Afghanistan is where the eyes of the world are. In my view, and according to the Chinese media and commentary, China is the inheritor of Afghanistan in terms of possible rebuilding of the country (finance, economy, industry, and trade) and also to ensure that a terrorist problem does not threaten across the border with China. The jury is out in terms of the trajectory here. China though has its embassy open, and this photo possibly says it all.
Afghanistan’s China Town reopens, not disrupted by the deadly blasts in Kabul airport
Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping.
In the context of the 20th anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation, the presidents noted with satisfaction that the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership has been developing progressively and dynamically. The main thing is that both sides are interested in further strengthening cooperation on the entire complex of issues on the bilateral and international agenda.
The leaders had an in-depth discussion on the Afghanistan problem. They expressed readiness to step up efforts to counter the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking emanating from Afghanistan and emphasised the importance of achieving peace as soon as possible and preventing the spread of instability to neighbouring regions. It order to do this, the presidents intend to use the potential of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as much as possible, among other things. The two leaders also agreed to step up bilateral contacts and close cooperation, above all between the foreign ministries.
On the occasion of the upcoming 76th anniversary of the end of World War II, the relevance of the work to preserve the truth about the events of that period and prevent attempts to falsify history was noted.
The conversation was held in a traditionally friendly and trust-based atmosphere.
From the Chinese media, 7 deadly sins that the US committed in Afghanistan
Sin 1: Warmonger
Sin 2: Machiavellian
Sin 3: Human Rights Abuses
Sin 4: State-Sponsored Terrorism
Sin 5: Heroin Trafficking
Sin 6: Blasphemy
Sin 7: Environment Destruction
http://www.news.cn/english/2021-08/24/c_1310146023.htm
In Afghanistan, China Is Ready to Step Into the Void, by Zhou Bo
This complete article is available on Godfree’s newsletter and this is but a short excerpt. However, it illustrates the internal view of China on Afghanistan:
Zhou Bo is a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University and a member of the China Forum. He was a senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army from 2003 to 2020 and is an expert on the Chinese army’s strategic thinking on international security. He directed the Centre for Security Cooperation in the Office for International Military Cooperation at the Ministry of National Defense.
The speed and scope of the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan have prompted introspection in the West over what went wrong, and how, after billions of dollars spent on a 20-year war effort, it could all end so ignominiously. China, though, is looking forward. It is ready to step into the void left by the hasty U.S. retreat to seize a golden opportunity.
While Beijing has yet to formally recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s new government, China issued a statement on Monday saying that it “respects the right of the Afghan people to independently determine their own destiny” and will develop “friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan.”
The message here is clear: Beijing has few qualms about fostering a closer relationship with the Taliban and is ready to assert itself as the most influential outside player in an Afghanistan now all but abandoned by the United States.
Unlike the United States, China brings no baggage to the table in Afghanistan. China has kept a low profile in the country since the U.S. invasion, not wishing to play second fiddle to the United States in any power politics. Beijing watched as Washington’s foray in Afghanistan became a messy and costly morass. In the meantime, China providedAfghanistan millions of dollars in aid for medical assistance, hospitals, a solar power station and more. All the while, Beijing was fostering stronger trade relations, eventually becoming one of Afghanistan’s largest trading partners.
With the U.S. withdrawal, Beijing can offer what Kabul needs most: political impartiality and economic investment. Afghanistan in turn has what China most prizes: opportunities in infrastructure and industry building — areas in which China’s capabilities are arguably unmatched — and access to $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits, including critical industrial metals such as lithium, iron, copper and cobalt. Though critics have raised the point that Chinese investment is not a strategic priority in a less secure Afghanistan, I believe otherwise.
Digital Yuan
Through the ages, money has taken various forms, (shells, stones, beads, various types of coins where the value was inherent in the material that the coin was made from and other that used a worthless material but assured by some kind of backing like gold, or simply trust in sovereign promises).
In terms of paper money, in the 13th century, the Chinese emperor Kublai Khan embarked on a bold experiment. China at the time was divided into different regions, many of which issued their own coins, discouraging trade within the empire. So Kublai Khan decreed that henceforth money would take the form of paper.
This was a huge step and even today we use paper money to an extent, but more and more we use digitized currencies. It is not strange that China again comes up with the major step of disintermediating the current technology of money by the creation of its DCEP. (This is not a cryptocurrency, however, technologically, it functions like one). Transactions are fast, the basis is cash, and China is building it out as a two tier system (PBC and local banks assuring stable financial infrastructure and supervision, which, in effect, is the ‘backing’), as well as multi-scheme, which is the connection to retailers and third-party payment platforms (think of something like Paypal). Ownership of the currency business is then an open new market economic category.
