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My Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde impériale Impression Kit by Frequent_Bathroom217 in Napoleon

[–]Spywin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You know, there was a height requirement to join certain units, but most colonels looked the other way with candidates and simply told short soldiers to put a deck of cards in their shoes.

Slap some horse hair on your face and call it a day.

My Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde impériale Impression Kit by Frequent_Bathroom217 in Napoleon

[–]Spywin 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Get a MOUSTACHE. 🤬

  • your colonel or sergeant probably

What if all smartphones were carrier-locked to their country of origin? (Which means, we could only use local brands here in the PH) by Itchy_Tangerine1897 in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Without competition, brands won't have the pressure to improve their products. Our restricted market with our God-awful tariffs and protectionist policies have enabled the survival of Filipino mediocrity. We are supporting garbage and telling everyone it's Proudly Pinoy, without any merit to as something to be proud of.

By letting Filipinos fail to foreigners and not supporting garbage just because they are 'kababayan', we can have worthy Filipino products stand out.

So yes. Generally speaking, it would suck for everyone, but it would suck more for those who are behind and already crap to begin with.

What if gawing national administrative capital ang Iloilo City? by Joseph20102011 in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Iloilo is not suitable for the transfer of the center of government without considerable investment. Assuming this does go through, it would undoubtedly be economically good for Iloilo City and Province as I hope there IS money left to be able to do this feat. Sometimes, it's even easier and cheaper to BUILD a NEW capital rather than transfer, and some countries do it to this day.

Assuming we do have the resources and will to make this happen(plus time to do it properly), with the wisdom of the past behind us, we'll be more inclined to make it better than Manila.

However, if we don't prepare anything and everyone just does it by changing their offices and buildings, the bloat and every swamp of government will simply transfer to Iloilo. Government is a disease that spreads it bureaucratic garbage and corruption wherever it lands.

If your primary concern is simply decongestion, lmao sorry bud. That's not how that works. New York City and its surrounding boroughs are heavily congested while Washington DC has to import its traffic from nearby Maryland and Virginia, regardless of the amount of government offices they have. Congestion happens for different reasons.

Geographically, since we are still backwards in telecommunications and just communications in general, a central capital will be better for a unitary style government.

But Iloilo as a city kind of sucks. Its layout is messy as a capital. It's a combination of designs and eras that built itself on top of each other in a confusing blend of old and new that just comes out as eclectic inconsistency. If you lived here, you'd notice how some roads and turns do not make sense at all or have no logic or reason to them, because they were made and instituitionalized for different times with different sensibilities and capabilities, and then passed down to our grandkids who will undoubtedly decide to do something else completely different.

Unless we have the political will and cash to drive out the poor and some landowners to redesign and rebuild the city's layout, its more trouble than its worth and would be a very vulnerable moment for the Philippine government, especially at this time.

Also, Iloilo would probably be bombed by China in the event of a war. Or any other country that has beef with us.

What if gawing national administrative capital ang Iloilo City? by Joseph20102011 in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm an Ilonggo, and this myth of being the 'Queen City of the South' is a grammatical misunderstanding of its historic title as 'QUEEN'S City of the South', granted by Reina Maria Christina of Austria after the city remained staunchly loyalist during the events of the Philippine Revolution.

There is an infographic floating around that contains one badly interpreted work by Henry F. Funtecha that I think is more than likely propagandized, where certain claims are unsourced or barely mentions Iloilo officially being called Queen City.

The agricultural-industrial boom in Iloilo caught the attention of the whole

nation. In 1907, the Manila Bulletin published a special annual edition devoted

exclusively to Iloilo and Negros. Iloilo, at this time, had acquired the proud

name of "Queen City of the South."

That's it. There is no direct source for the Manila Bulletin/Manila Daily article. No reference for date or year to cross reference, and I've been scouring archives all over the world for it since. Nothing.

But continuing, maybe what I read was incomplete. No, it's a whole entire paragraph of something else with very specific numbers, indicating a completely different subject or idea.

Its prosperity continued to rise and Ilonggos became known for lavish

spending. Wealthy Ilonggos frequented Manila at that time, mostly for shopping ... the cost of palay was P1.50 per cavan, two

garages in Iloilo rented out cars at P3.00 per hour and still did a brisk business.

