We see machines that can do almost everything, physically and mentally, that a human can do. But with none of the sick days or bad attitudes that characterize our race.
"China does not blow up fishing boats". When is the last time you saw a fishing boat with 5 motors, no fishing equipment, and drugs on the deck? The cargo on these boats is responsible for 10s of thousands of deaths. "It has never invaded another country nor even threatened to do so". Tibet? It daily threatens Taiwan with rhetoric, missiles overhead, and navel blockades. You can say at one time they were one but now they have been separate for 80 years and I bet almost no Taiwanese want any part of that dystopian state.
I greatly admire Bill but in his hatred of Trump he justifies using half truths and out right lies. I find this regretful and my opinion of Bill diminishes.
Then why do you greatly admire him?? I used to have more respect for him, but his thought processes have eroded. Still like Tom and Dan so I keep the subscription, but rarely make it past the first paragraph of Bills rants.
A few clarifications, since the rhetoric here is running ahead of the facts.
First, the “fishing boat” incidents. The vessels in question were operating hundreds of miles from US shores, in another state’s territorial waters, and were not violating local law at the time of interception. The US conducted a pre-emptive strike, killed the crew, and suspended due process for the survivors. Whatever one thinks of China, that act sits entirely outside the norms of maritime law and weakens any claim to moral high ground.
Second, on drugs. The synthetic-opioid supply chain is well understood: precursor chemicals are manufactured in China, processed by cartels in Mexico, and smuggled across the US land border. It does not originate in Venezuela, and Caribbean vessels are not the driver of “tens of thousands of deaths.” If the US genuinely believed supply alone determined culpability, the logical response would be to sever trade with China or intervene in Mexico. It has done neither, which tells you the argument is rhetorical rather than principled.
Third, on responsibility. The uncomfortable but unavoidable fact is that the US domestic market is the engine of demand. Without tens of millions of American consumers, the trade collapses. If anyone’s behaviour is indirectly harming poor communities in the Caribbean and Latin America, it is that demand, not a handful of small boats.
Finally, none of this requires defending China’s record. You can criticise Beijing’s actions in Tibet or its posture toward Taiwan and still recognise that this specific maritime operation was an overreach by the United States. One does not excuse the other.
Your pseudo-intellectual "clarifications" are amusing. I prefer to look at the action, (not "rhetoric") the Trump Administration is taking as a wonderful deterrent. Your red herring drivel ignores the fact that people are violating the law and the tired "responsibility" argument you use is pathetic. Based on your drivel, we should go back to the prohibition of alcohol.
Personally, I love the videos of drug boats being blown into oblivion. If they deter even one boat and its operators from taking the risk then that's a beautiful thing.
This is an intellectual problem, but you’re treating it like an emotional fix, ironically, like a drug user chasing a hit.
“Easy!” says the emotional brain. “Bombs go here, tariffs go there, unintended consequences be damned.” It feels decisive, so you mistake the feeling for problem solved.
But a government that stops feeling constrained abroad eventually stops feeling constrained at home. If pre-emptive killings outside US jurisdiction feel “beautiful” today, wait until the same logic is applied domestically. States don’t develop extraordinary powers just to leave them unused.
And you’re kidding yourself if you think blowing up poor “fishermen” will stop the drug trade. Human nature drives it, massive US demand on one side, high-profit prohibition economics on the other.
Kill a boat and the response isn’t “lesson learned, we won’t do it again.” It’s “fuck you, America, here’s more supply.” That’s how black markets work, and how they’ve always worked.
Finally, real life isn’t Hollywood. There’s no tidy 2.5-hour ending where the bad guys disappear and the USCG sails home to applause from newly cured addicts. In the real world, vendettas stretch into decades until nobody remembers who started it - only that the cycle must continue.
From Iraq to Afganistan and all parts in between, thats the lesson America sadly never learns.
Sigh . . . apparently you missed the part where these "fishing boats" have five engines, no fishing nets or equipment. Our government also has the capability to surveil these people loading their actual payloads onto the boats. Other than that your thesis makes complete sense.
