Generational Dynamics World View News

[tim]

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/ar ... hen-chinas

How the coronavirus will humble America and Donald Trump, and strengthen China’s position on the world stage

A few good things will come out of the pandemic. A Democrat may well be the next US president and end the trade war with China, which will be in a better position to bargain, having had a lead in tackling the virus and a head start in economic recovery

Covid-19 is sweeping through Europe and the United States is feeling its effects. Domestic and global travel routes have been placed on lockdown, and US President Donald Trump recently decided unilaterally to suspend travel from Europe.
Public gatherings have been curbed, prominent events have been postponed or cancelled, universities around the world have transitioned to online classes, and there has been a shift to remote working spearheaded by organisations such as Google.
These measures have prompted widespread panic about the transmission of the disease, and introduced high volatility into markets around the globe.

But while Covid-19 is having a negative impact on health and the economy, it also has positive implications for politics in the long term, potentially improving US-China relations. Economic and public health research allows us to forecast what Covid-19 means for the upcoming US presidential election and China’s global position in the coming year.

First, Covid-19 will shift the ground for the US election. Public health experts predict that the strained US health care system may well break under pressure from the coronavirus.
US medical professionals and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have advised that, barring the onset of serious symptoms, people should avoid hospitals as tests and treatments are in limited supply.
The US has only 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people, fewer than the 3.2 in Italy, where Covid-19 has overwhelmed the national health care system and forced the country into lockdown.

What is more, according to annual reports compiled by the American Hospital Association, around 65 per cent of US hospital beds are occupied on average, and the number of available beds has been decreasing. This means the system has little wiggle room to handle a sudden upswing in cases.

As the virus spreads and takes its toll on the American public, polls are likely to see a loss of confidence in Trump, whose laissez-faire approach to health care reform and commitment to privatised health care is likely to aggravate health inequalities and barriers of access.

Simultaneously, there will be greater support for a Democratic candidate, as primary front runners former vice-president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders continue to push for health care reforms that lower barriers of access, such as expanding Obamacare and introducing universal health care in their respective election platforms.
Moreover, both Democratic candidates appear eager to end the US-China trade war, with Biden possibly willing to forge a new trade deal, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership under former president Barack Obama.

Second, Covid-19 will strengthen China’s position on the global political and economic stage. Economically, China’s markets will bounce back and grow far faster than those of its American and European counterparts. China has a significant lead on tackling the infection and is proving superior in curbing the virus.

Beijing’s authoritarian governance has allowed it to adopt measures of a severity and scale that Western countries cannot, including building makeshift hospitals within a week, shutting down entire cities such as Wuhan, and offering free coronavirus tests.

In contrast, the US has a heavily privatised health care system with limited resources that do not permit widespread testing, and a large proportion of uninsured people, numbering close to 28 million, a four-year high, according to the US Census Bureau.

In a widely popularised Tweet, US Representative Katie Porter said a full coronavirus test costs “at minimum” US$1,331. This kind of barrier to accessing health care will be the tinderbox for Covid-19 transmission in the US as the massive numbers of uninsured people cannot afford to seek tests and treatment.

The disparity between the ability of the Chinese and American health care systems to respond to Covid-19 reflects directly on to their economic markets.

Market performances over the past month shows the benchmark Shanghai composite index holding steady while the Dow Jones (and the Stoxx Europe 600) have been in free fall, despite talk of a stimulus package, which is now taking shape.

Following on from a negative US Treasury yield curve that suggests a looming recession, these recent market patterns show that Covid-19 is poised to create a significant shock for an already precarious American economy built on household and corporate debt. This will better equip China to forge new trade deals with the US and other Western nations, ushering in much-needed economic growth.

Amid the latest panic about Covid-19’s disease transmission and the economic uncertainty it has wrought on the West, there are upsides to look out for in the broader, long-term political landscape. Covid-19 is a strain and a test, but it will end.

By the time it does, it will have reshaped US-China relations to favour stronger economic growth in the long term and even improved public health care systems by highlighting their weaknesses in times of stress.

Anson Au is a visiting professor in the School of Humanities, Social Science and Law at Harbin Institute of Technology and a PhD student in sociology at the University of Toronto

[FishbellykanakaDude]

[FishbellykanakaDude]

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/ar ... hen-chinas

How the coronavirus will humble America and Donald Trump, and strengthen China’s position on the world stage ...

Yet more BS from the CCP.

Methinks Timmy is a troll..! The CCP trolls are on overdrive.

..at the very least, Timmy, could you point out the weak points of the articles you post?

[Trevor]

** 18-Mar-2020 World View: Obsessive pessimism

With regard to preparation, the trends are clear. Republicans
and Democrats are slowly but surely becoming increasingly united
behind Trump, and young people are slowly but surely coming to
the full realization that this is a serious situation, and
it affects their families.

