Comments by "Comm0ut" (@Comm0ut) on "Asianometry" channel.

  1. Ford invested globally in the early part of the last century and profited immensely. TSMC is doing the right thing for stockholders by thinking long term. The US can never beat Taiwan's labor costs so there will be no reason for the company to exit it's home nation. If Taiwanese want something to worry about I gently suggest its hostile and envious mainland neighbor. Taiwan has a strong, PROFITABLE response option. Expanding the defense budget while increasing domestic manufacture can leverage Taiwanese design and manufacturing to eventually produce arms and equipment to defend Taiwan and sell to other democracies like India. Taiwan is not hamstrung by politically motivated export restrictions like Europe and the US while the military ISR and strike market needs and will continue to need drones and much more. Taiwan could seize that opportunity (the US is at capacity and severely hamstrung by politics) and by export help fellow democracies contain threats to Taiwan's freedom in ways merely defending itself (which is a cost center) does not do. Taiwanese industry can contribute even more to its defense and be paid to do it.
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  2. The Soviet leadership who took away "choices" from underlings did themselves have a choice. Stalin and successors had power to order anything. The Soviet system THEY RAN was a direct product of THEIR SECRECY, LIES AND INCOMPETENCE. They are directly personally responsible for foolish economic planning. The most important lesson is that technically and scientifically illiterate humans are worthless at running their own affairs or anyone else's and should be looked down on not admired. Be they Soviet leaders of backward lower class stock or Western populists of backward lower class stock, the willfully ignorant are inferior the the knowledgeable and informed. They are lesser people by their choice to be ignorant but the Soviet system like all systems which initially attempted Communism exterminated their own intelligentsia or sent them to prison. The Soviet system like the Maoist system did enormous economic damage but China has much longer traditions of civilization than Russia so China won the Cold War while Russians methodically robbed each other blind. Russia is toxic to its own people and the world, while China however imperfect elevated the economic status of billions and Chinese society has never been better off.
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  3. Used in moderation and monitored by USAF flight surgeons Dexedrine pills are used for long ferry flights with no ill effects, but those are brief events. The alertness is quite "clean" compared to a caffeine headache. Unfortunately most humans are unintelligent and misuse pretty much everything they touch so while most "speed" consumers don't end badly those who do end badly end VERY badly. Weak personalities (not "immoral", just "weak") are often easily addicted to anything. I never met any sort of addict who was not a waterfall of self-pity and excuses, nicotine and booze included.
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  4. The right corporate culture makes or breaks software. Japanese culture suits hardware which they do superbly. They are better off WITHOUT software as the software industry is aggressively leftist. Horses for courses.
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