We see more and more countries following suit but there is no one that is as far along as China on roll-out of digital currency, already trading with it, using it via smart contracts and more and more in cross border trade.
China builds cross-border finance blockchain platform
http://www.news.cn/english/2021-08/25/c_1310148785.htm
As all technology changes, the technology of money will also change and in reality, is in the process of change as we speak. The size of the change in financial technology spearheaded by China could well be of the magnitude of (as was the acceptance of paper money) the whole world, just as Kublai Khan created his system in the 13th century. The prospective use cases of digital money at this level staggers the imagination and the strength of an economic weapon of this kind is routinely underestimated.
While we have money going all digital, why not do the same with the rest:
Following China’s push for a digital currency, the country plans to roll out digital driver’s licenses nationwide by 2022. Nearly 2 million residents have obtained digital driver’s licenses so far, as cited by Xinhua. Digital licenses will have the same legal effect as physical licenses and can be used to rent vehicles, file insurance claims and handle traffic violations. An official mobile app accepts applications for a digital license. 400 million people are licensed to drive in China. Read full article →
Space, yes, one cannot get away from China these days without talking about space.
A Chinese satellite has tested a technology that could offer the most accurate means yet of tracking air traffic from space, in the hope of preventing repeats of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 tragedy. Each aircraft in the sky emits a radio signal, and constantly monitoring all planes over a large area is technically challenging. But Beihang Kongshi 1, a small satellite in near-Earth orbit, can update the status of an aircraft every eight seconds – about twice as fast as American technology, meaning the tracking is more accurate. Read full article $→
In the mean time the Mars Rover is an unadulterated success. The National Space Administration said on its website Friday that Zhurong completed its 90-day program on August 15 and was in excellent technical condition and fully charged. Read full article →
Technology and Legal
In modern terms, China is a young country and in certain areas, specifically technology, legal structures lag behind technological development. This is not new if you are in technology but given the size and growth of China’s technology sector, may create some problems. In case you’ve been living under a very large rock: Regulators in Beijing have been on a mission to constrain the market dominance of China’s tech behemoths for months now. The principle value in the technology companies is that of building big fast and getting rich fast. But, the common value in the Chinese government is ‘common prosperity’. Wealth inequality is not as pronounced as in the west and China wants to keep it that way. You may build big fast and get rich fast, but do not forget the country that gave you the platforms to create your behemoth of an industry. Get rich, but not too rich.
The new legislation has all kinds of knock-on effects. For example, labor laws (for one) and the value of all work and no play is being shaved. For example, ‘996’ work hours are illegal. “The ‘996’ work culture — a 12-hour, six-day work schedule that had been popular among Chinese tech companies until recently — is a serious violation of Chinese labor law, according to China’s Supreme People’s Court and its Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.” Read full article →
Defense
The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has improved the accuracy and range of its ballistic missile force, the world’s largest, according to a new US Army report. The DF-11, the most widely deployed short-range ballistic missile, was originally designed to hit targets up to 300km away, but newer models have expanded ranges beyond 700km. “Accuracy has also increased, reducing” the intended target point to only 30m, “giving theatre commanders a long-range precision strike capability”, according to the army publication. The DF-11 can employ both conventional and nuclear warheads. The “solid-fuel rocket and mobile transporter-erector-launchers enable rapid launch and reload operations”, it added. Read full article $→
China has successfully tested two short-range conventional missiles designed to take out enemy communications systems. The PLA Rocket Force recently tested two new missiles that can overcome “complex electromagnetic interference” to destroy facilities in a “fast-reaction” operation. “[The missiles] successfully hit the target in an enemy camp equipped with multilayer defences several hundred kilometres away and effectively paralysed the enemy’s key communications node,” CCTV reported. Read full article $→
The legal machinations around Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou house arrest in Canada seem to be drawing to a close, if in fact it will be allowed to draw to a close. Jeff J. Brown provided a solid analysis and background of the story.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0822/c90000-9886670.html
To conclude, yes, the elephants are back home but nobody is betting that they will stay home this time. They may at any time decide to again go on a walk-about.
And on Winnie the Pooh:
#WinnieThePooh is one of the favorite cartoon characters among Chinese children. I want to know how many foreigners believe this lovely bear is banned in China.😅 pic.twitter.com/MWn8A48wTx
— ShanghaiPanda (@thinking_panda) November 16, 2019
Selections from Godfree Roberts’ extensive weekly newsletter: Here Comes China. You can get it here: https://www.herecomeschina.com/#subscribe
Further selections and editorial and geopolitical commentary by Amarynth.
