Comments by "Winston Smith" (@kryts27) on "PolyMatter" channel.

From my experience, university education is largely a scam and i have 4 technical degrees and one humanities diploma. The reason most people take their time away from working as young adults to do at least one degree is to fullfill expectations of qualifying for and attaining professional or para-professional work when the degree is completed. In my case, this took four goes, because at least two were unfulfilled or not the right profession for me. I strongly suspect that many young adults emerge from universites with a degree, finding that thousands of their ilk are applying for a handful of jobs and after about a year of waiting on tables (for example) for a pittance of a wage and applying for handreds of jobs in a saturated market and going to a handful of dispiriting failed interveiws, that the young person (a year later) feels deep frustratration and low self-esteem after the brief high of graduation. This is because the economic system for degree-mania (by employers) is largely unattainable and untenable, making a lot of angry but well educated young adults. The Chinese, a people placing very high expectations on degrees making a future for prosperity and job satisfaction, are going to be equally disappointed and equally dissatified. Universities play on the hopes and expections of young people, and after the blood, sweat and tears or working hard to attain your degree, find a mirage in the desert. This is phase one of a social revolution when it is discovered that corruption will play it's part in shoe-horning a few lucky (and well lubricated and connected) graduates into a few strongly sort-after positions (this is happening in the West as well as China). When this scandal is discovered, then watch University campuses across all countries literally explode with rage.
53
You missed out an important natural factor favouring the defenders of Ukrainian territory; the weather. In that part of the world, including Ukraine, the worst time to attack and move armies is in the Autumn and Spring. Why? Because of either heavy autumn rains or the spring thaw, turns Ukraine into a sea of mud. What happens when you drive tanks and heavy trucks into the fields in Ukraine in spring (or autumn)? They get bogged to their axles in mud. The Russians attacked at the end of Winter & beginning of Spring. As there are not a lot of paved roads in Ukraine, and the Ukrainians cleverly timed attack raids on Russian columns of trucks and tanks using their roads, forced these vehicles of the roads to get stuck in the mud.
22
This explains the why of the Belt and Road Initiative. It fails the "how it is implimented" theme. Because many Chinese contruction companies are involved in this initiative (to build infrastructure projects in African countries for example), they have strong incentive to hold onto the maximum funds (distributed from the CCP) that benefit all it's employees. All of them, including Chinese building labourers, who are sent to Africa to work on the project. This means that local labour, that could be employed on these building projects mostly misses out. To the corrupt authoritarian governments and individuals of these African countries who have accepted the large bribes of the Chinese contruction company; this is little concern of them, since political opposition often is literally off fighting the government in the bush and the corrupt elites accepting the bribes feel fairly invulnerable. However, the Chinese construction firms will come between these two local forces, as the opposition views Chinese investment to be strengthening the government without any benefit to them, so that the Chinese senior contruction workers and engineers themselves become targets for snipers and kidnapping for example. So this boomerangs back to the CCP who hushes all these incidents up to look smooth. Great isn't it? A great white elephant project is built by the CCP in Africa, the local ruling elite get paid off, and the opposition in the bush gains recruits and arms (assume the latter paying for the arms from drug running for example. Don't laugh, growing and pushing opium was a way the CCP paid for arms in the 1930s) and no-one gets anything in the local economy, except for the corrupt elites, and eventually a long and bloody civil war is waged which probably destroys the Chinese built project anyway.
4
That's why i never buy Apple. Samsung and S Korea every time. Apple has exploitative corporate finances (as does many large corporations). This corporate exploitation is why workers in general have had no real wages growth worldwide in past 20 years.
2
The Qing dynasy annexed Taiwan in the late 17th century (after several powers, native and foreign owned it beforehand, including the Portugeuse pnd Dutch) and relinquished suzrainty over it by loosing a war to Japan in the late nineteenth century. Taiwan then came under the influence of Japan until 1945 (actually, compared to their other annexed territories in mainland Asia, Japan ruled Taiwan or Formosa well). Thus, China had an interlude of ruling Taiwan for a mere 200 years. So calling it an "integral part of China", is a political tool and propaganda of the CCP only. However, if you understand China to be an ever-expansionist land power in Asia over the last 2000 years (nibbling away and annexing territories and small countries at it's borders or forcing them to pay tribute to stay independant), then the political statements of the CCP over external territories and neighboring countries, comes in much clearer focus.
2
Well, the reasoning seems emotionally reasonable, i.e. comparing China's 2008 Olympic Games with an opening and liberalization of that country, accepting that a lot of people failed to notice (including me) that the "liberalization" was fake, and that the same party that the arch-tyrant and mass-murderer Mao Zedong founded, was still very much in power. International sporting events, in particular the Olympic Games, have been mired in controversy and political intrigue since it's founding in 1896. Can anyone recall the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games with Adolf Hitler in power? How much of a "nice face" that the Nazi regime attempted to fool the world by? In 1945, the reality of the brutality and inhumanity of the Nazi regime was laid bare when that "1000 year Empire" came crashing down and the concentration camps across Europe liberated with unexpected horrors done to people that beggared even the most imaginative sadist. Is the CCP any better or even worse? Who knows; but their moral turpitude runs deep.