The only unintended consequences are those that occur after the Marxist/Leftist/Democrats implement their policies. You're about to see that in NYC compliments of Mr. Mamdani. He's going to give it to "the people" good and hard.
It’s touching that you have such total faith in your government’s ability to run perfect surveillance from thousands of miles away, when most Americans don’t trust their government to manage the postal service, but you trust it to flawlessly identify targets in foreign waters.
But let’s skip past the Hollywood stuff and stoo avoiding the real question,
are you comfortable with your government executing people outside US jurisdiction without any judicial process?
The drone-strike version is easy to cheer for. It feels like Call of Duty, press a button, boat explodes, no faces, no begging, no bodies.
So let’s remove the video-game filter.
If the USCG interdicted the same boat, zip-tied the crew on deck and shot them in the back of the head at point-blank range (same act, same justification) would you still call it “beautiful”?
Let's take the logic bomb a step further. If the US can kill foreigners abroad for breaking US law, then by your logic the UK, Mexico, or anyone else has the right to pre-emptively kill Americans abroad for breaking their laws. Are you happy with that symmetry?
This is about whether you’re thinking like a grown adult or like someone whose moral universe was shaped by video games and action movies.
Real life isn’t “yee-haw” justice. Real life is blood, retaliation, and consequences that last decades.
Spoken like a true Euro, or Marxist/Leftist/Democrat. I'll remind you that Barack Obama killed a U.S. citizen abroad for what was considered "breaking U.S. law". Which by the way, I did not criticize. Obama was the epitome of the "drone-strike version". What did you have to say about that back then hmm?
Please don't lecture me or anyone else about "real life". You clearly don't have a clue as to what real life entails. You live in a Marxist bubble that fails to understand human nature and human behavior. It's touching that you keep engaging because you think your drivel is persuasive. I have bad news, it's not. And worse for you, the third parties that read this exchange won't see it your way either.
The corollary would be our drug users facing criminal charges that include the death penalty. If a marketplace has no customers then it will cease to exist. What were the effects of these killings? Did the street prices go down - NO. A while ago, drug dealers in Washington DC cut the drugs wrong causing multiple deaths. Drug users flocked to DC to get the good shit. That is the nature of addiction. Taiwan is the historical route to invade China. They will become apart of China when we loose interest. At what point will you call the US a dystopian state?
"In 1914, Henry Ford shocked the world by doubling his factory workers' pay to
$5 a day and reducing shifts to eight hours to combat high turnover from the grueling, monotonous moving assembly line. This strategic move stabilized the workforce, boosted productivity, and allowed workers to buy the cars they built."
I have to wonder if this will now be undone. How many consumer products does a robot buy?
Hi\nTurnover was the key to the wage increase. Ford was experienced in dramatic increased pressure from competitors. They were routinely hiring away his best post , educated workers. 4 did not raise wages to make the car affordable to the working man.He did it to save his a**.
The only “diversity” leftists see is exactly what MLK railed against: color of skin (throw in tranny, as well.) But when it comes to diversity of thought, that is strictly forbidden by leftards. Total uniformity here.
Why do you think the Chinese are homogeneous society? The only common thread is that many of them grew up in abject poverty and were given opportunity for betterment - which they took.
China invaded VietNam in 1979, and got a bloody nose for its troubles as the VietNamese were still hard as nails from their decade long fight with the US. I do get the 'US interferes all over, China happy as it is' narrative, but let's not fool ourselves that the Chinese won't be all over the rest of us (I'm a Brit) if the US folds on the global stage, and not in a good way. The US empire may be in terminal decline, I'd take it over a Chinese empire all day long (especially as I suspect the Chinese have a special need to humiliate my country for which they can hardly be blamed).
I spent 45 years working in engineering and made many trips to China and Japan. The speed that China evolved from the 1980's to today is truly amazing but I will take the USA any time when I compare our freedom of activity and movement. It is true we have too many bases globally (and I was in the Navy during Vietnam 65 - 68) and I believe we need to dial it back big time. There are intelligent people in every country. The country that makes the best use of these talents will make the most progress....I think!