The Chinese should focus on one project first. Rail systems and pipelines. They should not invest any other money. If the trains and pipelines can be completed and operated without being attacked, anything is possible. The Taliban are in charge now and they must prove that they can insure domestic safety. If the Chinese play it smart and enlist the Iranians and they work for success from both ends, the rest is on the Taliban.
the USA will have left terrorist cells all round the place. That China would help Afghanistan with reconstruction was expected. The USA will do all it can to cripple China in whatever endeavour it undertakes. And that means terror attacks on chinese workers (ref Pakistan).
Hopefully a working multinational strategy for development in a US terrorist environment will emerge.
There is a very narrow corridor that goes between China and Iran. At its northern end there are other nations to consider. The border is physically narrow. The only way to get all parties to work together, is complete separation of responsibility. The Taliban is the wild card. They have some strength now due to public support. The only way that there will be success is by negotiating with local powers and It gets very local. The powers that be are hungry for better days. Do that through separation. Let the locals provide security and pay them to do it. The Chinese can drone strike the malcontents in the narrow Alley so make a beach head to the choke point and let the locals argue about what goes where cause the Chinese can build it. Make that rail line from Beging to Teheran. As long as the locals profit, the Chinese can work and the Afghans can provide security. The Taliban has got good equipment, let them use it to provide security for the rail and pipe layers. Does China want to be a player. Do it straight get the neighbors on board and go.
https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3140807/china-unveils-massive-home-grown-tunnel-boring-machine-use-railway-construction
Common prosperity?
Surveillance, and more surveillance along with legislated morality that’s all I see from this Chinese wonderland. Wait until they implant you with a chip ‘digital license’ to make everything even easier to control and monitor?
Exactly. And the digital Yuan is a dangerous precedent for digital US-dollars and euros. Everyone can be easily monitored and controlled.
Money is being monitored through the banking system, at least for us mortals under the excuse of money laundering prevention. You are limited on cash withdrawals from ATM’s, on transfers, etc.
There is nothing wrong on digital money, at least for me, if it is backed by trustworthy governments (Russia/China).
US and Europe is another story, since they are absolutely bankrupt on fiat money.
Cheers from France
Gerry and Lenard,
Here is something for you. He uses ‘facial recognition’ as his surveillance technique, and it can also be seen as a technology. The video is short and punchy and remember, technology wins every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLLjBWOKQYI
Its always better to look for information about China, directly from China, rather than from the western anti-China alt-fearmongering-media.
Btw, five Russian banks are doing their first system and testing of state-issued digital currency.
While we are about it, there is surveillance, and there is spying. Ever heard of NSA?
https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying
@ Amarynth
At my place of work due to thefts we are moving to camera surveillance.
When the lawless [sin] nature of man has to be controlled by an outside source instead of by ones own recognition of that lawless nature within and control of it by your own sovereign will then the writings on the wall for our societies Id say.
Timestamp 9:19
“If we as a species are moving toward unity and peace, then we are making progress as far as I am concerned.”
With a statement like that I’d say we are moving backwards not forwards.
Here is another take on that which is called ‘surveillance capitalism.’
https://youtu.be/7mqR_e2seeM
“They have more information on us than ever before in human history.” timestamp 17:10
And what has all that to do with China, Gerry?
Do you know what the Chinese people think and say about surveillance? Do you know what it takes to manage 1.4 billion people? I did not speak about that as we have short space here, but within all the new laws that were mentioned, there are regulations for private companies not to be able to trade in data and strong regulations as to how they may use their collected data. The Chinese perspective is different, and if you keep looking at it through your lens, you won’t understand it. Sorry to be blunt.
Yes, I remember reading years ago about banking and how they drown in paperwork. I couldn’t begin to imagine 1.4 billion people the record keeping would simply be to monstrous to manage. Next to that the names how many people all have the same names? What an unbelievable nightmare. So in one way what a god-send the computer and its tech has been to banking and government vital statistics which reminds me of something from my youth. I met a Greek fellow from Macedonia who didn’t know how old he was? He was an old fellow and to my young mind it floored me really how can someone not know his birthday and how old he was? He said thro his daughter that all records were lost during the war and his parents never kept a record so he was oblivious to his age. I felt sorry for him and the questions about his life well I thought about him many times over the years.
So yeah China, India and the rest of those countries without computer tech hopeless trying to manage all of that. However, there is another side to this marvel of technology. Here is a paragraph from a book from the 1970’s:
“Imagine, life without money…No more checkbooks to balance, no more debts to re-finance [presumably the computer would automatically stop our credit if we were about to exceed our earning capacity], no more worries about inflation or devaluation. What freedom, what bliss!