2
Sick of the world being precious about the CCP's political bogeyman, like calling Taiwan "Taiwan" (instead of Chinese Taipei), or displaying the flag of that country. Yes, Taiwan is an independant country last time i checked, and no, it's not part of mainland China or ruled by the CCP or will ever be by choice. Instead tell those obnoxious children from the CCP foreign affairs department to shut up about their carping about it.
1
The mainland China, CCP driven authoritarian model of "efficiency" is a myth as pernicious as the myth of the industrial efficiency of Nazi Germany. The propaganda of the CCP takes a surprising number of well-educated Westerners in. Again, it's what you want to see, not what is, and in China's case by the aggressiveness and thoroughness of the CCP in covering everything up, you cannot get an unbiased or clear picture of China. So the CCP is efficient, only in lying and covering nearly everything inside it's borders up and in fooling the gullible.
1
Sandstone cloisers are important. Suuuure
1
The narrator of this video didn't examine the nexus between the DPRK (North Korean) army and the dictatorship family, although much of this Machiavellian political maneuvering probably takes place secretly. There is a big risk in militaristic dictatorships of this type, that someday an ambitious and well connected army officer will overthrow a weak Kim leader and proclaim another (rule by fiat) dictatorship himself and his family after purging his political opponents and confecting a "dear leader" public personality worship cult of himself. Notably, there is only now a slight degree of difference between the political rhetoric and degree of ideological extremism between North Korea and China. China though is bigger, much more regionally diverse, and harder to manage a dictatorship (without the rule of law and universal suffrage).
1
The CCP plays on the theme of a violent America, whereas policing in most of China are by CCP thought police, is not an agency for criminal justice (the chained women is a good example of people smuggling and abuse of women thoughout China). So the myth of a "safe" China (and a chaotic world) is just CCP propaganda.
1
When Indians dislike you, they REALLY dislike you to the point of totally shunning you. And the Indians are prickly and slow to forget. The small scale violence on the border clashes (line of actual control in the Himalayas) was instigated by the CCP's grey zone expansionist tactics. Now, the CCP is playing a similar game in the West Philippines Sea. Who is the common instigator? CCP China.
1
Everything favours India econimically and politically, over China. This might make India an economic superpower by mid-century, i.e. an ecomony larger than all of the EU. Furthermore, China's national politics are ideological totalitarian which India's is not. There is cronyism in India, but as well in China. India's governments and courts might slowly come around to enforcing a fairer rule of law instead of cronyism. China, under it's current political system cannot share ruling to a neutral independent institution (like a genuine judiciary), so will remain enmired in rampant cronyism and corruption.
1
This video is not even neutral; It's paid CCP propaganda, i.e. a single party state synonomous with the Nazi party with a similar racial exclusivity complex with a need to persecute minorities (Uighers). Added to that, evil and cruel human experimentation (forced organ harvesting) similar to the Nazi's horrific human experimentation. There is no redeeming feature of the totalitarian CCP whatsoever.
1
The difference is that Saudi Arabia produces about 13% of the world's oil. North Korea, possibly even more oppressive, can't offer this or anything valuable at all. Hence, it has no bargining power except in nuclear weapons. What Kim Jong-Un has overlooked is the United States has at least 1200 nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver ICBMs or a matrix of delivery systems to retaliate against North Korea if it initiates a nuclear attack. In other words, it carries a bigger nuclear stick than North Korea. Hence, the only bargining chip that North Korea has is that it's nuclear weapons protect it from a conventionally armed first strike from the United States. Thus, Kim can have his protective nukes, but no economic trade negotiation out of his self imposed isolation.
1
Thirteen and and half TONS of gold?? That's more gold than in Fort Knox
1
Mainland China faces a massive demographic shift (which Japan has passed through in the 1990s), assuming that Taiwan's "friends" remain neutral, due to the policy of introducing the one child policy in the 1970s. This does not favour the CPC's military manpower position sharply into the future. Taiwan will suffer some of this as well, but it did not introduce a one-child policy, and this favours Taiwan's military capabilites (vis-a-vis) mainland China in the future.
1
They don't even "last a few decades", their facades start crumbling soon after the last builder leaves the site. The end result of building without anyone in them is massive housing slump (coupled with the " temporary" type of building, the investor gets seriously screwed). The empty land itself may be more valuable for a renewed effort in rebuilding another Potemkin village building :-)
1