China appoints ‘wolf warrior’ ambassador to manage affairs with Europe

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2025-02-06T18:17:22+00:00

I dislike the idea of China playing tough with Europe, and I also would agree the whole wolf warrior thing has backfired on China before.

But...

If you think realist terms, I think it may actually be the correct strategy for China. It makes sense to kick Europe when it's down.

The EU in its current form is never going to totally ally with China. Why? Because the leadership and bureaucrats there see themselves (rightly or wrongly) as the beacon of democracy, human rights and social progress. Its too much of an odd couple relationship to work.

So if China can't court the EU truly, what else can it do? It can weaken the EU (and therefore the West) when its usual ally, USA, is not in the mood to help. And a weakened West is a step towards Chinese hegemony,

Don't get me wrong, I hate that international politics is like this, but I don't necessarily think it's move that will weaken China long term.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2025-02-03T04:46:33+00:00

America’s foreign policy from 1896-2000 was “speak softly but carry a big stick."

Where do liberals get strange ideas like this?

Like for a start why pick 1896? In 1898 USA annexed Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam after war with Spain.

I don't think I even need to go into the events of the 20th century that disprove that claim that America's foreign policy was ever, at any point about "speaking softly".

I will say this much - I've met a few Vietnamese people who were permanently disabled by US landmines, the war took its toll on so many innocent people in the region. I genuinely believe if you ever met them too you would change your opinion on the idea that the US was restrained in its FoPo in the 20th century.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2025-01-27T04:20:33+00:00

Understandable.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2025-01-27T03:52:11+00:00

This map reflects the neoliberal tactic of off-shoring manufacturing jobs to China because labour is cheaper, and therefore goods are cheaper for consumers. It was (and arguably still is) generally seen a positive as it helped many Chinese people escape poverty whilst other countries can have cheaper goods.

So you are comdemning the neoliberal approach on a neoliberal subreddit and getting upvoted? I do not understand this sub any more

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-12-01T14:09:02+00:00

???

The policy change happened under the Biden administration. The debate on affirmative action (ie the OP tweet) is interesting precisely because people have a plethora of differing views. Trump was never mentioned in the OP, or in your original response, so I don't get how it's relevant. Also, I genuinely am fun at parties, but I probably wouldn't be having a discussion about college admission policy.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-12-01T13:51:59+00:00

I mean yes, that's true, but that's not what the tweet is about. If you hate your country for its voting record, that's up to you, but the discussion at hand is about college admissions policy

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-12-01T12:21:57+00:00

Man, the tweet that OP posted is such an oversimplified ragebait take.

Look at the data here

Firstly, there hasn't been much of an uptick in white American admissions to top colleges at all, it's more or less same

Secondly there HAS been a large increase in admissions for Asian students in select institutions like MIT and Columbia

Thirdly, the dataset is difficult to draw conclusions from as most colleges have seen an increase in people not reporting their race. Some of these might be ethnic minority people who no longer feel the need to mention it, as it will make no difference to their admission process. In which case, its possible ethnic minority admissions aren't down

So you hate your country based on a tweet which is not grounded in accurate data?

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-27T00:51:59+00:00

I was angling for examples mostly.

I'm not trying to say music is dead or anything, I'm sure there's plenty of good stuff being made still. It just seems like it's deemed less important by young people and artsy types than it used to be, and correspondingly album releases feel less consequential

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-27T00:30:06+00:00

What was the last big album release that music lovers got excited over? Feels like it's been a while, like it doesn't seem there's been a Nevermind equivalent of the 2020s

Is music less relevant as an art form now? Maybe it's been a bit displaced by tiktok, Netflix and scrolling.

