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Hard to know who to believe with attacks on the media, media being partisan and wrong and who knows what else. Thank you Alex I have trust here.
A lot to take in, thanks for your insight. So much to mull over.
Naw we just enjoyed the abrasions. Sounds nice and comfy tho. Later Cravat belt.
have you never used a cravat to hold your pants up on an 18 mile road march so to avoid abrasions on your lower back?
A few things, hard for me to stay on point across several subjects, but here are my thoughts.
1.) China can wage a “hearts and minds” campaign and build as many hospitals as they want, but it breaks down as “Foreign Aid” vs. “Humanitarian Aid”. If you go with Foreign Aid, we spent $ 400 Billion from 2000-2014, China spent $350 Billion from 2000 -2014. However, this is misleading, if you get down to Humanitarian Aid, we outspend China quite a bit, especially in the form of HIV campaigns globally. We spend about $4-8 Billion annually (over the years) for humanitarian aid, it is very difficult to get from China what they actually spend on Humanitarian vs. Infrastructure i.e. buying up shipping ports in Indonesia and floating it as “Foreign Investment” – or aid. I don’t think China barging in and throwing money around is going to make them the darling of the world anytime soon. India has been in/out a few times already on the new Silk Road.
2.) China is ahead in AI, because they stole it, and honestly based on Adversarial AI algorithms developed in the Western World recently, I doubt they will maintain their ill gotten edge.
3.) China certainly has leaped ahead in Green Energy, they almost have to as they are poisoning themselves, almost to the same level as India. I can’t blame them, but again, stolen tech that they have refined and made better. No different than the Japanese forcing American car manufacturers into a tail spin when they came out of nowhere and made a superior product. I would imagine that Corporate America like the Bezo’s, Musk’s, etc’s will leap into parity before it gets too drastic.
4.) Agreed, our handling of Afghanistan from 79 – 89 lead to the rise of the Taliban. Our dealings with the Pakistani government and allowing them to pick favorite mujahedeen vs. us siding with folks like Massoud was a serious mistake. But letting a new Baathist regime run by Iranian proxies in Iraq is a good thing by pulling out completely? Unlike Russia from 79-89 when we waged a proxy “death by a 1000 cuts” war, we are not on the verge of state wide collapse IMHO.
5.) Russia can’t last 100 years, they are a corrupt state, funded by massive corruption on a grand scale that will eat them alive; however, China certainly can play the long game, it is basically their ID and very existence. I agree this is where our focus should be.