Generational Dynamics Forum - New Site

thinker wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 9:47 pm > There is a civil war going on now in I believe Ethiopia that has
> had over 500,000 dead and where the few reports on it are saying
> that the government is using Turkish drones to bomb refugee camps
> filled with unarmed civilians, yet the overwhelming number of
> media outlets worldwide have barely reported anything on this
> war. I have to ask why almost no media is reporting on this. I
> believe it's because the western elite criminal class doesn't have
> any of their "investments" in Ethiopia but they sure as hell have
> them in Ukraine. I think If those "investments" were in Ethiopia
> instead of Ukraine the media coverage and actions of the west
> would be different. I am not going to argue with anyone about
> whether Putin is a scumbag or a saint or whether Russia is corrupt
> or not. My own opinion based on my research and life experiences
> is that yes Putin is not a Christian and is actually an evil
> scumbag and Russia is a very corrupt country. At the same time my
> research which I actually used some of the same media outlets that
> are now claiming that Zelensky is a great hero and Ukraine is an
> amazing country that is as pure as the wind driven snow who used
> to talk about how Zelensky was a corrupt tyrant and Ukraine
> nothing more than a corrupt craphole state. My belief is that
> Zelensky is a corrupt western puppet like Manuel Noriega and
> Saddam Hussein. It can both be true that Putin is a scumbag and so
> is Zelensky and that Russia is super corrupt and so is Ukraine. I
> didn't want the US or NATO involved in this war. I wish we would
> have stayed out of it and started preparing NATO countries for a
> Russian attack and as soon as that would happen light them up like
> the 4th of July.

thinker wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 9:47 pm There is a civil war going on now in I believe Ethiopia that has had over 500,000 dead and where the few reports on it are saying that the government is using Turkish drones to bomb refugee camps filled with unarmed civilians, yet the overwhelming number of media outlets
worldwide have barely reported anything on this war. I have to ask why almost no media is reporting on this. I believe it's because the western elite criminal class doesn't have any of their "investments" in Ethiopia but they sure as hell have them in Ukraine. I think If those "investments" were in Ethiopia instead of Ukraine the media coverage and actions of the west would be different. I am not going to argue with anyone about whether Putin is a scumbag or a saint or whether Russia is corrupt or not. My own opinion based on my research and life experiences is that yes Putin is not a Christian and is actually an evil scumbag and Russia is a very corrupt country. At the same time my research which I actually used some of the same media outlets that are now claiming that Zelensky is a great hero and Ukraine is an amazing country that is as pure as the wind driven snow who used to talk about how Zelensky was a corrupt tyrant and Ukraine nothing more than a corrupt craphole state. My belief is that Zelensky is a corrupt western puppet like Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein. It can both be true that Putin is a scumbag and so is Zelensky and that Russia is super corrupt and so is Ukraine. I didn't want the US or NATO involved in this war. I wish we would have stayed out of it and started preparing NATO countries for a Russian attack and as soon as that would happen light them up like the 4th of July.

John wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:43 pm ** 24-Apr-2022 World View: Darkest period in China in decades

I just watched a lengthy interview with China analyst Junheng Li on
Bloomberg tv, where she described China as being in its darkest period
in two decades.

This is because of all the lockdowns of tens of millions of people,
especially in Shanghai. She said this is different from the Wuhan
lockdowns in 2020 because now the people know a lot more, and they
know that lockdowns don't work -- as is shown by the recent
exponential growth in Covid cases despite the lockdowns. She said
that resentment against the government has been growing.

Stories out of Shanghai show that officials have been brutal and
ruthless in pursuing Xi Jinping's "Zero Covid" policy. People are
being dragged out of their homes and forced to live in cramped
centers. Children are being forcibly separated from their parents.
Dogs and cats left behind are being ruthlessly killed.

The Shanghai lockdown has gone on for 4 weeks, into its fifth week.
Even more worrisome, the virus seems to be spreading to Beijing
(Chaoyang district of Beijing) with 21 new cases -- which isn't a lot,
but that's how the Shanghai spread started, and it violates the "zero
covid" policy.

This is relevant to something that I've been wondering about for a
while. China's last two generational crisis wars were extremely
bloody civil wars between the north and the south -- the Taiping
Rebellion (1850-64) and the Communist Revolution (1934-49). So China
is overdue for a new massive rebellion. The CCP is well aware of this
of course, so they've become very skillful in nipping "mass events" in
the bud before they can spread. However, sooner or later, that
massive rebellion must occur, and the lockdown situation may turn out
to be the trigger.

(There's an interesting comparison here. China's "zero covid" policy
has only postponed the virus problem, and China's "zero mass event"
policy may also fail in a similar fashion.)

Here's some other news:

• China stocks have fallen sharply on Monday's open, with the
  Hang Seng (Hong Kong) index down 2.5%.
• The yuan currency has fallen the most since the 2015
  devaluation.
• Commodity prices are falling because of decreased demand from
  China. Iron ore slumped 8% in Singapore on Monday.
• The Dow fell 851 on Friday, and Dow futures are currently down 270
  points. Nikkei is down 2%. Bitcoin is down 200 points.
• The Fed is expected to increase interest rates dramatically in the
  next few months.
• The World Bank is predicting a "human catastrophe" food crisis,
  because of the Ukraine war.

The last point in particular is virtually certain to trigger massive
unrest in Asia and elsewhere, just as the spike in food prices
triggered the "Arab Spring" ten years ago.

As the weeks go by, it seems that the probabilities of a financial
crisis and a geopolitical crisis (regional wars) are increasing, and
becoming more and more imminent.

Navigator wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 4:16 pm Yes, very good post from John.

I can understand Thomas' perspective. Many of my combat vet friends feel the same way. After all, they were lied to about the wars (this could apply to Vietnam as well as Iraq/Afghanistan). They were lied to about what the objectives were, who the enemy was, about the progress (or utter lack thereof) and then saw the whole endeavor collapse while their friends were maimed and died.

So, frankly, they have seen American leadership at its worst. And many believe that the only way it could be that bad is that there is some kind of underlying conspiracy to make it so to cover some despicable objective (such as turn all American citizens into slaves/serfs).

I personally don't believe that. I think that bureaucrats (in all branches of government) are out only for themselves, and could care less what the actual effect of their policies are, other than they will do whatever it takes to stay in power and gain more power. As that allows them (ala the Bidens) to enrich themselves. Most of these people are actually incompetent or only marginally so, and run things on a cronyism system that protects them and allows them to expand bureaucracy (expanding their power and their paychecks) but does little to nothing to improve services to the public they are supposed to be serving (but instead are fleecing).

So, yes, many areas/aspects of American government are abysmal. But they do pale in comparison to what is going on in Russia/China.

For example, in the USA, we still have freedom of religion. In China, pictures of Christ were replaced with pictures of Xi.

In America, we can actually vote people out of office, yet it is amazing to me how few incumbents are voted out. Few seem to get educated on issues and options, and then make informed choices. This is the Achilles heel of democracy.

Russia and China are dictatorships. Putin and Xi are monsters and will stop at almost nothing to force their will on others who want to stay out of their reach.

Tom Mazanec wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 7:55 am Some denigrate because they hate America. Some denigrate because they love America and want it to be better.