Also , tibet incursions into the south china sea et al. As far as the prison population , i'm sure they're counting all the uyghurs and all the hidden camps in their published documents.
Maybe they can use those robots to populate those vacant cities. They'll do so with a smile and won't even require a toilet.
They were in Vietnam for 3 weeks. The CIA has affected 60 plus regime changes over the years none of the replacement governments were successful. I lived in the UK for a number of years and many people thought not following the US into Vietnam was a huge economic mistake. If you look at Chinese history, no one should be concerned by their rise. Thus far, China's belt and roads initiative has increased the world's GDP. It's enable Brazilian farmers to compete on the world's stage.
China has been practicing 5th Generation Warfare for over 3 decades. One gets the sense that their massive military buildout of the last 2 decades was a matter of hedging their bets. There was not much objective evidence that they needed to do so. It is true that they don’t have 800 military bases around the world, but they do have a large army of economic and cultural infiltrators throughout the world and especially in the US. Rather than bomb and invade, they purchase businesses and massive amounts of real estate, they purchase politicians and keep them on long term contract, they invade major universities with their students and keep them in-country with their newly minted advanced degrees to do their bidding and their version of smokeless battlefield destruction. They find ways to control institutions like Hollywood and the NBA and many others.
They steal very little high technology because most of it is simply given to them by American Big Business, via offshoring or inside university classrooms and campuses or simply within business partnerships. They flood American shores with illicit drugs, internet pornography and they participate in US electoral politics and election fraud as well as massive lobbying inside the beltway and within State governments. This is how China conducts war, most of it financed by US sponsorship and assistance. I believe this story will remain one of the most bizarre tales in all of geopolitical history, for China and the US. How and why could this story unfold as it has? How could this possibly happen?
I taught the Chinese for 5 years, from 2003 to 2007, in both the US and China. My students were mid level executives in the Civil Aviation Administration. I learned much about what it was like to live in China from dinner conversations with my students. Much has changed since then. China today is in big trouble internally. Perhaps on par with the US. Official corruption in China is threatening what little freedom the average Chinese enjoyed before Xi. It is a repressive regime today with many similarities to the regime in Iran, although driven by atheism rather than a false god.
China has a superiority complex. They believe their rightful place is as the leader of the world, the “Middle Kingdom”(Zhongguo) and that this position was stolen from them in a Century of Humiliation(1839-1949). If there is to be a world hegemon, they believe it should be China and they resent being in an inferior position anywhere on the world stage. This feeling is prevalent among many educated Chinese, even ones who hate communism. This is a rather ironic position as viewed in light of the nature of the world today and the uniqueness of Chinese culture and history(IMO)
I should add that one of the things I learned in my years with Chinese students was that the Chinese people(generally speaking)do in fact hate Communism. They want both freedom and prosperity, not prosperity without freedom. This attitude came out during mostly quite dinner table conversation with my students back in the early years of this century. I doubt such conversations would happen in any public way today. I was shocked in one classroom episode around 2006 when one of my Chinese students, his title was Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, stood up in class and “went off on Communism”. This man was an imposing figure, about 6’4” as I recall and only in his mid thirties. I was standing at the front of the classroom. No one interrupted him but I could read the disbelief on the faces of his fellow students, numbering around 20. Such an outburst(he was not yelling and quite articulate) would most certainly not happen in a similar setting today, even though his critique was squarely centered on Communist ideology and not on the CCP. When he was finished it was my job to regain control of the class on move on. It was my sense at the time, instinctively, that everyone in the class agreed with him.
Once they visit the current chaos of the nation they have admired since WWII (that is the USA), they are less likely to feel the way you have expressed. It seems to be a pretty universal trait to criticize one's own government.
It is ironic to think that the Chinese, given their culture and history, would ever want to be the world’s policeman in today’s world, or be in charge in any way of this huge mess. It’s a helluva lot more trouble than it’s worth. I think the Russians think this way. They don’t want to be the world hegemon, they just want their old protective Soviet Union back and they want to be powerful enough to have territorial security and be left alone. That’s how I see it at any rate.
