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China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

economist.com

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Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#341

Post by SergeAx »

shatnersbassoon wrote: post #321
newdude116 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Africa was never a major theater. Landing in the Normandy was in 44 (?). The war was lost in 42. For starters: http://www.fallen.io/ww2/ Start at 4:45

Like I said, the number of deaths is not a good measure of contribution towards actual defeat. Sending punishment battalions to die in their hundreds of thousands was a Soviet choice, and not a good one. Allowing millions of men to be encircled in 1941 was Soviet incompetence. Likewise, sending men into battle unarmed was Soviet callousness. Africa absolutely was a major theatre. The defeat of the Axis in Libya and T…

What was Suez canal role in economic support of Russia? Most of Lend-lease convoys were routed via Pacific and Arctic.

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#342

Post by mbrodersen »

Pandabob wrote: post #81

As a European, I've never been so pessimistic about the EU but so optimistic about the USA. I really feel like European leaders need some kind of wake up call.

As a European, I feel the complete opposite. The US can learn a lot from Western Europe on how to run a healthy Democracy for the people and not the rich.

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#343

Post by pope_meat »

ceilingcorner wrote: post #326
stjohnswarts wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually there is because southern states are well on their way to removing women's rights to do what they want with their body, installing theocratic governments, and resurrecting Jim Crow laws. If that's not a reason for more federal involvement I don't know what is.

This comment is exaggerated hyperbole and oversimplification.

No, not really, it's getting pretty bad in the southern states lately, or perhaps it's just the propaganda I prefer...but it does appear like a bunch of red states have passed abortion restrictions, some states worse than others, and these laws will be challenged in court, and with the supreme court being the way it is, it's really iffy.

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#344

Post by ceilingcorner »

pope_meat wrote: post #343
ceilingcorner wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment is exaggerated hyperbole and oversimplification.

No, not really, it's getting pretty bad in the southern states lately, or perhaps it's just the propaganda I prefer...but it does appear like a bunch of red states have passed abortion restrictions, some states worse than others, and these laws will be challenged in court, and with the supreme court being the way it is, it's really iffy.

Abortion is a complex moral issue and if you think it isn’t, you haven’t researched the topic well enough.

Ditto for the other issues mentioned in your comment. The lines you’ve used (“control of their bodies, Jim Crow”) are indications that you get your information from propagandistic sources.

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#345

Post by KaiserPro »

gher-shyu3i wrote: post #336
KaiserPro wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think thats a counter point! Depending on which time frame you are talking about, the ottoman empire was a cosmopolitan fairly free empire. There was freedom of religion (of sorts, there was a tithe.) and a civil law system that appeared to have some semblance of working for the lay man. If you compare the treatment of jews in venice, parts of the ottoman empire were a haven. Spain's loss was the ottoman's ga…

That's why I said they were not "progressive" in the modern Western sense. Islam is able to perfectly accommodate different cultures, and lead the host society to prosperity.

but they were progressive, comparative to the western world at the time. Hence why they were a mecca (excuse the pun) for creative and scientific types.

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#346

Post by newdude116 »

bumby wrote: post #340
newdude116 wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

9 out of 10 German soldiers died in the East...

And the US leaders used the metric of more dead Vietnamese than Americans as proof they were winning the war. They literally created the term “The McNamara Fallacy” because it’s a poor metric of success.

Then you seem to know more than most military historians about WW2. Impressive!

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#347

Post by the_dune_13 »

SergeAx wrote: post #339
the_dune_13 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hollywood is in decline, if you'll notice, good movies are harder to come by nowadays. Are you sure about that? It sounds like a deeply biased statement.

Check out IMDb top movies by rating. There are about 5 or 6 of them from 2010-2020, and half of that number are actually pretty bad comic adaptations, getting their rating from wide fan base. Big Hollywood is repeating itself, stakes are too high to embrace creativity, investors want a rock-solid path to success. Netflix is making uninteresting synthetic data-driven content. HBO made a stake on soft porn. Author/inde…

I disagree. There are quite a few interesting movies out there. From 2019 alone: Uncut gems, Marriage Story, the Irishman, Us, 1917, Jojo Rabbit and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. All of those are good movies depending on the preference. In fact, they are innovative and creative. The main problem with judging now vs past, is the survivorship bias of the good movies, the bad ones are forgotten and lost.

Two of those are netflix movies - Irishman and Marriage Story, I don't see them any more synthetic than 1980's RAMBO 2-5? or God Father 2,3 etc. Movies were always based on the popularity, the difference being the better data.

> bad comic adaptations, getting their rating from wide fan base

The amount of haters and lovers might not offset each other perfectly, yet it should not matter after the hype dwindles. Besides, the top rated comic books adaptations are quite good - Joker?

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#348

Post by bumby »

newdude116 wrote: post #346
bumby wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the US leaders used the metric of more dead Vietnamese than Americans as proof they were winning the war. They literally created the term “The McNamara Fallacy” because it’s a poor metric of success.

Then you seem to know more than most military historians about WW2. Impressive!

I made no claims about WW2. My claim is that you can’t distill a complex system like war into an overly simplistic formula like “more dead = win”. There are system effects that distort this, particularly with asymmetric warfare.

As an aside, snark is discouraged on HN. Your account is new, son of encourage you to take a look at the guidelines for posting if you haven’t already.

Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline

#349

Post by pope_meat »

ceilingcorner wrote: post #344
pope_meat wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, not really, it's getting pretty bad in the southern states lately, or perhaps it's just the propaganda I prefer...but it does appear like a bunch of red states have passed abortion restrictions, some states worse than others, and these laws will be challenged in court, and with the supreme court being the way it is, it's really iffy.

Abortion is a complex moral issue and if you think it isn’t, you haven’t researched the topic well enough. Ditto for the other issues mentioned in your comment. The lines you’ve used (“control of their bodies, Jim Crow”) are indications that you get your information from propagandistic sources.

All sources are propaganda in the United States.
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