2020 US General Election Thread X: For Those About to Vote

[Hiram Land]

Tomorrow's Election Day. This is going to be interesting... *munches on popcorn*

[Torisakia]

At this point I'd rather live as a gay man in Saudi Arabia than live in the US. So any place is fine.

What makes the US so bad?

I'm going to assume this is a rhetorical question.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

What makes the US so bad?

I'm going to assume this is a rhetorical question.

Living as a gay man in Saudi Arabia sounds pretty miserable. How is the US worse than that?

[Shrillland]

I guess that's one way to look at it. Although that would make one-party systems also considered 'equal'. Since everyone would have the right to vote for The Party.

Well, they would be, but as you said: "unequal doesn't always mean bad". The converse is true as well.

In the instance of what I'm talking about though, things would be both equal and good.

Not quite. There's too many people to be ignored for too long. Ultimately, all such guided republics that shield against such a large number of "undesirables" fall and give way to larger democratic franchises or franchises specifically meant to persecute the persecutor. Ask Ian Smith. Ask PW Botha.

[Bombadil]

Tomorrow's Election Day. This is going to be interesting... *munches on popcorn*

As the quote goes 'the world watches America like America watches Tiger King'.

[Myrensis]

Not surprising Boomers would side with Biden, considering Trump's basically given them the Lord Farquaad treatment and said "Some of you will die, but that's a risk I'm willing to take".

It's actually been bizarre how downright eager Republicans seem to have been to piss off senior voters, a group they heavily depend on, since Trump took office. Starting with their attempt to fuck them on healthcare in the runup to 2018, and then the whole "I'm sure our seniors would be proud to drop dead to get our economic numbers back up!" this year.

Will be interesting to see the demographic breakdown in this years election.

[Penguin Union Nation]

Who wins this election won't change anything.

The real problem for the United States is that ordinary Americans bear the cost of American hegemony, but the benefits of American hegemony are reaped by big companies and big capitalists.

Young people who cannot afford school loans join the army to fight for oil companies and dollars，

Ordinary Americans bear high medical insurance costs to ensure that large medical companies have enough money and experimental materials to support technological leadership

Even Trump did not care about bringing work back to the U.S. from the trade war, but to ensure the technological leadership and patent protection of U.S. companies. His trade agreement was merely to further expand the power and profitability of U.S. companies overseas. The more he signed A trade agreement will further help American companies transfer jobs.

Still, it's easier to grow a revolution in soil that isn't polluted by fascism.

[Telconi]

I still don't understand how everyone having the same options, that is "Vote for whoever you want who isn't a Nazi/Gun grabber" is unequal, it extends identical voting rights to everyone.

You understand how limiting the available candidates limits the freedom of voters.
Nazis (or whatever) can no longer vote for the candidate they most prefer. Everyone else can. That's not equal voting rights.

I know you'll pretend not to understand, so I have to dumb it down even further. And you'll keep doing that until it's dumbed down so far it no longer makes sense. Well save your fingers, I'm not playing that game.

That's not a bad thing.

No, I understand it perfectly fine, it's just stupid. By that logic literally every law is "unequal".

[Shrillland]

Tomorrow's Election Day. This is going to be interesting... *munches on popcorn*

As the quote goes 'the world watches America like America watches Tiger King'.

Well, I didn't watch Tiger King, such drivel doesn't interest me.

[The Marlborough]

I don't really see how Trump has increased the position of NK in the world considering NK isn't really interested in spreading its influence all that much to begin with. The Trump administration being willing to accept NK as a nuclear power is one of the closer steps towards peace in US-NK relations in a long time. It's especially ridiculous when you consider that SK's own position has been to ease tensions without demanding denuclearization itself.

I don't know, Trump cosying up to Kim has caused China to break the sanctions and start helping NK export coal. Previously China had fallen in line with imposing sanctions but any threat to that relationship will change it pronto. Ideally the pressure should be on China to squeeze NK, not buddy up with NK who have zero intention of doing anything other than whatever they want to do.

The only reason Kim wanted to deal with Trump is for the sanctions from China to be removed.

There is no point in trying to squeeze NK out of nuclear weapons, especially after Iraq and Libya. North Korea is a nuclear power whether people like it or not. Reducing the number of sanctions and increasing economic ties was a major focus of the summits, with the last two being aimed at getting North Korea to agree to not increase its arsenal in return for an end to sanctions and increased economic ties.

[Bombadil]

As the quote goes 'the world watches America like America watches Tiger King'.

Well, I didn't watch Tiger King, such drivel doesn't interest me.

I'm sure some of the world has the same to say about Trump's America.

[Telconi]

Well, they would be, but as you said: "unequal doesn't always mean bad". The converse is true as well.

In the instance of what I'm talking about though, things would be both equal and good.

Not quite. There's too many people to be ignored for too long. Ultimately, all such guided republics that shield against such a large number of "undesirables" fall and give way to larger democratic franchises or franchises specifically meant to persecute the persecutor. Ask Ian Smith. Ask PW Botha.

I mean, if you take the "Evil prevails" attitude, then everything is pretty pointless, isn't it?