There was only one small prerequisite: for such a system to work, it would require every man to have a number. Were a man to refuse to wear his number, there would be no way to incorporate him into the system.
As the prophet had predicated almost 2 thousand years previously,
“no man might buy or sell, save he that had the number.” Cantelon pg. 73
I can only add governments would love to legislate morality. O if only we could find a way to keep people honest and get our taxes etc etc etc and if they haven’t found a way to do exactly that. Reminds of Dostoevsky and his words about controlling the conscience and bread. Catherine Austin Fitts also has a term for it livestock management. I mentioned this to our tech support manager and he laughs and then the fear crosses his face when I start to query him.
As for NSA of course the information gathering – if only we had such tech at our disposal back in 1910 and/or 1939 what a great benefit all of that would have been to our military or so the argument goes?
What a frightening mess.
thanks Amarynth
The America that we believe ourselves to be is no longer the America that we are. . . .2034
Dear Amarynth,
please know I consider myself an anti-imperialist and I’m fully aware that the spying the US is doing, especially here in Europe. As happy I am to every resistence towards an anglo-american world dominance, yet I’m not a fan on applauding to everything that comes out of China (or Russia) and I’m especially very critical about surveillance technologies, no matter from what country they are done. It is a tool that can be abused by governments to establish a totalitarian system that fully controls every citizen. It’s always offically aimed to fight criminals, yet it can be easily used to threaten everyone who disagrees with their government. I also think that people should be ‘good’ because of spiritual/ideological/humanitarian reasons, not to collect some sort of social credits. Long story short, I disagree with the demonization of China, yet I am critical about actions taken by its governement.
The Chinese people will be vastly relieved to know that they can now discard the social cohesion of Confucius / Tao for the far superior plans of Lenard Huckleberry..
They will be sleepless; waiting for such wit & wisdom..
It’s better if the U$ does it? That’s my takeaway from this. Throw in a little indiscriminate murder by way of a bonus?
Gerry, I do not want to advocate for totalitarian surveillance state, just want you to consider this.
China does not do anything in surveilance that isn’t common practice in the Anglosphere for decade or more. Difference is that in the West it is done secretly, and with total disrespect of the existing laws. China is attacked for making rules in collecting personal data.
It is not bad to collect personal data by itself, it is bad to do this secretly, it is bad that person do not know what is colected, who is collecting it, not having full access to it, and leaving possibility to have quite large group of privileged people who can’t be monitored, while spying on everybody else. That is the worst consequence of new technology. It allowes godlike powers to privileged ones.
Technology is here and it won’t go away. We must put its use on transparent and strict control and make it equal for anyone.
With the publicly discussed law of collecting personal data China is doing steps in that direction , US with its secret courts and NSA practices is going the opposite way.
International pressure is building to put techno-gods on the leash. Smear campaign against Chinese attempt in regulating data collection is meant to slow down implementation of similar laws in the West. It would be much more constructive to implement such laws that surpasses Chinese ones in transparency.
Total surveilance is inevitable future that we all must get use to. Only, it will be dystopian horror if it stays unregulated, hidden, and in the hands of irresponsible elite.
What we can, and must do, is to get rid of SECRET surveilance. Hopefuly, irresponsible elite too.
I know many people that would gladly sacrifice their own privacy if that means no more secret societies, shady deals, even trolls on forums.
The Chinese middle-class is already larger than the entire US population; also the happiest & healthiest people I have had the privilege to live among..
Pretty Got-damn proud of your 17 domestic spy agencies, aren’t you?
I know right and Pepe is their biggest cheerleader, apparently he’s never been to Tibet!
A biggie:
Taliban resumes water supply to Iran
“The Taliban has resumed water supplies to Iran. The Taliban opened the locks on the Helmand River to allow water to enter Iran’s drought-stricken Sistan province. Access to water was blocked by the former Afghan government, which obediently and implicitly implemented US sanctions against Iran. They demonstrate independence, so to speak.”
When Ashraf Ghani shut the water on Iran, the IRGC sent him a message, basically telling him that “you are finished.”
Chinese Mars Rover?
Why did the author mention that propaganda when that and the NASA Mars Rover? The photos and video provided by China are mostly CGI or digitally enhanced / photoshopped.
They are worse than the “Devon Island” productions by NASA.
Background – When that Autistic English guy Gary McKinnon hacked the NASA computer a few years ago looking for aliens and such like, he found that there was no signal from Mars – to a Rover or not. When he made that public, along with names on a US secret space program list and some other things such as US designs for spaceships, the US DOD put into motion an international operation to arrest him and lock him up for life. The fact he was autistic saved him from extradition.