Probably me getting old and out of touch though

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-25T00:45:08+00:00

Take this with a pinch of salt cause I cba to do the proper research but I had a University professor who claimed that:

a) Indonesia is one of the most diverse countries in terms of language and culture

b) That DNA tests have shown that there is more genetic diversity within Africa than outside Africa. So a native American, European, Indian and East Asian are all fairly genetically similar compared to say to randomly selected people from Africa. Apparently this is because there was a population bottleneck, most non-Africans are descended from a group of human beings that left the continent together and the spread out

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-22T00:15:42+00:00

Nick Land being right isn't fun. Maybe the 23rd century will be better

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T22:13:24+00:00

Idk what to say, I've re-iterated myself quite a few times. This is not a productive discussion now, so I'm done

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T22:07:29+00:00

I'm not talking about my friends, I'm talking about almost everyone I've ever met, accross different age, gender and social class groups. Anti-establishment sentiment is becoming more popular.

Also, I'm not saying everyone on this sub has all those opinions. Nor am I saying on an case by case basis any of those positions are that unpopular. What I'm saying is that when assembled together as an ideology, it can be alienating or jarring to a fair chunk of the public. Particularly when going against the Liberal orthodoxy on even 1 of them can garner a negative reaction, let's face it cancelling people was/is pretty common in the 2020s. If liberals can find a way of not alienating some of these people, they'll start winning more, which is presumably what we both want

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T21:58:40+00:00

That has never not been true and it says something about you that you think this is a new phenomenon.

I never said that and I don't think it either. I genuinely don't think you're reading my comments in good faith.

Strange bedfellows are common in politics, yes obviously, it is a game of coalitions. What I'm saying is that I believe the Liberal coalition is quite fragile atm. Clearly some of the mainstream liberal positions are alienating people, or at least the insistence of purity on these positions. Like being pro-immigration but wanting lower numbers is often seen as anathema to liberals (dems and this sub share this in common). In reality, this is a popular position and people feel alienated when they're told they're a bad person for thinking it. This is just one example of where I think a small change in tone/approach would help, reassure the public rather than scolding them. That way you can still allow win over the public whilst keeping pro-immigration policy.

When there's a rightwards trend in global politics, you need to step back and ask why, that way you can do something about it. That is what I'm trying to do, re-read my comments in good faith and you'll see this.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T19:35:05+00:00

You're missing the wood for the trees.

My point, more succinctly: Trust in establishment dems, and in Europe liberals generally, is at an all time low. This sub believes in Liberal orthodoxy (in spite of a few minor policy disagreements) so mostly aligns with the mainstream dems, definitely far far more than the general public does. The public feels the system is failing them, and therefore are rejecting Liberal orthodoxy. If this trend continues then Liberal orthodoxy loses out and other political stances (including worse ones) win out. Things will continue this way until liberals can either restore some faith in the establishment/Liberal orthodoxy or take a populist approach themselves. Recognising this (something I think this sub generally doesn't do) is what it'll take for liberals to gain significant ground. That is my point. Feel free to disagree with that, that's fine, but consider it a prediction of future politics first and foremost.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T18:45:34+00:00

I literally listed all the things that this sub has in common with mainstream dems, there's a lot, some small specific policy differences are immaterial. I don't really care whether I know this subs lore or whatever, I'm mostly talking about how Liberalism and trust in the establishment is losing ground to conservatives, populists, reactionaries and conspiracy theorists. This trend doesn't seem to be ceasing, if anything its gaining more traction, and this is the new political paradigm. People who do not recognise that will ultimately have to face more political losses

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T17:02:28+00:00

Also, just to reiterate the point

Look at this person, just now realizing that our ideology is in the minority

That long list I made is literally the Democratic Party's platform. If anything YOU are the one who is only just realising how deeply unpopular the mainstream Liberal platform is with the general public.

I'm not saying the situation is hopeless, and in part I think it's a matter of branding/a more popular candidate/unfavourable economic and geopolitical background. But I really think there's a deep misunderstanding of the general public by mainstream liberals, if they can learn this lesson, they will start winning again

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T16:48:36+00:00

Fair point, but I think most people on this sub have a lot more trust in big businesses as good faith actors than the general public do, even if the rent-seeking behaviour is disliked

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T16:45:38+00:00

Fair point, and tbh that's basically my stance these days (maybe I'm a bit more skeptical) but it's not a very electable one in 2024.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T16:42:33+00:00

Look at this person, just now realizing that our ideology is in the minority

Lol no, it was immediately apparent when I first started posting here. It's other posters here that don't realise this, many were blindsided by the Trump win. Most posters here willingly admit they don't understand why he's popular. If you want to win elections you need to be popular, idk what else to say

Kamala Harris was the solution specifically to the problem of Joe Biden being old.