[Cultural Posadism]

America's Foreign Enemies Mostly Hope for a Joe Biden Win

You know this president is improving America’s position on the world stage when our enemies want Biden to win

Are ya coping son?

Bloomberg New Economy: China is Winning the Trade War With Trump

After four years of relentless effort by President Donald Trump to push back against China, his campaign reached new heights (or lows) Friday when he sought to ban new downloads of WeChat, China’s ubiquitous messaging and payments app, and the wildly popular video-sharing app TikTok.

Nevertheless, the final scorecard is already in: On just about every metric that matters, China is ahead. At every turn, Trump seems to have been outplayed and outsmarted throughout the global trade war that began shortly after he took office.

Consider the trade balance, which Trump seems to regard as the most important measure of success in his effort to get China to play by global trading rules.

China’s trade surplus with the U.S. has grown almost 25% since the start of the Trump presidency, exceeding $300 billion on an annualized basis, writes Jim McCormick of NatWest Markets. And China is nowhere near on track to meet its target of increasing imports from the U.S. under the partial deal (also called “phase 1”) to end the trade conflict, the signal accomplishment of Trump’s tariff tit-for-tat.

Look at China’s powerfully resurgent GDP, the result of its vastly more effective response to the pandemic that began there. China, McCormick notes, is the only country among 48 to have reported a second-quarter gross domestic product number that was higher than at the end of 2019. In the U.S., the worst country when it comes to the coronavirus (as measured by death and infections), the economy shrank 9.5% in the second quarter, a drop that equals an annualized pace of 32.9%, its sharpest downturn since at least the 1940s.

And now the Chinese currency is on a tear, climbing for the eighth week in a row, its longest run of gains since February 2018. Global bond funds are pouring into the country—one that still offers yields. Meanwhile, the dollar is slumping.

Behind these headline numbers also are deeper industrial trends, which again work in China’s favor, helping it pick up global market share in the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdowns. Increasingly, China is supplying the kind of sophisticated machinery that German manufacturers once dominated, like high-end tunnel borers and hydraulic valves and pumps used in wind turbines.

“It’s only a mat­ter of time un­til Chi­nese firms are No. 1,” says Ul­rich Ack­er­mann, man­ag­ing di­rec­tor for for­eign trade at Germany’s VDMA Me­chan­i­cal En­gineer­ing In­dus­try As­so­ci­a­tion.

Trump’s assaults on WeChat and TikTok are a distraction; there are better ways to mitigate the national security risk Chinese companies may pose by gaining access to U.S. personal data. In any case, lashing out at Chinese tech companies will only slow, not derail, Beijing’s efforts to dominate the 21st century economy.

Take the race to develop batteries, a key to the future of transport, defense and other industries. By 2025, China will have battery facilities with maximum production capacity of about 1.1 terawatt-hours’ worth of cells annually, almost double the rest of the world combined. The White House response? So far, inertia, said Cathy Zoi, chief executive officer of charging-network operator EVgo, and an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy under President Barack Obama.

The net result of Trump’s efforts to decouple the U.S. and Chinese economies is to push China even further toward self-sufficiency, a strategy set to be enshrined in China’s new five-year plan at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee next month.

This new economic direction is described by the official phrase “dual circulation,” an ambiguous reference to the outward and inward drivers of the Chinese economy. Bottom line: The term “looks set to mark a drive to reduce dependence on imports, particularly of high-end manufacturing equipment and inputs,” writes economist Alicia Garcia-Herrero. “Dual circulation,” she said, is import-substitution by another name.

A Joe Biden presidency, no less than the Trump administration, would grapple with a China set on global domination of 21st century industries by deploying old-fashioned mercantilism, among other retrograde trade policies. How could it do better?

Robert Zoellick, the former U.S. trade representative and World Bank head (and member of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum advisory board), has this advice for the former U.S. vice president, should he win in November: Foreign policy should start at home.

Focusing on domestic issues like public health, immigration and inclusive economic growth will both signal U.S. leadership and appeal to allies, Zoellick wrote in Foreign Affairs.

“From this new base of cooperation,” Zoellick writes, “the U.S. and its partners will be better positioned to address two overarching challenges: the future of free societies and competition with China.”

Europe is abandoning Trump on the world stage as it turns away from the US toward China

Europe is ignoring Trump's threats about China

This shift is also seen in the behavior of European governments, which appear increasingly willing to ignore Trump's threats about forging closer ties with China.
A series of European countries are working on deals with the Chinese telecoms company Huawei to develop their 5G networks, despite increasingly aggressive threats from the White House.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who Trump was said to have hung up on in a moment of "apoplectic" fury earlier this year for defying the president's threats on Huawei, is pushing ahead with plans to allow the company 5G development rights.

Several other European countries are also pushing ahead with similar deals despite threats from the Trump administration of a new trade war.

Beijing is also demonstrating an increasing ability to wield diplomatic pressure on Europe, even when it counters the wishes of Washington.

The European Union recently removed references to a Chinese campaign of "global disinformation" from an official report into propaganda spread by foreign powers, following diplomatic pressure from Beijing.