He provided supporting evidence for what other whistle-blowers had said but not proven – that NASA fake all of their Mars images (and use false colour to keep the red planet perception running). Many of the photographs come from uninhabited Canadian Arctic islands such as the now infamous Devon Island.
Many people in NASA, Science Companies, and the US media have tried to debunk this “conspiracy theory”, but the more they try (including a multi-million dollar video production on the “Devon Island Research Facility”, the more they shoot themselves in the foot and cause more people to investigate.
Why pump millions into “proving” Devon Island is just a testing ground / research base, and not a giant set up to create false colour images and build model sets to match images from Mars orbit if it is just a wild conspiracy theory not worthy of attention?
Anyway, it appears China is having a go at the propaganda and national pride thing – and they dont need to worry about the US calling them out because if they did the US would expose themselves as liars and cheats.
Fact is often stranger than fiction.This comment is being let through once. Please take to MFC to discuss further. Mod.
Wonderful. I watched the whole 8 hour BBC debunking of the moon landing, something I had believed in all my life and no longer do. My end in this is having been a ‘scenic’ they are called in Hollywood, faux painters. I did that for over two decades. I know people who worked on the 2001 set that talked about their work on the moon landing set. I know who’s fulla crap on a lot of this stuff.
Lol, clearly a frog in the well showing off total ignorance as well as misinformation.
”The speed and scope of the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan have prompted introspection in the West over what went wrong, and how, after billions of dollars spent on a 20-year war effort, it could all end so ignominiously. China, though, is looking forward. It is ready to step into the void left by the hasty U.S. retreat to seize a golden opportunity.”
As regards the West’s introspection exercise, I think the correct answer is that NATO doesn’t care about history and its most valuable lessons. In this case it is the quite famous dictum Afghanistan is the graveyard of Empires. But since NATO is just a very violent, arrogant, and ever more incompetent/corrupt outfit in the service of rotten, backward neoliberalism, the rout it suffered was entirely predictable. As was the victory of Chinese diplomacy and the soaring prestige of the Chinese government except ”in certain places”.
“But since NATO is just a very violent, arrogant, and ever more incompetent/corrupt outfit in the service of rotten, backward neoliberalism”.
Excellent short and precise definition.
Congratulations!
Cheers from France.
Merci, cher ami!
Pourvu que notre bon vieux BHL soit totalement endiablé par cette défaite écrasante de l’OTAN, mdr.
Something that I should have mentioned in the article, is the outcome of the recent China-Russia military drills. The local Chinese media in local languages talked about systems to allow the two militaries to understand one another, again via technological means. This was one of the tests during the drills. But here is a short commentary:
China-Russia drill signals new era in joint exercises:
http://en.people.cn/n3/2021/0827/c90000-9888866.html
I am only sharing coz its you dear amarynth dear :)
the most potent advantage of digital yuan you will never hear from the west, neither they hv the IQ to even foresee that thus prepare that, all they hv is obsolete ‘war game mentality’ from 17th century, or mayb even 16th? is this –
it by-pass, thus 4ever solves the hostage problem of the western controlled cables!
all digital yuan platform is wireless, thus satelite, pos even quantum, thus china’s Full Control! wink :) think huawei, think Meng!
china just sign thailand up, the whole country, on digital yuan!
Q: how do you kill the king overnite?
interesting side Q: whatabut western-made cryptos?
A: change the definition of ‘money’
what if china, do what the hegemony do best, and enforce that all payment through all trades w china be in digital yuan, forward? what king? come again?! not overnite?!
xD Ha HA now revealed only to you dear :)
I am sorry I cannot pass mor ‘thingee’ stuff onto all of you, one very gud one from china!
it sad :( very sad :( to watch ppl die for a circus :( perhaps thats my karma :(
cant say for other ppl w other belief systems… or they care/aware of the big reincarnation karmic picture/price?!
bwbs
This is long overdue but thank you for your efforts in bringing Godfree Roberts’s writing to us, Amarynth. I find them — and thoughts like Zhou Bo’s for instance — very useful in getting a handle on developments and thinking in PRC.
They planned, they prepared, they invaded.
They have bragged it over and kept sat their bulgy asses there for 20 yrs. And then were kicked off like stinky street dogs.
At once their presstitutes start asking: why on earth has China got such a an interest in Afghanistan?
wow, isn t that innocent?
To the point was the French.canadian commentator Rachel Marsden as quoted by RT: ”Can western leaders please stop saving the world long enough to take a break from destroying it?” bingo.
”Can western leaders please stop saving the world long enough to take a break from destroying it?”
Yes, they can, if someone just shows them a way. Talibs just did.
They showed them way out, without using words like “please”.
@ Gerry wrote: “𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮.”
