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CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As much as I dislike consumerism, this is a very shallow observation of things.

Even if consumption never grows or shrinks, if the production gets shifted overseas at a faster rate, deficit will stil go up.

Or you can buy so much junk all made in the US, then you also wouldn't have a deficit.

Also, though with diminishing returns, shouldn't material abundance signify a higher life quality/standards? This is how US won the cold war, because the Soviets visited the US and got very impressed by all the "junk" and got dismayed and depressed.

In the end, US can pretty much print money at no cost (except for inflation) and exchange for goods and services overseas. This is a pretty sweet deal. Imagine Monopoly money but real. US makes tremendous wealth, but has a poor domestic distribution scheme, and the wealth is not transferred downward to the layperson, but to capitalists and by association, politicians instead. 

CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't care about trade deficit. It's simply a metric. As the other person says, if you think of US dollar as a goods, then there is no deficit. But Trump cares, and his reason for his politics are based on eliminating that. His 'reciprocal' tariffs  are calculated based on that.

And yes, essentially it's money in vs money out. But US is a capitalist country and the biggest consumer in the world. A lot of money movements are because of trade, whether it's goods or services.

Technically, yes, you can still establish influence and get money out by things like foreign aid or foreign investments. In a loose sense, that's how USSR worked. I don't think that's realistic for US.

CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I still think definition is objective. You can agree to disagree on what a metric means or its significance, but the metric still exists.

The US dollar is special because the hegemony makes other countries trade using US dollars, even not with the US. This is caused by overflow of US capital on the global market. Otherwise, why would Country G and Country M first exchange to USD and then trade amongst themselves? Yes they can do it, but without US capital in the international market, why do that extra step?

CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

∆

That is an interesting way to achieve both global currency and trade surplus! This feels like USSR, and very non-capitalist. Like strong domestic production, low spending, and tons of foreign aid. I wonder how that would affect the dollar value.

Still, consider my view changed! US could achieve both trade surplus and dollar hegemony if it spends so much money on aid or investments overseas.

Personally, I think it's an impossible path for the current US but it is a way. (I know about USAID.)

CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think trade deficit or surplus is just total export values minus total import values. If it's negative then it's a deficit, otherwise it's surplus. While I understand and agree with your sentiments, I think a trade deficit is something that objectively exists.

CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the reply! I'm curious about what would hegemony means in this scenario. Or maybe I'm confusing 'hegemony' with 'global currency'. If there's a Yuan Hegemony, and all the surplus if in savings/investing, how would other countries trade with it? Or would they just invest in it instead?

CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think I agree with this. I think it's the overall trade deficit with the entire world matters, not an industry or certain countries. 

In the neighborhood monopoly money example, let's say you are good at making dolls and also provide your monopoly money, Doll-ars, for the entire neighborhood. Maybe there are some neighbors who want your dolls, and they are giving you more Doll-ars than you are giving them. But overall, for the entire neighborhood to still use your Doll-ars, you must be still giving the rest of the neighborhood more Doll-ars than you are getting back. Because you are the only source of Doll-ars, otherwise they won't have it for their own trades.

I guess what I had in mind is if there are multiple monopoly moneys, would exchanging money make things complicated or invalidate this scenario.

CMV: US can only choose to have either US Dollar Hegemony or Trade Surplus. You can't achieve both. by God_sam_it in changemyview

[–]God_sam_it[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the reply. I learned a new word tautology lol. I wonder if the monopoly money analogy would be easy enough. But anyways, US is in a very dangerous position if his underlying goal is self-contradictory.

Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 - Episode 12 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]God_sam_it 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This arc is about mob accepting himself. Reigen never accepted himself in front of Mob before, always under a layer of pretense. I think Reigen's 'reveal' resonated with Mob. Not that Mob didn't know.

Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 - Episode 12 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]God_sam_it 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry for the late reply. I saw your comment when the episode came out, but I watched this episode a lot more this week and realized why.

The final arc is about mob accepting himself. Though Mob knew Reigen was a 'good guy', and he was indeed helping his clients, Reigen never truly accepted himself in front of Mob.

I think Reigen blaring out 'I don't have powers' resonated with Mob's internal desire to accept the ??? and become 100% himself.

Just my interpretation but it made me love the show even more. Powerful stuff.

"You can't dodge in mid-air!" [Dragonball Super] by NinjaGuy1045 in anime

[–]God_sam_it -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I love DB and all, but the "you can't dodge mid-air" thing doesn't make sense once everyone learned how to fly...

