It certainly feels like that, but “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

If you shirk responsibilities that come with power, you lose that power.

If you abuse trust put in you, you lose that trust.

America is screwing itself.

The problem is that level of wealth should not be in anyone’s hand. Elon is demonstrating why, but Elon shouldn’t have been allowed to get into this position.

Pure is a nonsense absolutely.

I’d remove the monarchy, but right now it isn’t doing any harm. When it does, it will be removed from the system. That tension, that “sword of damocles”, the monarchy is very aware of and it keeps them in check. No one should be born into positions and I have no time for royals complaining of their gilded cage. At some point the UK will restructure I"m sure (federate and decentralise) and each time wil reduce the monarchy position.

I said “arguably the press was a bit too free”. That is not saying I think it is. Only that I see a case for the argument it is. Out of that and a totally state controlled press, free is better. Things fester in darkness. Unaccountable power corrupts. Fact free needs more consequences, but that isn’t the same as choking freedom.

Money drives China just as much. That’s OK. Money is just an expression of value we are prepared to exchange. It’s an intermediate used between goods. An abstraction. Even if we ever get to post scarcity, it will be with us.

Taiwan does want China. It can see what happened to Hong Kong. We all can. If China wants it, it will have to take it by force. Just like Russia is trying to with Ukraine.

So we agree countries are really a shades of grey. Personally, I would move more infrastructure to state ownership in the UK. Other countries it is up to them, though the US private health is clearly an epic murderous fail. As long as the setup doesn’t make trade unfair and start tariff problems.

In the UK monarchy is symbolic. They can’t take sides on anything officially. If they did, it would be a scandal. Most democracies with a monarchy are similar or have them not even symbolically part of the system. Their power is purely adversely and in networking.

Based on rumour and the queens dresses at the time, and family history, it is widely thought the queen did not want Brexit. But it happened anyway. It brought down the PM of the time as well. In fact it was the start of a series of short lived PMs. Mainly because Brexit is a batshit idea and the promises made are incompatible with each other and reality! Arguably the press was a bit too free. Free from fact. All suboptimal, but doesn’t back you ruling Bourgeoisie angle. I’m pretty sure we be back in the EU one day anyway due to demographics and economic realities.

I say again, it can only up to the people of Taiwan if they are assimilated into China. If they vote for it, (I recommended a 66+% super majority to avoid Brexit 52% nonsense) I’d have no issue. If they don’t and are just invaded, I have a big issue with it. Like I do with Russia invading Ukraine and Israel’s genocide.

The trueth is all the countries you are calling capitalist because are probably all mixed economies. With a lot owned by the state. Here in the UK that includes our health service, education system, roads, the electricity grid, and more. Rail is being renationalised and water probably will have to be too as its privatisation (by the Conservatives in the 80s) has been an epic fail. The key difference is these countries can peacefully kick out the government and the government is answerable to laws. Laws it sets. We recently had a PM brought down for breaking his own Covid laws. We have free press holding governments to account. All kind of freedom of information and transparency.

China started out more communist than if is now. More like the USSR.

Taiwan is mixed economy like western democracies, and doesn’t want to be like China. Which is why China is having to talk about inflicting it by force.

So we agree modern China is not communist. From what I skim (not really read to be honest) capitalism came to China via Deng Xiaoping. Its not been becoming less capitalism since. Now it’s not different than other capitalist countries, only the state at the centre isn’t democratic and not accountable to its people or laws.

“Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.”

This applies to modern China.

Communism’s brief doesn’t fit modern China “a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products to everyone in society based on need.”

I think they are both best just signing mutual recognition and moving on. Neither is the same as they where when they seperated.

Your saying it’s not capitalist and it clearly is now.

For the US example, it’s not comparable if you go back to Indigenous Peoples. That’s a whole other thing.

Capitalist lost? You seen modern day China? Hardly anti-capitalist. Taiwan should get to decide if it’s part of China or not. Doesn’t seam they want undemocratic dystopia.

Going to your America example, the Brits withdrew to Canada. You with Trump with invading Canada then? A 1812 rematch?

That makes me feel better. Thanks. I worry about the UK and our FPTP and Reform. They could gain power with it.

Germany electorate, please pleasantly surprise us. It’s been as dark year. Don’t vote in Nazis as well.

Yer, it’s all tankie/troll stuff. Blocked!

If the US wants the power, it takes the responsibility. If it doesn’t take the responsibility, it will lose that power.

Russia and China would be happy to take the position vacated. If the EU got it’s act together, it could also be a contender (but it’s not looking like it will at the moment with its own Putin backed popularists).

TLDR - if you don’t support Ukraine’s right to exist, I’m not interested in your opinion. There is no balance here. I’ve met and know too many Ukrainians.

Israel is acting in a monsterous way that doesn’t make it think of it as part of the West. The US isn’t an angel, but that doesn’t make it like Putin’s Russia. It’s false equivalent. Though, with Trump, it could degrade so much I don’t see it as part of the West anymore. If it stops being a real democracy. It could even full apart as I don’t see all the States standing for it. Putin’s, and authoritarian’s everywhere, wet dream.

Frankly if someone supports Russia over the West, or “both sides” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I count them as either a Russia troll farm or a tankie.

The West does bad thing, but often with some misplaced good motives. It doesn’t do things like:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Sergei_and_Yulia_Skripal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko

Countries joining NATO to get protection from Russia, or the EU, to get trade deals, is not remotely the same as Russia invading Ukraine in bloody war. Or any of the murderous shit Putin has done.

There is no “both sides” here. Russia invaded Ukraine, repeatedly since 2014, salami slicing it. It interfered in elections. It killed multiple people on foreign soil, using highly dangerous, banded methods, that could easily have killed many others than the target. Putin has completely destroyed any democracy in Russia and murders his opponents.