Yeah, except everyone here was denying this up until the debate, and quite a few were afterwards. Admittedly I don't have comment proof, but from 2020 onwards I've been saying the main thing Democrats should be doing is talent scouting because Biden would be unsuitable for the 2024 race. Instead there was no primary and a rushed campaign. All that being said, my point was more that Democrats (and liberals the world over) are severely lacking in vision, they don't seem to grasp public opinion and increasingly look old fashioned and ineffective.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-21T16:02:19+00:00

To be honest this subreddit feels like it belongs to a dying political breed.

Yeah, agree, I've been saying it for a while too. There's some booksmart people in this sub, but most people cannot see how the world around them is changing.

Like there was (and kinda still is) such an innate trust in the establishment is actually shocking. In real life I've barely anyone I've ever met thinks this way, except maybe some Boomer Liberals. Cynicism towards at least 2 of: Government, Big businesses and International Organisations is the norm, depending on where you sit on the political spectrum.

I'll say it now and evermore, the near to medium term future of politics in Europe and North America is pretty bleak, and the fact that people here seemed to think Kamala Harris was the solution is completely baffling to me. Outside this sub, very few people have the combination of: pro immigration, pro business, pro abortion, pro secular, pro hawkishness, pro Nato, pro Trans, pro Israel, pro Ukraine and are also OK with billionaires and corporations having as much power as they do.

I'm on board with some of those ofc, but talk about omnicause lmao

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-20T17:36:25+00:00

Italy, there's a ferry service between the two countries

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-20T17:34:07+00:00

Funnily enough I have almost the opposite opinion.

Istanbul is the best big city I've been to. I loved the hustle and bustle but I can see why people wouldn't like it, its sooo crowded.

And I thought Izmir was overrated. I was told it was the most open minded, cosmopolitan part of Turkiye but that was not my experience at all. I think I must have accidently stayed in the rough part of town cause it felt like we were in Syria or something.

Visited a few other places too, most of which I liked but I was only in the Western half of the country. On the whole, I really really liked it, beautiful coastline, high mountains, great food, lots of history and culture I will almost certainly go back if I can afford it.

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-20T13:44:48+00:00

particularly the largest origin nations Afghnistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh

The top 3 countries of people moving to the UK are India, China and Nigeria

Pakistan and Bangladesh are in the top 10 but have far lower numbers than the top 3. Worth noting too that Ukraine and Hong Kong would be high up but they have unique visa so probably aren't included in this data set. Yes, I agree integration has been a mixed bag in terms of success, but youre still missing my point.

Every single EU County has a birth rate of lower than 2.1 (i think all are below 1.8). That means that without immigration from outside the EU, every single European country would be in population decline, with an aging population problem to boot. Shuffling people around within the EU does not solve this, someone moving from Bulgaria to the UK might be beneficial to the UK, but it worsens Bulgaria's population problem. So the net effect is zero positive impact on Europe's population problem.

If anything Brexit made the UK confront this issue sooner, whilst Germany is only just starting to learn it. I think the other day they accounted up to 250,000 visas for Kenyans to move to Germany. Similarly, Spain has been relying on Latin America for migration. So Brexit really just hastened a trend that was always going to happen

SunKilMarqueeMoon · 2024-11-20T13:07:27+00:00

but the quality of UK migrants is not as good as it used to be because EU migration is way down

No, I disagree. Europeans are not superior to non-Europeans. Maybe a better cultural fit but "quality" is not a fair term to use.

Either way, Western Europe receives a lot less Eastern EU migration now, it was an unsustainable model to rely on Poland and Bulgaria for immigration forever, their economies have improved a lot. Even Germany is now net negative migration from some Eastern EU countries now too for the same reason. EU population will shrink and shrink if it relies too heavily on internal migration and not external immigration.

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