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sheogorath

sheogorath

Colonel
Registered Member
victoon said:
Imagine Biden and the Democrats banning the app and then Trump lifting the ban. It could potentially be a big win for Trump and the Republicans. I wonder if it's the reason the Republican senators blocked the bill for extension. I don't have a lot of respect for US politicians. But I give them credit for being very good at politics.
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I mean, they are already getting called out over Gaza and the fact that they could have ended it at any time but chose not to.
 
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MonkeyEatingEagle

New Member
Registered Member
Serb said:
In my opinion, the US is not just the new USSR, we're living through its final years now too. Trump, in many ways, mirrors Gorbachev, a leader who tried to "save" the system through bold reforms like "glasnost" and "perestroika", but only made it worse.

Think about all the sweeping plans and promises Trump put forward. Instead of revitalizing the system, these efforts will inadvertently speed up its decline.

Why? Because, as in the USSR then, the foundation was too decayed, and the attempts to fix it only revealed the cracks for everyone to see and increased chaos and divisions. It was like shouting that the emperor had no clothes, but louder than ever before.

Also, other similarities are that Gorbachev, faced with the crumbling Soviet Union, also had to shift focus inward, prioritizing the USSR over its satellite states.

Similarly, the US under Trump began to retreat from its global commitments, also leaving allies wondering if they could even trust the Americans any more.

Gorbachev (also narcissist and demagogue) gave people a glimpse of what could’ve been better, but it just made them realize how bad things really were. Same with Trump—his promises got people hyped for change, but instead, it just revealed how deep the cracks ran.

Even the vibe feels the same. The USSR’s last years were full of confusion, infighting, and everything feeling like it was spiraling. Sound familiar? Between political chaos, culture wars, and an economy that’s all over the place, it’s like we’re watching the same story play out again, just with different faces.

Both leaders faced systems that were already teetering, where every attempt to patch things up just exposed how unsustainable and inefficient the whole structure had become. Donald Trump's nickname in the Kremlin now is the American Gorbachev.
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I do hope that the US won't end up in a climatic civil war once again, now with nuclear weapons. Or it may become more and more as a confederacy like EU after a brief skirmish with itself, lead by Cali vs Texas. Lol. Reminds me of the world of horizon zero dawn, where Elon Musk is reminiscent of Ted Faro. Hahaha
 
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ACuriousPLAFan

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Lethe said:
This is some weapons-grade copium courtesy of Foreign Policy magazine and CSIS.

TL;DR: China's unveiling of J-36 is a sign of its weakness and decay. Beijing is desperately flailing in the face of resolute American economic power and sagacious leadership and Washington needs only to take care not to win too much.

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This article is an interesting exercise in how you can take a bunch of vaguely sensible propositions and nouns and rearrange them into something that is almost, but not entirely unrecognisable: a funhouse mirror version of reality.

The less funny part comes from knowing just how many powerful folk in Washington find this stuff very persuasive indeed.
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So does that mean if China launches her first nuclear-powered supercarrier today, China is sure to collapse tomorrow?

Got it. No wonder the US is becoming more and more India/Jai Hind-like.
 
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V

victoon

Junior Member
Registered Member
daifo said:
Tom Cotton who blocked it is a super China Hawk. He is protected in his rural state with no other competitor for his seat so he doesn't have to bend to the plans of Trump like someone like Rubio. What he did was to make Trumps plan not to block TT even harder.
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good point.
On the other hand, there is a ton of "diversity" among Republicans (Democrats, too). IMO, this diversity comes from 1) personal interests and 2) ideological fever, not from practical consideration of what's best for the people in the real world (US politics used to be much more practical and effective in the past).

Nonetheless, I think the ban is shaping up to be at least a small bang when TT goes dark, not a whimper.
 
S

SanWenYu

Major
Registered Member
victoon said:
I am curious how a sale of the US portion of TT would work. Don't US TT users have a ton of interaction with the rest of the world?

On the other hand, TT is a platform that has allowed the US to export soft power/cultural influence to the rest of the world. Without US users:
  1. There could be a real case for combining TT with Douyin, which would be less restricted by US rules and better for integrating China (cough cough, soft power) with the rest of the non-US world.
  2. Even if TT stays separate, it could become a more attractive platform without worrying about US censorship.
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It is likely that in the plan by the USG and Zuckerberg, if there is no sale, most, if not all, of the TT users will have no where else to go but Instagram or something similar controlled by the US.
 
daifo

daifo

Major
Registered Member
victoon said:
I am curious how a sale of the US portion of TT would work. Don't US TT users have a ton of interaction with the rest of the world?

On the other hand, TT is a platform that has allowed the US to export soft power/cultural influence to the rest of the world. Without US users:
  1. There could be a real case for combining TT with Douyin, which would be less restricted by US rules and better for integrating China (cough cough, soft power) with the rest of the non-US world.
  2. Even if TT stays separate, it could become a more attractive platform without worrying about US censorship.
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I think the original plan during Trump 1 was to buy the entire TikTok globally. When that didn't work, they had to make the state security reason which then force them to the idea that they only want the US portion. These morons haven't thought that far ahead of the technical aspect... only China BAD.
 
V

victoon

Junior Member
Registered Member
JohnnyD said:
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I really think Trump has an opportunity to portray himself as a hero for bringing back an app that half of the American population loves, especially if he can do it quickly. He is very in tune with the mood of the public and very good at delivering spectacles. And my understanding is he cares more about practical small wins rather than abstract ideological principles. It's kinda exciting to see how all this will pan out.
 
E

Elevenz

New Member
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Imo best possible outcome for China if they can goad the US into banning the app as well on Sunday. Basically obliterates liberal cope hoping that the CPC geolocks it or bans Usians. I think most of the benefits from this exchange have already been harvested and getting rednote banned gives China another massive optics win. I think medium term exchange is bad because some Usians are terminally online and mentally ill (see discord shenanigans) so I think it’s best to reduce contact for now to lower odds of some wacky shit happening.




Lethe said:
This is some weapons-grade copium courtesy of Foreign Policy magazine and CSIS.

TL;DR: China's unveiling of J-36 is a sign of its weakness and decay. Beijing is desperately flailing in the face of resolute American economic power and sagacious leadership and Washington needs only to take care not to win too much.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!



This article is an interesting exercise in how you can take a bunch of vaguely sensible propositions and nouns and rearrange them into something that is almost, but not entirely unrecognisable: a funhouse mirror version of reality.

The less funny part comes from knowing just how many powerful folk in Washington find this stuff very persuasive indeed.
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Honestly the guy comes off as a lowkey accelerationist. Imagine telling trump that your enemy is weak and that you are winning so hard but you shouldn’t push your advantage. There’s no way he hears that and think yea I’m just not gonna go for a decisive win since my enemy is so weak.
 
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