As Trump withdraws, China opens its coffers to the world

Europe's reluctance to criticize China may be due in part to the increasing economic dominance of Beijing.
A recent report by the investment bank GP Bullhound suggests that since the European tech markets reopened, China has caught up with the US in terms of investment in European tech companies for the first time since 2018.

China's investment extends to critical scientific investment as well.

The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported this week that Huawei had invested £5 million into a new tech center at Imperial College London.

The investment has triggered controversy because scientists at Imperial have been central to advising the UK government's response to the coronavirus crisis.

What is clear is that with the global economy heading for a deep recession, European governments, public institutions, and companies are increasingly turning toward China for support and investment.

And with public opinion toward the US deteriorating in Europe under Trump's leadership, China's resurgence could well come at America's cost.

[Hiram Land]

Well, I didn't watch Tiger King, such drivel doesn't interest me.

I'm sure some of the world has the same to say about Trump's America.

Why are you so right? At this point, Trump's antics are utterly ruining the prestige of the USA in general.

[Bombadil]

I don't know, Trump cosying up to Kim has caused China to break the sanctions and start helping NK export coal. Previously China had fallen in line with imposing sanctions but any threat to that relationship will change it pronto. Ideally the pressure should be on China to squeeze NK, not buddy up with NK who have zero intention of doing anything other than whatever they want to do.

The only reason Kim wanted to deal with Trump is for the sanctions from China to be removed.

There is no point in trying to squeeze NK out of nuclear weapons, especially after Iraq and Libya. North Korea is a nuclear power whether people like it or not. Reducing the number of sanctions and increasing economic ties was a major focus of the summits, with the last two being aimed at getting North Korea to agree to not increase its arsenal in return for an end to sanctions and increased economic ties.

Sure, but the net result was simply that China resumed trade in breaking sanctions and have helped prop Kim up. He also gave plenty of kudos to Kim internally just for meeting up and saying what a great guy he was.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/la ... harrasment

These are the guys who are being entrusted to monitor the polling stations in NYC. That's as intelligent as entrusting the fox to watch the HenHouse.

[Torisakia]

I'm going to assume this is a rhetorical question.

Living as a gay man in Saudi Arabia sounds pretty miserable. How is the US worse than that?

In a lot of ways. Government that couldn't care less about its people, the people, healthcare is garbage, mass violence, refusal to fix any of the aforementioned problems, among others thing, all while they continue to parade themselves around as the "best nation ever".

[Heloin]

Since everyone else did it I finally did it. I've gone through every poll and while I may be overly optimistic I think you'll all agree with my decision making.

[Shrillland]

Not quite. There's too many people to be ignored for too long. Ultimately, all such guided republics that shield against such a large number of "undesirables" fall and give way to larger democratic franchises or franchises specifically meant to persecute the persecutor. Ask Ian Smith. Ask PW Botha.

I mean, if you take the "Evil prevails" attitude, then everything is pretty pointless, isn't it?

I'm not saying evil prevails per se. I'm saying that if you disenfranchise a sizeable enough ideology, whilst not taking steps, as Germany did, to reduce that ideology to minuscule and contemptible proportions without resorting to repression and violence, all you'll end up with is a flawed state with little legitimacy on the world stage.

[Hiram Land]

Since everyone else did it I finally did it. I've gone through every poll and while I may be overly optimistic I think you'll all agree with my decision making.

(Image)

Good. Very good... Ireland shall rule the world after all...

[Cultural Posadism]

Since everyone else did it I finally did it. I've gone through every poll and while I may be overly optimistic I think you'll all agree with my decision making.

(Image)

[COME OUT YE BLACK AND TANS INTENSIFIES]

[Farnhamia]

Since everyone else did it I finally did it. I've gone through every poll and while I may be overly optimistic I think you'll all agree with my decision making.

(Image)

[COME OUT YE BLACK AND TANS INTENSIFIES]

Transformers: The Rise of the Plastic Paddy

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Since everyone else did it I finally did it. I've gone through every poll and while I may be overly optimistic I think you'll all agree with my decision making.

(Image)

Trump: "Wait it's all Irish?"

Bobby Sands who faked his death like Tupac: "Always was."

[Penguin Union Nation]

Since everyone else did it I finally did it. I've gone through every poll and while I may be overly optimistic I think you'll all agree with my decision making.

(Image)

Luck O' the Irish!

[The Marlborough]

There is no point in trying to squeeze NK out of nuclear weapons, especially after Iraq and Libya. North Korea is a nuclear power whether people like it or not. Reducing the number of sanctions and increasing economic ties was a major focus of the summits, with the last two being aimed at getting North Korea to agree to not increase its arsenal in return for an end to sanctions and increased economic ties.

Sure, but the net result was simply that China resumed trade in breaking sanctions and have helped prop Kim up. He also gave plenty of kudos to Kim internally just for meeting up and saying what a great guy he was.

None of which raises North Korea up other than they now have Chinese coal, which they probably would have gotten on the black market anyway. China's sanctions were supposed to only last a year anyway and were mainly a result of issues in Chinese-NK relations than anything else (the Chinese didn't like Kim purging the pro-PRC faction).