Comments by "Persona" (@ArawnOfAnnwn) on "Why Small Countries Are Getting Insanely Rich" video.

@thecomment9489 "Only the USA regime does it for the fun of it. So there is no rational arguments with USA regime" - nations don't do stuff 'for the fun of it'. The USA's actions are very rational. Look up the definition of a 'hegemony'.
5
@thecomment9489 I can see why it may be hypocritical and even harmful, but that still doesn't make it irrational. Being rational doesn't mean being good.
4
"invest their treasure in keeping small countries free" - that's a very generous way of looking at it lol. Keep believing that. 😌
4
That might be better for the American people. It is also much worse for American power. Guess which matters to Washington?
4
There's also plenty of very small nations - literally classified as microstates - that are very poor. On the level of Botswana, we also have states like Haiti or Belize or Bhutan. And so on. This was a very 'find data to support our conclusion'-like video.
3
No, countries of all stripes are moving towards more centralization, not decentralization. Decentralization makes it harder to make national decisions, but even more importantly it risks the nation itself. The UK is an example of this - first it lost Ireland, and now it's teetering on the edge of losing Scotland. Unless you have a very homogenous populace, more devolution is risky.
3
Not just survivorship, but also short-term. Modern history is a very short period relative to our whole civilized history. Drawing any universal conclusions from it isn't a good idea. There are also numerous examples of poor small states, like so many small island nations, that they discounted. Lastly, ironically, Botswana does get a large chunk of its gdp from resources lol.
3
@thecomment9489 How is it irrational?
2
Once again VisualEconomik messes up the meaning of Dutch Disease. It has nothing to do with democracy or corruption - those are separate issues. It refers to currency appreciation due to resource exports, which make your other potential exports less competitive.
2
It's also the case that many small countries are indeed poor. Like so many island nations, Bhutan, Guinea, etc. They just ignored them all for this video, as they ignored much else. Visual Economik, like Visual Politik, tends to decide on a narrative and then fish for evidence to support it. While the information they show may be true, the devil is in all the stuff they choose to leave out.
2
They also messed up the meaning of Dutch Disease. It has nothing to do with democracy or corruption - those are separate issues. It refers to currency appreciation due to resource exports, which make your other potential exports less competitive.
2
@soul0360 "that is mostly because they have managed to become the biggest supplier of Semiconductors" - this is just a recent American talking point that doesn't even make sense. The US allied with Taiwan long before it was a chip power, and also long before it was democracy too. The real reason, originally, was cos China was communist and the US was in a war to beat communism. Nowadays it has to do with its location - Taiwan is China's Cuba, and we all know how the US reacted when the Soviets allied with the real Cuba. That's why China is so antsy about it - they'd want it even if it made nothing or value, and definitely don't expect to take those fabs intact. The US openly acknowledges Taiwan as part of its 'island chain' containment strategy against China, and the Chinese know it. That's why both sides are fighting over it.
2
It's also the case that many small countries are indeed poor. Like so many island nations, Bhutan, Guinea, etc. They just ignored them all for this video, as they ignored much else. Visual Economik, like Visual Politik, tends to decide on a narrative and then fish for evidence to support it. While the information they show may be true, the devil is in all the stuff they choose to leave out.
2
You also ignored that many small countries are indeed poor. Like so many Pacific island nations, Bhutan, Belize, Haiti, Guinea, etc. You just ignored all the counterexamples for this video. Very poor argument.
1
@DavidHalko "They were brutal" - and there you've already contradicted yourself. I was focused more on the 'free' part. No one has been building and safeguarding roads out of the goodness of their hearts, it was from where they drew their power. Also your piracy argument is silly. That's just an excuse Americans use to justify their hegemony, that has never been proved. Safeguard from pirates? Lol no. Modern piracy is a pale shadow of what it was. Any middle income country navy could stamp out piracy in their waters. And do, as for example the Somali pirates were easily dispatched by an international, not just US, task force. The US navy isn't even properly structured for fighting pirates - you don't need aircraft carriers to fight poor men in dinghy boats. No, the US navy spends its treasure not to 'safeguard trade routes', but to fight other navies. And armies, in the case of the carriers. It isn't for anyone else's benefit, it's to maintain their hegemony. The world does not owe the US any 'taxes' to begin with. And you're free to retreat from your oh-so-generous self-appointed role as the 'police' whenever you want, it's not like anyone can stop you from doing so. You don't. Cos as much as Americans love to complain about it, Washington knows that it serves US power projection to continue to do so.
1
@DavidHalko Also your excessive focus on the word 'Islamic' all through your history lesson is very telling lol. Fyi piracy is hardly a uniquely Islamic phenomenon, and indeed many of the most infamous pirates weren't Islamic but western, but you'd never know it from your rant. Similarly piracy has been fought by many empires, not just European ones. Yeah it's pretty obvious how your politics leans...
1
@DavidHalko "They were brutal" - and there you've already contradicted yourself. I was focused more on the 'free' part. No one has been building and safeguarding roads out of the goodness of their hearts, it was from where they drew their power. Also your piracy argument is silly. That's just an excuse Americans use to justify their hegemony, that has never been proved. Modern piracy is a shadow of what it was. Any middle income country navy could stamp out piracy in their waters. And do, as for example the Somali pirates were easily dispatched by an international, not just US, task force. No, the US navy spends its treasure not to 'safeguard trade routes', but to fight other navies to maintain their hegemony. The world does not owe the US any 'taxes' to begin with. And you're free to retreat from your oh-so-generous self-appointed role as the 'police' whenever you want, it's not like anyone can stop you from doing so. You don't. Cos as much as Americans love to complain about it, Washington knows that it serves US power projection to continue to do so.
1
"spends its treasure to safeguard trade routes" - this is just an excuse Americans use to justify their hegemony, that has never been proved. Safeguard them from what? Pirates? Lol no. Modern piracy is a pale shadow of what it was. Any middle income country navy could stamp out piracy in their waters. And do, as for example the Somali pirates were easily dispatched by an international, not just US, task force. The US navy isn't even properly structured for fighting pirates - you don't need aircraft carriers to fight poor men in dinghy boats. No, the US navy spends its treasure not to 'safeguard trade routes', but to fight other navies. And armies, in the case of the carriers. It isn't for anyone else's benefit, it's to maintain their hegemony.
1
It's also the case that many small countries are indeed poor. Like so many island nations, Bhutan, Guinea, etc. They just ignored them all for this video, as they ignored much else. Visual Economik, like Visual Politik, tends to decide on a narrative and then fish for evidence to support it. While the information they show may be true, the devil is in all the stuff they choose to leave out.
1
They messed up the meaning of it anyway. It has nothing to do with democracy or corruption - those are separate issues. It refers to currency appreciation due to resource exports, which make your other potential exports less competitive.
1
No point making a tl;dr for a flawed video to begin with. Many small countries are indeed poor. Like so many Pacific island nations, Bhutan, Guinea, Haiti, Belize, etc. They just ignored them all for this video, as they ignored much else.
1