Don’t be so sure. They may eventually have puppet govts in the Middle East and/or Africa much like the US has tried to do. They’re certainly trying either way by their loans to these countries, then when they can’t pay up, build military bases there. I think they’re on their way to becoming Chinese vassals…as long as China doesn’t implode.
I already suspected much of that you said but have a few questions:
“China has been practicing 5th Generation Warfare for over 3 decades.”
What is 5th gen warfare? If you mean the ways in which they influence the West, those are just different types of long-existing warfare. What are the previous 4 gens?
“Rather than bomb and invade, they purchase businesses and massive amounts of real estate, they purchase politicians and keep them on long term contract”
Don’t forget acting as a loan shark to certain countries.
“They find ways to control institutions like Hollywood and the NBA and many others.”
How do they control Hollywood?
“They steal very little high technology because most of it is simply given to them”
That may be true but a lot of IP has been stolen too, without which I doubt they would be this advanced.
“They flood American shores with illicit drugs, internet pornography”
Porn? I don’t think so.
“This is how China conducts war, most of it financed by US sponsorship and assistance.”
Can I have some examples?
“China today is in big trouble internally. Perhaps on par with the US.”
I’d say it’s even more screwed.
“although driven by atheism rather than a false god.”
Nah, it’s true they are atheist but they’re just a bunch of power-hungry bastards. Nothing to do with atheism. And it’s not like religion is completely forbidden there. They have churches.
Each year the Communist Party prosecutes 70-80,000 Communist Party officials, some with death penalties, each year, for same corruption our politicians parade proudly (eg., "campaign contributions"). Please tell us all the first time the Republican or Democrat Party prosecutes its first party member.
First I took offense "put a second refrigerator in the garage" been there done that, but its so the noisy behemoth doesn't go to the dump, but instead store so much for the Great Thai cook wife. Whats wrong with that?
But then China never invaded? Ask the Vietnamese, or the Phillipino fisherman, about real examples and not the Taiwanese or Japanese getting all the threats. PUHLEASE.
I am not so afraid of robots, it's the people who program them that worry me. Machines only do what humans program them to do. More and more I see "Star Wars" being a future reality.
It all depends in how long before God looses his sense of humor.
Robots definitely aren’t going to be conscious anytime soon, and if/when they do, it won’t be a result of “evolution” but our reckless drive for innovation at any cost.
But when cyborgs mate, will they automatically produce a cyborg kid? Of course not, only later will that kid get the same upgrades their parents have. No natural selection here.
Gene editing/engineering is a whole other story though. Many people may be enhanced both through genes and machine parts, but only through genes can their traits be passed down to their kids.
Well who knows if these cyborgs will have those bio-engineered cells? Even if they do, it’s still not evolution but human design. Unless you mean technological evolution.
i think bb is getting dementia and has never heard of a country called taiwan also i think bill must have a sickle and hammer flag at all his mansions like any good billionaire and maybe the reason china doesn't have as many prisoners is because they kill them and harvest the organs to sell on the world market i think the Uyghurs in china might disagree with good old commy bill about life in china
Excuse me but I seem to remember China invading and conquering Tibet in the 1950s. In the late 70s they tried it with Viet Nam but the Vietnamese, fresh from whipping the US's ass and equipped with millions of dollars of military equipment the US left behind, made short work of them...
And if you know of an AI that will make an annoying neighbor go away, I'd love to employ it...
While the Chinese are powering on using fossil fuels … we have been stopped in our tracks by climate change fear … a campaign no doubt funded by the Chinese!
"In the west, we more attempts to control the economy, The People, the news and the ‘narrative.’"
Bill, before I read further, tell me if this is your sentence or Chat GPT's. Your answer will indicate whether I should continue to read or recognize that one of you is a Bot.