You’re speaking to the wrong audience – the owners, managers and consumers of technology are like the farmers of opium and the processors, dealers and users of heroin. Many deep inside know their product crushes the soul. Rather we should be having this conversation with the owners of nations and what is their transparent vision and goal. Or are demons running this asylum?
We are all of us so far along the course of Brave New World that the ongoing Great Reset can be said to be the home stretch.
These east Asian nations are tremendous laboratories for the technocratic globalists and a window into our own future, if our Lord does not intervene.
I still appreciate the writings of Mr. Godfree Roberts as it provides a window into the Chinese Panopticon. The positive developments are good to see, but the control mechanisms are foreboding and may eventually ruin everything. Can this latest east Asian nation ride the technology tiger? South Korea and Japan tried before them. The results are horrifying. A completely self-absorbed youth split from the spiritual, not caring to have sexual relations with humans of opposite gender and living a virtual reality existence. Completely malleable drones.
“𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸.” ~ 𝗔𝗹𝗱𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝘅𝗹𝗲𝘆
Huxley highlighted 2 technologies in particular conducive to this despotic Technocracy: Pharmakeia and Propaganda. Even our countless little monoliths- smartphones, laptops, TVs, any screen – are a type of (portal) pharmakeia, using the archaic definition.
Look at the catastrophic demographics China is undergoing now due to several generations of trying to micromanage fertility:
https://m.journal-neo.org/2021/08/24/why-has-china-revised-its-demographic-policy/
It was the ultrasound technology that made it possible to easily determine the fetal gender. Chinese (and Indian) women use it daily to abort undesirable females. And how and where will these excess 200,000,000 Chinese men be used? Kingdoms/tribes/civilizations have traditionally used excess men outwards in contrived wars in order to avoid internal conflict.
China has every right to fight to escape Western hegemony and oppression however IMO the tools provided to it is so far is driving it into arms of a worse (A.I.) master.
A few comments around the use of data. All technology is a double-edged sword. It is not the technology, it is the use of it that makes it bad or good or indifferent. My thinking is that we have to accept that we are moving to a high technology society, and make sure that we know what is what in this space. Specifically, some of the laboratory-type research going on is very scary and some of that should be rejected by us humans. Sometimes we should consider if we want to ‘go where no man has gone before :-)
But those that preach the dangers of technology, please go and take a listen to that Nathan Rich video that I posted in the comments. Commonsensical and remember, don’t copy that floppy :-) hilarious today, is but one of the fear messages through the time that technology started becoming ubiquitous.
Yet, technology used correctly is a boon. We regularly take note of farming robotics and new farming methods made possible with technology. That stuff there is usually excellent and joyful. The Chinese have developed a type of rice that grows in brackish water did you know, and that one is not GMO but a rice breeding program. I have not in detail looked at this but wow. Those folks eat a lot of rice so technology seems to be a good thing in this case. Tall rice where there is a double whammy as one can also breed fish or shrimp in the same rice paddy. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1232703.shtml
So, to management technologies like the much-maligned in the west social credit system (or score) which is not implemented and is still being trialed. If you follow this sitrep regularly, you will know the Chinese method of trial spots and the conversation with the wider community about anything that is being implemented. Thing is, there is a civilizational difference between people that consider the prosperity of the whole society as more important or rather more harmonious than that of the individual. It took me about 5 years of China studies to even begin to grasp that and I don’t think I grasp it fully. Same as with the Russian mindset. These are differences that are core to the civilizations.
Anyway, here is the sitrep where the social credit system was discussed.
/china-newsbrief-sitrep-2/
The Chinese don’t mind it at all. Here is more background.
https://theconversation.com/hundreds-of-chinese-citizens-told-me-what-they-thought-about-the-controversial-social-credit-system-127467
So why should I mind the Chinese social credit system which is not designed to be punitive and if the Chinese people welcome it and find it necessary and understand why they need such a system? It is their choice, no?
And why should I be scared of China? Each time in this sitrep when we touch technology, the ‘fear China’ message arises. Each time! This is part of the total war on China.
I am not preaching “be scared of China.” This issue supersedes China. I firmly support Zone B and the military/political/diplomatic/monetary struggle of China and Russia to overcome the Hegemon. However the east Asian nations are exhibit A of this topic, so they are an appropriate forum to discuss the implications for us all.
China is using the same technologies as us, but taken to its logic. Currently they have excellent managers, as Mr. Larry Romanoff documents, who rise to the top of their bureaucracy on merit; they currently work for the general good.
http://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/3337/
There is much I admire about China. I was treated in late 1970s by their doctors in Africa and also used acupuncture. But their current trajectory is distressing.