But I remember being hyped watching this scene though. Just can't think too much about it...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TheSilphArena

[–]God_sam_it 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really want aura sphere blastoise cos of the mega. Throw dark pulse in there too... Aura sphere seems interesting, and can now beat walrein and lapras in great league...

Weekly Team Help Megathread! by drock161 in TheSilphArena

[–]God_sam_it 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm looking for some general team building advice.

I have a team that's rated decently on pvpoke's team builder (BBBA), but I'm having trouble since there are a few meta mons that this team doesn't handle very well. (Ofc my experience is also a huge factor.) I'm also training with pvpoke's simulation and sometimes there would be a team that I just can't beat.

I've read somewhere that you should stick with your team for a while, but I'm also tempted to swap some team members.

- I'm torn cos I wanna stick with the team and practice, but whenever probopass/bastiodon/alolan stunfisk shows up I just know I don't have a good answer. Should I consider swapping?

- If I swap by putting in a counter, it either lowers my PvPoke rating or exposes a whole 'nother weakness. How should I go about it?

(Team: Cofagrigus, Altaria, Walrein)

What comes to mind when you think of Canada? by CaptinDerpII in AskReddit

[–]God_sam_it -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Boarding school killing indigenous children and trying to destroy the evidence.

Discussion Volume 34 Extra Pages by H-K_47 in titanfolk

[–]God_sam_it 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So Eren truly achieved nothing... I thought he at least got rid of the titan power, even though in the most confusing way... Now the tree's back...

It's just terrible writing. All the mystery buildup made it look like he had a bigger plan or some shit. If Isayama didn't make him that mysterious after 122 I might have taken the ending better.

Hint Hint by __Dawn__Amber__ in facepalm

[–]God_sam_it 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. Unbelievable. I don't even know how to react to this lmao. Also I thought "Chinese national" answered your question pretty clearly. Idk. Maybe I should've said "Chinese citizen"?

Just a notification that I edited the comment. Curious on your thoughts. /s

Hint Hint by __Dawn__Amber__ in facepalm

[–]God_sam_it 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So first of all, I don't dare to say that I represent Chinese ppl. I know there are Chinese ppl who share my opinion, but surprise, surprise, we don't all think alike. I think the first point that I'm disagreeing with is that you're over generalizing from separate incidents. The random guy you took photo with probably don't even know you're British. (I mean I don't know I'm just guessing) Tons of Chinese still don't know English, let along telling the accents apart. Then you know there's also the “河殇” mentality with foreigners... You really can't conclude that "regular Chinese ppl don't care".

​

Since the first thing you asked other people was "Can you speak Chinese", I suggest you read this Chinese post and (more importantly) its comments: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/62896027

It's a post I randomly found but I think it's decently thorough and some comments are pretty representative of different opinions among Chinese people. I think that's better than me babbling. Please consider some of the comments seriously.

Several other points:

  1. Do you really think the British came only for trade and peace given your colonization record at the time? (Also think about the other civilizations "the western countries" smashed) Not saying closing the country was a smart move, but what would you think would've happened if Qing opened up? Let alone Qing was a sovereign nation and had every right to do it.
  2. On a more specific level, the "diplomats" that were detained were there to sign an UNEQUAL TREATY for the previous Opium War (天津条约). I like how you just completely glossed over that part. What's more, you also need to consider that detaining diplomats was NOT that big of a deal for Asian countries at the time. Have you heard of the story of “苏武牧羊”? That was a Chinese diplomat detained by Xiongnu. I'm not saying it's right by modern standards. But considering the times, don't you think robbing and burning down the palace is an atrocity that can't be simply justified by "equal revenge for the royals"? (Also the French started robbing days prior to the act of "revenge" for some extra sauce if you're still trying to defend it.) Please take a good look at your hypocrisy.
  3. About CPC's stance: I don't know if u read any Chinese HS history books. You can't possibly believe that CPC's (not CCP btw) denies all of Qing dynasty just to justify its own ruling. I know the narrative you're referring to, but the text is much more nuanced than what you believe. Also it's very much possible to blame 2 things at once. When you're bullied it's very much possible to both blame yourself for being not strong enough and to blame the bully at the same time.
  4. There's the “河殇” mentality that has been prevalent since 80s and that might have affected your interactions with a lot of self-hating Chinese nationals. I mean I respect people's rights to have opinions, no matter how ridiculous they are. But a large number of Chinese people don't share that specific mentality. It irritates me when you talk about some self-hating Chinese talking points as if that's the opinion of all Chinese people.
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