Well, Bonner, there is only one course of action for you. Move to Beijing!!! The CCP will love you and probably pay you dearly for your daily anti-USA and anti-Trump missives. I can't guarantee the Chinese people will feel the same, but at least you'll be living in your dream society! Then you can even better bathe in your sneering contempt of the USA and Trump and live happily ever after!! Of course, it would be an added benefit if your daily commentary stayed in China, but whatever. At least it would be confirmed that you are a willing participant in the Chinese propaganda machine.
Mr. Gallien, I don't normally read Bill more than once a week anymore, but I thought I would take a gander on a lazy afternoon (after reading him on Monday or Tuesday), and I was stunned at his opinion piece today. No mention of dictatorship, concentration camps, psychiatric hospitals, conflicts with Vietnam, Taiwan intimidation, Japanese island conflicts, quietly stirring the pot in Africa and South America, etc.
You are so right. Bill should move to Beijing. Just sell his properties and move there permanently. He obviously thinks it's superior to all other countries, especially the U.S.
I'm with you, Frank. I've been toying with the idea of reading Bonner only occasionally. I'm starting to skim some of his columns as it is. I have nothing but contempt for him - contempt that has evolved over several years of reading his columns.
The reason there is no "mention" is because ithey're basically USG sponsored lies which really prevent us from staying at a par with China's growth and partnership. Please tell us when China actually drops its first bomb on another country/people or a Chinese soldier shoots the first foreigner in the latter's country. I doubt China will ever catch up with the 27,000,000 foreigners we have killed since WWII--in their own country. The last time (one of three other times in 3000 years) was in 1979 in Vietnam, when they may have killed a relative handful of Vietnamese.
I think Bill needs a trip to China. "You no have cancer" is this AI response or Bill's? China has most certainly invaded other countries. I am wondering what Bill's thoughts are about.
bill is at that age where dementia sets in and also he keeps looking at all those sickle and hammer flags at his many houses and thinks china is a great country i think he should ask the Uyghurs about life in china
Yes, he really should do that. His last time was 20 years ago and China was not even at a par with the US. Now there is no comparison. You should go see for yourself. China welcomes everyone, even you to make whatever comments you wish. At least then, your comments will have more credibility.
really? China is the mafia version of a country. "hey, this is a nice place, it would be a shame if something happened to it" or "sure we will loan you money".............. the NYTimes isn't going to call, Bill. You're like a typical leftist, you will build a country or system up because you are mad at ours. That I understand but being dishonest(by omission AGAIN) IS FOOLISH.
It is of great concern when governments have access to and control of the most advanced technology. They of course are not the innovators or developers but with their confiscated wealth obtain it and deploy it as they see fit. Concerning in the hands of any government, but especially so in communist, fascist and theocratic ones.
"China does not blow up fishing boats". When is the last time you saw a fishing boat with 5 motors, no fishing equipment, and drugs on the deck? The cargo on these boats is responsible for 10s of thousands of deaths. "It has never invaded another country nor even threatened to do so". Tibet? It daily threatens Taiwan with rhetoric, missiles overhead, and navel blockades. You can say at one time they were one but now they have been separate for 80 years and I bet almost no Taiwanese want any part of that dystopian state.
Please stop! You are going to confuse Bonner with the facts, and they might have to put him in isolation in the psychiatric hospital he resides in.
I greatly admire Bill but in his hatred of Trump he justifies using half truths and out right lies. I find this regretful and my opinion of Bill diminishes.
Then why do you greatly admire him?? I used to have more respect for him, but his thought processes have eroded. Still like Tom and Dan so I keep the subscription, but rarely make it past the first paragraph of Bills rants.
A few clarifications, since the rhetoric here is running ahead of the facts.
First, the “fishing boat” incidents. The vessels in question were operating hundreds of miles from US shores, in another state’s territorial waters, and were not violating local law at the time of interception. The US conducted a pre-emptive strike, killed the crew, and suspended due process for the survivors. Whatever one thinks of China, that act sits entirely outside the norms of maritime law and weakens any claim to moral high ground.
