peple think the future: ten or twenty or thirty years from now, will be better than last year? Not very bloody many. Muddling along is okay when times are great, but I suspect they are going to be less so in future.

Edited by Argus
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We're going to have to choose between national security OR money.  So far we've chosen money.

Companies only care about money, that's their job.  They will change their products and PR to suck up to China, because if they don't China will punish them.  What Westerners have to do then is also punish western companies who do these kinds of things by speaking out and stop buying their products since money is what they listen to.

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On 10/9/2019 at 8:42 PM, Argus said:

Which means that those people who think that all Canada has to do is extradite Meng Wanzhou to the US and things will get back to normal are engaging in wishful thinking.

That is why Canadian politicians are so happy the US has chosen Joe Biden. The media has been silent on her for so long, but now the messaging is changing. Meng Wangzoo seen as a victim. She will be hailed as a hero, and a survivor of Donald Trump.

Happy time good luck money.

What to do about China? Learn to speak Chinese, my friends. Learn Chinese.

Merry Market!

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42 minutes ago, OftenWrong said:

And therefore a pure symbol of the very identity politics which you yourself bewail, when you are in the mood to evangelize about liberal peace and love. Quick, someone give this man a soap-box!

Symbol of identity politics ?  Huh ?  I 'bewail' identity politics ?  Huh ?  I evangelize about peace and love ?  Huh ?

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11 hours ago, Moonlight Graham said:

We're going to have to choose between national security OR money.  So far we've chosen money.

Companies only care about money, that's their job.  They will change their products and PR to suck up to China, because if they don't China will punish them.  What Westerners have to do then is also punish western companies who do these kinds of things by speaking out and stop buying their products since money is what they listen to.

Why do we allow Zoom to operate in our country? It's a Chinese government controlled corporation. Today I read that a Chinese worker in California has been arrested by US authorities for monitoring and closing down commemorative zoom meetings about Tiananmine square on orders from China. Why not close it down? Why is Alibaba and Tencent allowed to operate in the West? China does not allow Amazon or Facebook to operate in their country. Why do we allow China to buy Western companies, and if we do why do we deal with them? Yesterday I learned that the private company Canada uses to gather information for the purpose of granting visas is partly owned by the Chinese government. Do we care? Only after outside pressure and ridicule did the government decide not to grant a Chinese company the right to supply x-ray machines to our embassies. Does no one in our government understand security implications?

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On 12/18/2020 at 8:48 AM, OftenWrong said:

I'm sorry to put it this way, but what utter, utter bullshyte. Trust them? Trust Doug Ford? Trust Justin Trudeau, a man who has never worked hard a day in his life, never had a practical job, yet got propelled to the head of government.

Challenging the government is not a burden on us, it is our duty.

Believe it or not JT was a bouncer for a night club.  Tbh he doesn't really scare me much.  

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3 hours ago, Cannucklehead said:

Believe it or not JT was a bouncer for a night club.  Tbh he doesn't really scare me much.  

Ive seen his boxing, sorry, no. That little pencil-neck physique aint bouncing nothin.

Like the son of a PM would put themselves in harms way to stop some drunken sod in a bar.

 

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34 minutes ago, Queenmandy85 said:

In what way has the Prime Minister not acted as an adult since taking office. He did appear in blackface when he was younger, but as PM, has he not acted as an adult?

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/02/21/justin-trudeau-india-costumes-snub_a_23367892/

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9 minutes ago, Nefarious Banana said:

Have watched that more than a few times . . . . Trudeau is truly a light-weight in the mechanics of the sweet science. 

I still think I'll avoid getting into the ring with him, but I'd pay good money to see you go 3 rounds with him. ?

I remember his father walking down the street in Vancouver with Premier Kosygin when a guy came out of the crowd and jumped Kosygin. Prime Minister Trudeau Sr.dropped the assailent before the bodyguards could even react.

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1 hour ago, Queenmandy85 said:

He beat the crap out of Patrick Brazeau. 

Harper never held a real job in his life. He was a founder of the new Socialist Credit Party (communist). He clearly had no education in the hard sciences and as a result, was a closet climate change denier. His only education was as an economist. Not a real degree. He had nice hair, though.

Trudeau was a math teacher, and you may recall his teaching reporters how quantum computing works. 

I would never vote for Trudeau if the so-called conservatives would run someone of ability against him...somebody untainted by the socialist credit/reform/communist party.

You've lost all credibility . . . . . hoping you're well and not showing any signs of the disease from China.

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55 minutes ago, Argus said:

I never open links but the inference is about the India visit. It was certainly ill advised. 

Edited by Queenmandy85
Poor answert on my part.
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6 hours ago, Argus said:

Why do we allow Zoom to operate in our country? It's a Chinese government controlled corporation. Today I read that a Chinese worker in California has been arrested by US authorities for monitoring and closing down commemorative zoom meetings about Tiananmine square on orders from China. Why not close it down? Why is Alibaba and Tencent allowed to operate in the West? China does not allow Amazon or Facebook to operate in their country. Why do we allow China to buy Western companies, and if we do why do we deal with them? Yesterday I learned that the private company Canada uses to gather information for the purpose of granting visas is partly owned by the Chinese government. Do we care? Only after outside pressure and ridicule did the government decide not to grant a Chinese company the right to supply x-ray machines to our embassies. Does no one in our government understand security implications?

The CCP are playing us for fools.

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China plays the long game. It is the Godfather of international relations. They take a country no one else will touch and give them aid (many strings attached.) "Some day I may come to you and ask you for a favour..."

To deal with them effectively,the west has to speak with one voice and play by their rules and add a little Reagan. President Reagan convinced the Soviets that he was just crazy enough to unleash nuclear hell on the slightest provocation. Sometimes it pays to be an actor.

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4 hours ago, Queenmandy85 said:

China plays the long game. It is the Godfather of international relations. They take a country no one else will touch and give them aid (many strings attached.) "Some day I may come to you and ask you for a favour..."

To deal with them effectively,the west has to speak with one voice and play by their rules and add a little Reagan. President Reagan convinced the Soviets that he was just crazy enough to unleash nuclear hell on the slightest provocation. Sometimes it pays to be an actor.

Yes, politics is acting. Reminds me that Mr. Trudeau's only work experience was a brief as a drama teacher.

Those that can, do. Those that cannot... teach.

You figure it out   ;)

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