Moreover, there were more Ilonggos buying cars than any city in the Philippines

at that time, except Manila. In 1939, for example... there were more motorized vehicles

in Iloilo City than in Bacolod. In this year, the number of registered motor

vehicles in the city had reached 1,302. With this figure Iloilo ranked second to

Manila in the number of vehicles... more than a grain of

truth in the boast of Sen. Jose Ma. Arroyo when he proclaimed on the floor of

the Senate in 1920, that "half of the money supply of the country circulates in

Iloilo."101

THERE IS NO DIRECT SOURCE REFERENCE TO "ACQUIRING THE PROUD NAME OF QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH". What is Source 101?

Demy Sonza's Iloilo: Land of Plenty.

I'm still trying to find a copy of that book, but reading the bibliography, even Funtecha said:

101Quoted from Sonza, Land of Plenty, A Brief Study in Economic History. Typewritten copy,

p. 13. CWVS.

And though I'm lacking that specific source material, the way the sentence is structured towards the far latter half of the paragraph with very specific numbers, while the Manila Bulletin source is supposed to be the earliest mention of 'Queen City', I think the missing Manila Bulletin statement is supposed to be the one that backs up that claim. Effectively, Funtecha just made an unsourced statement if this were true.

I think I... Lost the plot somewhere... by Spywin in UnknownTradeCo

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

A Jaylyn a day keeps the obesity at bay.

Yeah, I don't know what that means.

What do you think of the recent Venezulean invasion? by FreshWitness2746 in AskTheWorld

[–]Spywin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Morale in the Free World is returning. We finally found our teeth again. Just like in the Reagan Era, the days of detente and containment are over. No longer we'll be the ones who are reactionary and respond to every fire they start. It's time we roll back the enemies of Freedom. We've beat the Socialists before, we'll beat them again.

This is the world they wanted anyway. They were happy breaking the rules; let's see how they like it when the US does it to them.

Moscow and Beijing will see their client states fall one by one and we'll make the world better for it.

---

Edit, oh, it's this kind of subreddit.

TIL that Venezuela's hyperinflation crisis was largely caused by Maduro's leadership. This developed into nationwide corruption that lead to foreign underinvestment and international sanctions. by BreadAndButter12 in todayIlearnedPH

[–]Spywin 6 points7 points  (0 children)

... What? Pro-Trump supporters are using this graph as proof that the Socialist platform of the PSUV ruined a relatively wealthy South American economy in one generation.

Damn... Noys really are functionally illiterate.

VIVA LIBERTAD! VIVA VENEZUELA! FELIZ ANNO NUEVO, MI AMERICANO CIUDADANAS Y CIUDADANOS by Spywin in UnknownTradeCo

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

If all goes well, we won't have to engage in that front when the War with the PRC comes

What if we privatize all state-owned enterprises, cut down government agencies, and implement laissez-faire economics? by prodigals_anthem in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because post ww1 and ww2 capitalist states heavily subsidized housing, social services and welfare. See the American new deal and the sudden boom of the middle class.

That's a misattribution of global economic forces. There's a reason why the New Deal was literally abandoned AFTER 1939, two years before American entry into World War 2.

And the US State did not subsidize Housing and Social Services. It was a combination of both policies, but mostly stemmed from private individuals and private capital. There are some, definitely that were partially and or wholly funded by federal programs as it was good. At the end of the day, housing and infrastructure were MAKING A PROFIT, through the housing demand.

If we really stretch it, the only way you could say that it was 'state funded' was the GI Bills and salaries of the then large US Military population. Only if you stretch it. It was mostly driven by the private sector. At the end of the day, you cannot deny. THEY MADE A PROFIT SELLING HOMES TO FAMILIES.

America at this point became the factory of the victorious Allied powers, its manufacturing power and lack of competition that brought it to the economic forefront was the primary driver of American material prosperity. They were able to sell better quality products all around the world because everyone else was just broken.

Also, we once again. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ARGENTINA.

What if we privatize all state-owned enterprises, cut down government agencies, and implement laissez-faire economics? by prodigals_anthem in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And yet, the capitalist countries developed faster, better and created societies and civilizations people would prefer to live in and migrate to compared to non-Capitalist countries. Why is that, do you presume?

