“China is only lifting their entire population out of poverty because this helps them achieve a more powerful global hegemony.”
Okay so even if that WAS somehow true, shouldn’t this be evidence that it’s an effective strategy that Western nations should adopt? They’re basically complaining that China has created a more effective strategy than them and rather than implementing it themselves or trying to improve on it they’re just complaining about it. Sounds like real winner mentality to me!
My favorite variant of this is “The CPC is only developing China to improve the lives of its people so that they’ll see the CPC as legitimate!”
Congratulations, writer. You’ve discovered democracy.
Government measurably improves standard of living, people continue to support government. I’m shocked
Also the “China is only sending COVID vaccines to poor countries so those countries will like China” people.
Like yes bro, you are so close to understanding the basic concept of diplomacy.
Players, Sam says: Remember the virtuous economic cycle:
But while many of these programs may be appealing to the global south, it’s unclear whether these countries really want a post-American future—let alone a Beijing-dominated one.
We do. Have these mfers ever seen what the US does in our countries? “Journalists” get the Romanov treatment.
“It’s unclear” can be translated to “I’m not listening.”
“It’s unclear” can also be translated to “I’m not going to ask them about it.”
It can also mean “there’s a popular movement that overthrew the previous government, but we spoke to a handful of rich people who don’t like the changes.”
I hate that even socialists make this argument. The amount of people who are like “China is economically developing these regions because imperialists need to do that” when they are obviously doing more than building a few one way train lines to haul goods. People who make that argument also tend to agree the west is imperialist but then don’t ever seem to ask themselves why the west doesn’t economically develop such nations. The simple fact is, the west doesn’t do so because it’s not really necessary for imperialist extraction and China does because they aren’t colonizing the developing world.
My theory about “leftists” like this is that they cant conceive of Africans and other Global Southerners as anything other than children who don’t have their own agency. This also explains why they see any other “adult” country that engaged with the global south as some sort of dangerous pedo.
They really do infantalize such nations to a massive extent. Definitely plays a role.
Makes sense. Definitely fits with people being stuck in the western chauvinist, civil/savage colonial mindset of “I must know better inherently because I belong to [superior] identity group.” Not to say these people are necessarily conscious of these tendencies in themselves, but I think it’s safe to say it can be observed from the outside, to an extent.
Parenti quote
The quote
In the United States, for over a hundred years, the ruling interests tirelessly propagated anticommunism among the populace, until it became more like a religious orthodoxy than a political analysis. During the Cold War, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them. If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.
– Michael Parenti, Blackshirts And Reds
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economically developing these regions because imperialists need to do that
I really want to take these people to West Virginia. If this were true, I wouldn’t have encountered at least 3 or 4 instances of half the road having fallen into the river valley below, while on a road trip to Matewan a couple years ago. Not to mention the rampant poverty, food deserts, and the commercial dominance of Dollar General.
They’d probably say something like “only the colonized countries need to be economically developed not the core” or “internal colonization is a myth, read settlers”. These people have the critical thinking skills of a shoelace.
Seriously, I’ve heard people try and argue colonies often have higher standards of living than their colonial masters which is one hell of a deranged statement.
aww western media is projecting again, adorable
On the other hand, we here in America really care about equality.Holy fucking shit. This is the most projection I’ve ever seen in one of these headlines.
I always get these vibes from these sort of news articles.
Precisely 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Projection
Reminder this mag is often one of the most direct windows into the mindset of the Biden admin
Ah Yes, because we all know the US is totally anti-hegemony.
Projection much
That picture is adorable. I wish I had seven bros to dress the same and walk our dogs together. I hope they’re not police dogs or anything like that.
Sadly they’re likely security dogs
likely
You’re saying there’s a chance!?