Trump has particularly been doing all he can to beef up the
armed forces, and to block Chinese infiltration of the country.
There's no simple solution to this, but it's the trend.

Going to have to disagree with you on this, John. Most of what I've been seeing indicates the exact opposite. The media is acting with glee at the prospect this pandemic could crash the economy and cost Trump a second term. I've seen and read numerous individuals celebrating this, that the proper name is the "Trump virus."

And I'll admit I shouldn't have dismissed this so quickly. I'm not worried about catching it myself, but Italy is on lockdown and the number of cases are still skyrocketing. It's done nothing to "flatten the curve", which is another reason I don't believe a word the CCP says. Where I live, the shelves are bare, with people hoarding and panic buying. (I expect some are doing it in anticipation of exploiting desperate people) South Korea's had some success, but we'll see how long that lasts.

[FishbellykanakaDude]

** 18-Mar-2020 World View: Obsessive pessimism

With regard to preparation, the trends are clear. Republicans
and Democrats are slowly but surely becoming increasingly united
behind Trump, and young people are slowly but surely coming to
the full realization that this is a serious situation, and
it affects their families.

Trump has particularly been doing all he can to beef up the
armed forces, and to block Chinese infiltration of the country.
There's no simple solution to this, but it's the trend.

Going to have to disagree with you on this, John. Most of what I've been seeing indicates the exact opposite. The media is acting with glee at the prospect this pandemic could crash the economy and cost Trump a second term. I've seen and read numerous individuals celebrating this, that the proper name is the "Trump virus." ...

This "living in two different worlds" perception of the world thing is fascinating!

"Normal" people see people coming together. "Elites" (of all stripes) see low-grade civil war, that seems to be accelerating to almost literal battles in the streets.

You two are both right, of course. The media is of the "elite", and John is of the "normal people".

Antitrumpism has become an actual psychiatric disorder. It's a variant of OCD with a huge admixture of "reverse schadenfreude" and frustrated delusions of grandeur.

"Reverse schadenfreude" in the sense of taking sadistic "pleasure" in the suffering of your own "peer group" (the elite). Sort of a masochistic sadism. Pretty damned twisted, eh?

"Frustrated delusions of grandeur" in that "WE should be in POWER!!" is their almost word-for-word mantra.

Anyway, the reality is that Trump will "win", yet again, in a very "Are you tired of WINNING yet!?" kind of way, as regards this epidemic (because we're only worried about the US at this point),.. and THAT will absolutely scramble the "world view" of the elites.

The media will overreach, yet again, and illustrate their "disorder" to normal people, and will show the impotence of the elites TO THE ELITES, which will make them.. "cry".

If the media, and any "noisy elites", aren't VERY careful, they WILL begin to place highly visible targets on their backs during a time when the only voice that "normal people" will feel they have to communicate with said elites is physical force.

Why would "normal people" feel the need to communicate their displeasure with "the elites" at all? What are the elites denying the norms access to that would make them take desperate actions?

Most normals can vent this need to their God and their friends.

The mentally unstable "cadre" within a population do not act rationally, and can talk themselves into placing too much value in being "talked down to" and not being "listened to".

The elites have the media to vent their "disorder". The norms don't have a "high prestige" venting mechanism, and venting frustrations is important.

[John]

Several posts have been moved into the Race and Racism thread.

[Xeraphim1]

What's with the Valkyrie picture? Other than it being cool?

[FishbellykanakaDude]

[img]https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/kratosvalkyrie-190305-f-ha049-003-1583345928.png?crop=0.984xw:0.987xh;0.0155xw,0.0130xh&resize=980:*[/im g]

What's with the Valkyrie picture? Other than it being cool?

The image DOES link to an article about the Valkyrie,.. but I chucked it out there 'cause... it's just cool.

Another thing of interest may be that the "swarm versus swarm" warfare thing may becoming a thing. Harnessing the "power" of DCS and WarThunder gamers might be in the offing.

[Xeraphim1]

The image DOES link to an article about the Valkyrie,.. but I chucked it out there 'cause... it's just cool.

Another thing of interest may be that the "swarm versus swarm" warfare thing may becoming a thing. Harnessing the "power" of DCS and WarThunder gamers might be in the offing.

Also look at the ADM-160 MALD-B/J. Less capable but in service already with a bunch of nifty variants under development.

[FishbellykanakaDude]

...

Also look at the ADM-160 MALD-B/J. Less capable but in service already with a bunch of nifty variants under development.

Yay...! <chuckle!>

I have been practicing my DCS (__, __) flyin' and boom-boom delivery skills. Never know when ya' might need any particular bit of know-how, yeah..?

OH..! I hadn't noticed before now! DCS is having a big sale right now. Most things 50% off...!!

..I picked up the F-16. Whoohoo..!!