Throughout the history of every civilization, without fail, a generation eventually rose which was totally corrupted. Do you want them having these tools at their disposal? It is like that weapon shown to the audience in Act 1 of a play; it will be used by Act 3. Twitter already de-platformed a sitting US president. Without a proper health passport you cannot travel now.
The inheritors of these technologies will naturally want to be gods on earth. And the humiliation and slavery of the proles will be criterion they judge the efficacy of their “godhood” amongst each other.
I am not preaching we return to the Amish lifestyle.
However, if you value liberty and human dignity, you must remove the ability of the state to look into each room of each house. [Incidentally, this is the purpose of operation gladios/terrorists in nato countries, to justify building this infrastructure. A NWO cannot be built where liberty and human dignity exists. So all countries are headed towards it via this subterfuge.]
“Do not spy” is a core tenet of most religions. And that is how technology is already being used, and I am not even talking about mind-massaging and other influencing techniques or future adaptations.
A keep-it-simple-stupid (KISS) principle (a minimal state) is how we should be governed internally, to achieve diversity of mind and help achieve the wholesome potential of a people. Not the orwellian nanny-state which results in the current demographic catastrophe you see in China or the lost generations in Korea/Japan… Adopting their ways is likely to lead to the same experience. What is the point of wealth, progress, and ephemeral control of the earth when you lose eternity and all current peace of mind?!
A.H.H., I’m not losing my peace of mind. I like technology well designed, implemented, and used.
If you think China is an orwellian nanny-state, I don’t where that comes from because the people on the ground do not bear out that testimony. Go and see the few short comments of ‘eddie’, who is perhaps becoming really sarcastic at this stage of the game. (Be patient eddie :-)
China is not using the same technology, they are years ahead of the curve. People do not know this. I’ve worked in technology most of my life and I still do not want to be a “God on Earth”. I’ve always hated smart phones and gave mine away or lost it or somehow just got rid of it to the vexation of my family. Now I have a good Huawei phone, and surprisingly, I love this thing, because it is well designed and does exactly what I want it to do and with the new Harmony software to replace the western version of Android, it does not spy on me.
In technology, I must say I find much peace of mind in the very high weapons technology and weapons complexes that Russia has developed and deployed. Much of it I don’t understand in detail, but I do understand what it can do. And in a way of speaking, that is keeping us from major war at this stage if you regularly read Andrei Martyanov.
And if I talk about a technology war, it is a thing you know. You quote Romanoff … he (and many others) are on the record about this.
http://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/3990/
An American friend that lives in and has made a life in China, does not even want to travel to western countries any longer. He says it takes too long to get the mundane stuff done. Stuff in China they all do with WeChat.
http://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/4059/
Outside of the west most things are going that way. The west is 20 years behind and China is leapfrogging old technologies. Some of us like this stuff you know, and we don’t think our immortal souls are in danger and our kids, that for us, grew up in a highly technology conscious household, do not have cabbages growing out of their heads lol. Even where I live, a small Latin American country, our banking systems are years ahead of the US.
Respected Amarynth, I think we are arguing about two different things.
You are most passionate about China and this is a good thing as it has taught me and this blog’s visitors.
I am most passionate about the harms of technology, and the danger of adopting various cultural norms of the Chinese elsewhere. The latter point incidentally is what the Chinese themselves would agree with, if you have followed how they were lecturing Americans in the last week regarding imposing democracy on the Taliban or anywhere else.
Let me explain my background to give context to my perspective.
𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲:
▪︎ The Chinese (and many in Asia) have had a mindset for millennia of top-down control, where the people are content for a nanny-state to control everything as long as they guarantee peace and stability. I think that is why it is considered a curse to say, “may you live in interesting times.” See Mr. Romanoff’s excellent website series on China for details. I respect this. It is their choice and brings them peace of mind.
▪︎ I come from a diametrically opposite culture, more akin to fiercely independent (although still communal) and similar to Americans in rural Dixie or parts of Texas/mid-west. IOW, as Charlton Heston/NRA growled, “”I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!” kind of people.
𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆:
▪︎ I’m not a Luddite. I actually benefitted a lot from tech. have owned a PC since the early 1990s (Mac LC III) and a windows-based desktop or laptop since 1998 (once I realized Apple software had 5% of the market). I kept a diary/daily agenda on a Palm Pilot since 1996, upgrading periodically to new platforms.
