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NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

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Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#261
post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English isn't my first language but self-made seems to me to be about the self as in opposition to others. And I have always understood the word to be used in that sense. See the Collins definition (emphasis mine): Self-made is used to describe people who have become successful and rich through their own efforts, especially if they started life without money, education, or high social status . https://www.collinsdict…

Giving orders to others are your actions/efforts/decisions so it entirely suits the definition.

You can't take credit for someone else's work.

If I was capable of issuing every possible order to every employee, am I more entitled to the profits derived from their output if they happen to do something I mentioned?

Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#262
post #137

It's not much of a dilemma though, is it? Already-rich folks kowtowing to fascists for a quick buck is beyond pathetic. US companies should stop targeting China for growth. If they don't steal your IP completely, they'll eventually freeze you out like they just did the NBA. It's happened to many companies and will eventually happen to you too. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

But how else are US CEOs supposed to get Merit Cross of the German Eagle with Star? https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=26634

Modern China is like a dystopian alternate history novel where the bad guys won.

Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's difficult to take a look at modern China and call it communist with a straight face.

Communism is a utopian ideology from the 19th century. That doesn't mean communists don't exist, and the people who advocate that ideology aren't communists. Of course China isn't a communist society. Nowhere is or ever will be. It's a bit like saying Tom Cruise isn't a real scientologist because Xenu doesn't exist.

Communist hunter-gather societies have been studied extensively and it's the earliest forms of production.

Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#265

It's not much of a dilemma though, is it? Already-rich folks kowtowing to fascists for a quick buck is beyond pathetic. US companies should stop targeting China for growth. If they don't steal your IP completely, they'll eventually freeze you out like they just did the NBA. It's happened to many companies and will eventually happen to you too. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Public companies can’t afford to do that. They’ve probably been aware that this can happen for many years. They simply had no choice because their competitors might beat them to market and their shareholders might sue them for shirking their fiduciary duty.

> their shareholders might sue them for shirking their fiduciary duty

Then be laughed out of court right after filing for having no legal basis.

Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're communists.

It's not really correct to say China is a communist country. Under Deng Xiaoping, China gradually undid the economic structures that define communism and moved to a market-driven economy. Today it is essentially a free market economy with maybe a little more government intervention than most other free market economies. China is communist in name only.

"After World War II, the Chinese Communist Party under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, MAO's successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically but political controls remain tight. Since the early 1990s, China has increased its global outreach and participation in international organizations."

Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#268

It's not much of a dilemma though, is it? Already-rich folks kowtowing to fascists for a quick buck is beyond pathetic. US companies should stop targeting China for growth. If they don't steal your IP completely, they'll eventually freeze you out like they just did the NBA. It's happened to many companies and will eventually happen to you too. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

The NBA has an advantage that other companies don't have. Their product can't be knocked off, and their talent level can't be matched by outside leagues. They have so much leverage to just walk away. The NBA is huge in China, fans will be more upset at their government than the NBA.

NBA used to be pretty big in Europe too in the early 1990s, especially after the 1992 Olympics and its Dream Team, but I think poor/unhappy TV deals have killed that momentum and now football is all-dominating.

Not saying that NBA and basket generally speaking is not important anymore for Europeans, because it is, but there was a slight moment during the timeframe I mentioned when the likes of Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird, Sabonis or Toni Kukoc were more famous than many footballers of that time. But in the second part of the '90s something happened and apart from a few exceptions (like LeBron or Kobe) no big NBA names from across the Atlantic have been widely known in here. Which is to say that it's totally possible for the NBA to lose the Chinese market.

Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#269

Not all costs are monetary. The long term ramifications of our businesses cow-towing to mass-murdering authoritarians is far greater than potential profits.

Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar. You seem to have been doing that a lot, and it's not cool here. Please review the site guidelines and note: "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21194189 and marked it off-topic.

Re: NBA's China dilemma: $4B at risk as Chinese TV cancels game broadcasts

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's look at some large scale political action in the past: 1. Invade Iraq. 4000+ Americans dead, over 1 million Iraqi died. 2. Bombed Libya, it is now a $democratic_wonderland. I'm not putting Afghanistan here because I think it's justified, but then why are we still there after Bin Laden's dead? How about just minding our own business. If China don't want to watch NBA, then so be it. If you don't want to buy shit…

> How about just minding our own business A foreign country telling Americans what they can and cannot say very much is my business.

You can say whatever you want, but they might not want to throw money at you if you start shit talking their regime and it's values. Is that not free speech?
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