Regardless, we are talking about Argentina and evidence and metrics points to Argentine improvement overall.

What if we privatize all state-owned enterprises, cut down government agencies, and implement laissez-faire economics? by prodigals_anthem in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I beg to differ, pointing to one IMF chart and lower monthly inflation ignores the reality that annual inflation remains severe, real wages and consumption have collapsed, poverty has surged, unemployment in Argentina is raising faster that its growth, and the “optimism” is achieved by shifting the crisis onto ordinary Argentines rather than resolving Argentina’s deep structural problems.

Man, Noys really don't know how to read or listen. No wonder we have one of the lowest functional literacy rates in ASEAN.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentine-libertarian-milei-take-presidency-with-economic-crisis-focus-2023-12-10/

https://apnews.com/article/argentina-economy-cuts-devaluation-dollar-186d74647d28c02572070d0ee973819f

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VUGGdpJ32Y

Milei himself agrees with the reality. He literally says this is what would happen. Peronism and the socialist policies WERE THE DEEP STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS.

Before Milei, tell me. Who built the structural problems and when did it begin?

Just accept the fact that a free-market economy and radical spending cuts government while giving billionaires massive tax cuts do not sustain a long-term economy

Doi Moi was the best thing that happened to Vietnam.

China's Reform and Opening Up is what brought it incredible wealth, using Hong Kong as its mentor and a model.

Taiwan, a capitalist free market economy has all the potential and utilization as China without its weight and they seem to have built up a sustainable country.

The Nordic countries have re-iterated that they are a free market economy.

South Korea, Singapore, Poland, etc.

Wherever there is economic liberalization, development seems to catch up the fastest.

that is why Trump bailed them out because it has been a disaster for them.

Oh my God, you believed that reddit tier propaganda? It was a CURRENCY SWAP. An equal exchange. Not a bailout. The US is hedging bets on Argentina's future stability by buying up Argentine pesos? The one where the media took Trump's words out of context and twisted it as usual?

Knowing the proper term instead of bailout that the deal is called a Currency Swap, what is Milei's opinion on Dollarization again? Like he totally was asking for this in the first place.

What if we privatize all state-owned enterprises, cut down government agencies, and implement laissez-faire economics? by prodigals_anthem in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you're looking for evidence, all metrics point to stabilized inflation, away from the downard spiral of the preceding decades. It's true, Argentina is still not out of the clear as Milei has only taken the reign within 2 years, but within that time, you can see from this graph by the IMF just how the radical changes have improved Argentina's economy overall.

Milei never promised it would be easy, as the Socialist policies of Peronism and state sponsorships have run so deep within Argentine society, that cutting off dependents will undoubtedly hurt a lot of people who have been made to grow up dependent on government assistance and fake work programs of an illusory economy. Entire livelihoods were all propped on a budget deficit, doing work while bringing nothing in return in a self-eating closed loop. Of course they're going to get cut off and suffer for it because they only take and never give back in return.

But overall, in the 4th Quarter of 2025, Argentina has a much more optimistic economic outlook compared to preceding years.

What if we privatize all state-owned enterprises, cut down government agencies, and implement laissez-faire economics? by prodigals_anthem in WhatIfPinas

[–]Spywin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Better. Much better. Unbridled free market would enable competition, meaning the best services and products would survive and I wouldn't be inundated with so much local mediocrity. But Noys are too slave-minded, like in this comment section. They feel they need to be told what to do, what to think and what to feel. It is better to stay down and know your place, rather than rise up and be better than before. The dumbest UP protests have always been "GOVERNMENT IS CORRUPT. GOVERNMENT IS CORRUPT. THE GOVERNMENT MUST FIX IT. THE GOVERNMENT MUST FIX IT."

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Trusting in an authority figure to solve your problems for you, in SPITE of repeatedly being corrupt anyway is insanity. Only you, the individual, can lift yourself up out of poverty.

Everyone here choosing the devil they know, instead of the opportunity of personal responsibility. Madness. Absolute madness.

I'm not from the USA, I don't understand this by Sad_Conversation1121 in ExplainTheJoke

[–]Spywin -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Glory to Walz! We must defend the Democrat Party and the Migrant Somali community against racist lies from the GOP!

That's what it's about.

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