▪︎ As a practicing physician, I have now for a generation treated fellow professionals (i.e. managers, teachers..) suffering from anxiety due to email/WhatsApp/mass communications overload (usually due to lack of coping and/or compartmentalization skills), children/young adults suffering from ADHD due to excessive screen time, families atomized due to social media addiction, among other harms due to not being able to lead a balanced life with margins. Brain and spiritual damage from internet porn and other electronic/physical addictions. Many if not most do not use the Internet in positive ways. All societies have been harmed thus – and without taking into consideration the advanced tech of east Asia. The attention span, memorization, coping skills, and social skills have been harmed in the last generations. I will not get into lack of exercise, obesity, lack of sun and your pet-peeve – damage to immune systems – from this modern high-tech lifestyle.
I was speaking in general rhetorical terms about the loss of the peace of mind (of entire peoples). Also the gods I’m talking about are not for you and me, it’s of the elites. Since Babylon/ ancient Egypt this is something they have been known for, inter-elite competition; it is a metaphor. And perhaps literal for those following satanic lifestyles. Look at the current space race between billionaires Bezos, Musk, and Branson.
I currently live in a culture not dissimilar to the Chinese where the group takes precedence over the individual but again everything hinges on the quality and the morals of the leaders. A most delightful [Chinese?] saying is, “the fish rots from the head.”
People where I live would not dowse their leaders with their urine if they were on fire.
I hope you’re right and that the Chinese will prove to be the exception to the rule.
History and scripture informs us that human nature will become corrupted. All of these conveniences which we currently enjoy may come at a price.
Regards,
A.H.H – not going to belabor the points at all – but we’re on different lilypads :-)
Re China, and my interest – It is not passion, it is admiration and I have lots of reasons for that. You know I’ve lectured Chinese in IT and also worked on various projects. I have respects for the people.
Your concept is .. how do I say it .. well, I can only say it’s wrong, it’s old and it is not valid.
https://twitter.com/thinking_panda/status/1305784641262026752
Quote from that ongoing education: It is beyond the West’s comprehension that a civilization-state and nation-state can be merged like China, and that this fusion can define modernity in a way different from the nation-state, the universally accepted form in the West.
/sitrep-here-comes-china-great-chinese-firewall-governance-space-and-spinach/
– specifically the piece on governance
Godfree’s book .. Why China Leads the World: Talent at the Top, Data in the Middle, Democracy at the Bottom – nice and easy read and cheap on Amazon Kindle. On thinking_panda’s feed, more book recommendations.
About your patients blown out on technology – perhaps it is as a result of a deep societal ill, and not the technology. That is what I felt when I lived in the US.
“I am not preaching we return to the Amish lifestyle.”
You may want to after reading this morsel and i find the sentence about goat herders especially telling…
“The powers that be want everyone in the banking system to end once and for all paper money. They realize that the stumbling block has been that there are over 1 billion people outside the banking system (just read the IMF). This is an absolutely insane goal to have every goat herder in remote areas online. But the people who come up with these ideas are more egotistical maniacs than practical intelligent people who have ever traveled to such places.”
I find especially the sentence about my money disappearing and more so my pension to be replaced by Guaranteed Basic Income disturbing and by way of what crypto’s and all money can be traced?
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/banking-crisis/bigtech-replacing-banks-2/
Very well put Amarynth!
“Thing is, there is a civilizational difference between people that consider the prosperity of the whole society as more important or rather more harmonious than that of the individual. It took me about 5 years of China studies to even begin to grasp that and I don’t think I grasp it fully. Same as with the Russian mindset. These are differences that are core to the civilizations.”
Confucian society places a high value on “Duty, Honour, and Responsibility” from a familial and social aspect and you have summarized the historical development of those values into civiliational mores and ethos very well.
Odd anecdote, I’m currently working with a non-performing employee and said “it’s very simple – Duty, Honour, Responsibility. Do your duty, discharge your responsibilities, gain your honour! That applies to your company, your family, yourself, your society”. His comment, “I’ve never heard it put that way before.” This is how cultures and civilizations die.
Cheers!
here is something on anti russia hysteria and the new economic architecture being built out.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/corruption/fake-news-russia-corruption-in-usa/
Exactly. Hopefully to be loudly avenged through massive Schadenfreude worldwide against the US on the 20th anniversary of 911.
I think westerners are so used to dishonesty at the higher levels that they have a hard time believing that governments could be both rational and benevolent.
So when China in a completely legitimate manner uses surveillance to be able to twart offenders, it is assumed that this will be used as an excuse for striking down on honest opposition.
China has seen what happened i Xinjang when the Cia-sponsored terrorists tried to undermine Chinas wellbeing. They have legitimate needs for surveillance but that doesnt mean they would abuse it excessivily.
The western imperial agents and their vast economic resources are used to try to disrupt the Chinese society.
Without that evil, the use of advanced surveillance might have been less of a priority but with that background it is in the interest of the majority of peaceloving people there.
I think Britain was the first country to use extensive hitech surveillance(?)