Second, on drugs. The synthetic-opioid supply chain is well understood: precursor chemicals are manufactured in China, processed by cartels in Mexico, and smuggled across the US land border. It does not originate in Venezuela, and Caribbean vessels are not the driver of “tens of thousands of deaths.” If the US genuinely believed supply alone determined culpability, the logical response would be to sever trade with China or intervene in Mexico. It has done neither, which tells you the argument is rhetorical rather than principled.
Third, on responsibility. The uncomfortable but unavoidable fact is that the US domestic market is the engine of demand. Without tens of millions of American consumers, the trade collapses. If anyone’s behaviour is indirectly harming poor communities in the Caribbean and Latin America, it is that demand, not a handful of small boats.
Finally, none of this requires defending China’s record. You can criticise Beijing’s actions in Tibet or its posture toward Taiwan and still recognise that this specific maritime operation was an overreach by the United States. One does not excuse the other.
Your pseudo-intellectual "clarifications" are amusing. I prefer to look at the action, (not "rhetoric") the Trump Administration is taking as a wonderful deterrent. Your red herring drivel ignores the fact that people are violating the law and the tired "responsibility" argument you use is pathetic. Based on your drivel, we should go back to the prohibition of alcohol.
Personally, I love the videos of drug boats being blown into oblivion. If they deter even one boat and its operators from taking the risk then that's a beautiful thing.
This is an intellectual problem, but you’re treating it like an emotional fix, ironically, like a drug user chasing a hit.
“Easy!” says the emotional brain. “Bombs go here, tariffs go there, unintended consequences be damned.” It feels decisive, so you mistake the feeling for problem solved.
But a government that stops feeling constrained abroad eventually stops feeling constrained at home. If pre-emptive killings outside US jurisdiction feel “beautiful” today, wait until the same logic is applied domestically. States don’t develop extraordinary powers just to leave them unused.
And you’re kidding yourself if you think blowing up poor “fishermen” will stop the drug trade. Human nature drives it, massive US demand on one side, high-profit prohibition economics on the other.
Kill a boat and the response isn’t “lesson learned, we won’t do it again.” It’s “fuck you, America, here’s more supply.” That’s how black markets work, and how they’ve always worked.
Finally, real life isn’t Hollywood. There’s no tidy 2.5-hour ending where the bad guys disappear and the USCG sails home to applause from newly cured addicts. In the real world, vendettas stretch into decades until nobody remembers who started it - only that the cycle must continue.
From Iraq to Afganistan and all parts in between, thats the lesson America sadly never learns.
Sigh . . . apparently you missed the part where these "fishing boats" have five engines, no fishing nets or equipment. Our government also has the capability to surveil these people loading their actual payloads onto the boats. Other than that your thesis makes complete sense.
The only unintended consequences are those that occur after the Marxist/Leftist/Democrats implement their policies. You're about to see that in NYC compliments of Mr. Mamdani. He's going to give it to "the people" good and hard.
It’s touching that you have such total faith in your government’s ability to run perfect surveillance from thousands of miles away, when most Americans don’t trust their government to manage the postal service, but you trust it to flawlessly identify targets in foreign waters.
But let’s skip past the Hollywood stuff and stoo avoiding the real question,
are you comfortable with your government executing people outside US jurisdiction without any judicial process?
The drone-strike version is easy to cheer for. It feels like Call of Duty, press a button, boat explodes, no faces, no begging, no bodies.
So let’s remove the video-game filter.
If the USCG interdicted the same boat, zip-tied the crew on deck and shot them in the back of the head at point-blank range (same act, same justification) would you still call it “beautiful”?
Let's take the logic bomb a step further. If the US can kill foreigners abroad for breaking US law, then by your logic the UK, Mexico, or anyone else has the right to pre-emptively kill Americans abroad for breaking their laws. Are you happy with that symmetry?
This is about whether you’re thinking like a grown adult or like someone whose moral universe was shaped by video games and action movies.
Real life isn’t “yee-haw” justice. Real life is blood, retaliation, and consequences that last decades.
