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China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

washingtonpost.com

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Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#21

Post by deogeo »

fao_ wrote: post #15
vnchr wrote: post #9

Decries anti-globalism populism, then pursues nationalist goal of an all-China produced product. Seems like they want to have their cake and eat it too.

It's almost like the political thoughs of a leader of most other countries aside from America, are complex and can't really be effectively summed up in a short article about the manufacturing of a ballpoint pen. Also, by 'they' do you mean all of China or just Xi?

> It's almost like the political thoughs of a leader of most other countries aside from America, are complex and can't really be effectively summed up in a short article

A nice way of saying "hypocrisy is politically useful, especially if you're not called out on it".

Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#22

Post by jacquesm »

unnawut wrote: post #5
chiph wrote: post #4

Article is from January 2017

I didn't realize that when posted it. :( If anyone could help amend the title with the year...

Don't worry about it, if it hasn't been posted before and has evergreen value then posting it like that is fine by me. The 'news' in Hacker News is not to be taken literally.

Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#23

Post by jackfoxy »

I have one remaining Cross ballpoint pen and one refill cartridge for it. It is the only ballpoint pen I have that is worth a damn. Unfortunately I lost the other 2 Cross pens I've had in my life.

The quality of most ballpoint pens today is deplorable. They leak or blob or don't write until you scribble a lot.

Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#24

Post by _0ffh »

conception wrote: post #13
buboard wrote: post #7

> Support great journalism > > We rely on readers like you to uphold a free press. I think their ad copy is getting needlessly manipulative

With major world leaders regularly decrying the Free press these days it doesn't seem so needless or hyperbolic.

I don't think there's really much free press out there anyway. If they're not beholden to a state actor, then they're mostly beholden to the interests of their media conglomerate and/or their billionaire owners.

Ed. I want to emphasise that this doesn't necessarily imply bad journalism overall.

Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#25

Post by kart23 »

jackfoxy wrote: post #23

I have one remaining Cross ballpoint pen and one refill cartridge for it. It is the only ballpoint pen I have that is worth a damn. Unfortunately I lost the other 2 Cross pens I've had in my life. The quality of most ballpoint pens today is deplorable. They leak or blob or don't write until you scribble a lot.

Muji pens are amazing in case you're looking for a recommendation. They're pretty cheap, but feel great to write with, and I've never had one give up on me prematurely. Its terrific for people like me who easily lose pens.

Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#26

Post by fao_ »

deogeo wrote: post #21
fao_ wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost like the political thoughs of a leader of most other countries aside from America, are complex and can't really be effectively summed up in a short article about the manufacturing of a ballpoint pen. Also, by 'they' do you mean all of China or just Xi?

> It's almost like the political thoughs of a leader of most other countries aside from America, are complex and can't really be effectively summed up in a short article A nice way of saying "hypocrisy is politically useful, especially if you're not called out on it".

Not really. Supporting globalism doesn't implicitly lock you in to believing that every single item that a country makes should be produced in several thousand globe-spanning factories.

(Sidenote: globalism is a positive move for the proletariat and means that strikes are several orders of magintude much more effective (See: Marxism at the Millennium by Cliff, chapter four))

Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#28

Post by deogeo »

fao_ wrote: post #26
deogeo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's almost like the political thoughs of a leader of most other countries aside from America, are complex and can't really be effectively summed up in a short article A nice way of saying "hypocrisy is politically useful, especially if you're not called out on it".

Not really. Supporting globalism doesn't implicitly lock you in to believing that every single item that a country makes should be produced in several thousand globe-spanning factories. (Sidenote: globalism is a positive move for the proletariat and means that strikes are several orders of magintude much more effective (See: Marxism at the Millennium by Cliff, chapter four))

So when China acts protectionist, this is OK and in tune with free-trade globalism, because globalism "doesn't lock you in to believing every item should be produced internationally."

But when they accuse the US of that very same protectionism, this is not hypocritical, because of complex and nuanced reasons. Do I understand that correctly?

Re: China manufactures a ballpoint pen all by itself (2017)

#29

Post by sufehmi »

kart23 wrote: post #25
jackfoxy wrote: post #23

I have one remaining Cross ballpoint pen and one refill cartridge for it. It is the only ballpoint pen I have that is worth a damn. Unfortunately I lost the other 2 Cross pens I've had in my life. The quality of most ballpoint pens today is deplorable. They leak or blob or don't write until you scribble a lot.

Muji pens are amazing in case you're looking for a recommendation. They're pretty cheap, but feel great to write with, and I've never had one give up on me prematurely. Its terrific for people like me who easily lose pens.

Dang, just visited a mall with Muji shop in it yesterday.

I will come back later to buy some pens

Thanks for the recommendation.

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