• idkmybffjoeysteel [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    Dude if you think China is destroying Europe and not four to five decades of neoliberal economics, you need to take a break from “the news” and read a fucking book. I would suggest you begin with Michael Parenti’s “Inventing Reality” for a real wake up call. Your opinions are not your own.

    • Schlemmy@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      I’m no fan of neoliberalism. I see the everyday results of a society that raises welfare without being attentive to wellbeing.

      I don’t watch the news and read plenty of books. I’ll take up your recommendation. Of course my opinions are not my own. I became who I became through the influences that made me but I’m willing to learn.

      And, to be clear, I don’t think China is destroying Europe. We’re pretty capable of doing so by ourselves.

      • idkmybffjoeysteel [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        4 months ago

        I wonder how you seemingly acknowledge some realities yet still say the things that you do. It feels like you are being pedantic, maybe? It is hard to put my finger on. It is just strange to buy in to the dialogue which is 100% being pushed by all mainstream media about a Chinese invasion, the danger presented by China, etc., and yet you have shown you know all these issues could be avoided simply by not having a shit government that values profit and capital accumulation over nurturing domestic industries.

        It is really worrisome to people like me, because if you buy into the current narrative, that makes me think you would probably support the US military encirclment of China, and the arbitrary tariffs which are not designed to benefit anyone, only to punish China.

        We are in a world today with the war in Ukraine and the destruction of the Nord stream pipeline, where there is a lot of evidence that the US hegemony is only interested in handicapping Europe and strangling its enemies in Russia, China, The Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, as it has done for a century already, and this is why you are getting such a hostile reaction here, because even if you don’t support the current regime, you really strongly sound like you do. It’s puzzling. You say something we think is stupid, we come back to you, and you say yeah yeah I know all that, I agree, you’re right, nevertheless. I am not sure what to make of you. Do give the book a read though, or try some lectures on YouTube, Parenti is very entertaining and easy to get into, and I get the vibe you would like him, even if you are not all the way there yet. His stuff is especially good as even though most of it is now 20 years or more out of date, he still exactly describes the current state of affairs.

        • Schlemmy@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          I’m sorry if I come over as pedantic. I’m an autist and sometimes have difficulties expressing my thoughts. I am sincere in my opinions and non judgmental. I want to understand.

          As for these matters, I’ve learned a lot from discussing with an aquintance of mine who’s an expert on thes matters, Jonathan Holslag. https://www.jonathanholslag.be/

          I strongly feel we are being played by the powers that be. I see the US as big of an evil as I see China when it comes to these matters. I am aware of the role the EU played in the past but in the meantime I am a child of my generation that saw the EU unfold as a beautiful ideology. From Benelux to what we are now, a giant bureaucratic system that has lost it’s way.

          Again, I’m sorry if my responses confuse you. I’m better with spoken words.

          • idkmybffjoeysteel [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            4 months ago

            No worries, I too used to appreciate the EU back when it meant freedom of movement for myself. Even today, they do good things that I wish we had in my country, like forcing Apple to adopt new standards, but they also do things which are kind of shitty and make them a force for bad, in the same manner as the IMF and World Bank. Something especially bad which they have done is to impose austerity upon Greece for example and handicap their recovery from the 2008 financial crisis in order to protect German banks, which is something you can learn more about from former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’ book on the subject “and the weak suffer what they must”. This is the book that helped me to understand why socialists are not generally very fond of the EU and its predecessor organisations.

            I’m giving you a lot of book recommendations but not telling you where to find them. If you like, you can download Tor Browser and get them for free from z-library.se.

            • Schlemmy@lemmy.ml
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              4 months ago

              I’ve read Varoufakis’ books. What the EU did to Greece is awful. I had flashbacks to what they did to Germany after the first world war.

              Thanks for the recommendations.