Spoken like a true Euro, or Marxist/Leftist/Democrat. I'll remind you that Barack Obama killed a U.S. citizen abroad for what was considered "breaking U.S. law". Which by the way, I did not criticize. Obama was the epitome of the "drone-strike version". What did you have to say about that back then hmm?
Please don't lecture me or anyone else about "real life". You clearly don't have a clue as to what real life entails. You live in a Marxist bubble that fails to understand human nature and human behavior. It's touching that you keep engaging because you think your drivel is persuasive. I have bad news, it's not. And worse for you, the third parties that read this exchange won't see it your way either.
https://youtu.be/h242eDB84zY?si=oRDx42SEht2Bglxi
Might be a bit subtle, but here's hoping you recognise the moral point.
The corollary would be our drug users facing criminal charges that include the death penalty. If a marketplace has no customers then it will cease to exist. What were the effects of these killings? Did the street prices go down - NO. A while ago, drug dealers in Washington DC cut the drugs wrong causing multiple deaths. Drug users flocked to DC to get the good shit. That is the nature of addiction. Taiwan is the historical route to invade China. They will become apart of China when we loose interest. At what point will you call the US a dystopian state?
And China invaded Viet Nam in 1979. They got their butts kicked.
China also regularly threatens freedom of navigation voyages in the South China Sea.
From Google AI:
"In 1914, Henry Ford shocked the world by doubling his factory workers' pay to
$5 a day and reducing shifts to eight hours to combat high turnover from the grueling, monotonous moving assembly line. This strategic move stabilized the workforce, boosted productivity, and allowed workers to buy the cars they built."
I have to wonder if this will now be undone. How many consumer products does a robot buy?
Hi\nTurnover was the key to the wage increase. Ford was experienced in dramatic increased pressure from competitors. They were routinely hiring away his best post , educated workers. 4 did not raise wages to make the car affordable to the working man.He did it to save his a**.
You praise the Chinese, arguably the most homogeneous society in the world. Is it possible that diversity is not our strength?
...the best places to live on the planet are homogonous societies.
The liberal slogan "Diversity is our Strength" makes no sense unless it has context.
Liberals don't understand this...
The only “diversity” leftists see is exactly what MLK railed against: color of skin (throw in tranny, as well.) But when it comes to diversity of thought, that is strictly forbidden by leftards. Total uniformity here.
Yep, they love racial diversity, LGBT, women, etc, as long as they all think the same…like robots. Same old.
BINGO!
Never has been cam. Never has been.
Why do you think the Chinese are homogeneous society? The only common thread is that many of them grew up in abject poverty and were given opportunity for betterment - which they took.
EXACTLY. So much for that “diversity is our strength” leftist horsepuckey. Appears just the OPPOSITE is true.
China invaded VietNam in 1979, and got a bloody nose for its troubles as the VietNamese were still hard as nails from their decade long fight with the US. I do get the 'US interferes all over, China happy as it is' narrative, but let's not fool ourselves that the Chinese won't be all over the rest of us (I'm a Brit) if the US folds on the global stage, and not in a good way. The US empire may be in terminal decline, I'd take it over a Chinese empire all day long (especially as I suspect the Chinese have a special need to humiliate my country for which they can hardly be blamed).
I spent 45 years working in engineering and made many trips to China and Japan. The speed that China evolved from the 1980's to today is truly amazing but I will take the USA any time when I compare our freedom of activity and movement. It is true we have too many bases globally (and I was in the Navy during Vietnam 65 - 68) and I believe we need to dial it back big time. There are intelligent people in every country. The country that makes the best use of these talents will make the most progress....I think!
Jim Marshall
I'm hoping that we get maybe a 20-30 year break with no obvious hegemon ruling over the world.
That “break” would preferably be the endpoint of geopolitics.
Also , tibet incursions into the south china sea et al. As far as the prison population , i'm sure they're counting all the uyghurs and all the hidden camps in their published documents.
Maybe they can use those robots to populate those vacant cities. They'll do so with a smile and won't even require a toilet.
They were in Vietnam for 3 weeks. The CIA has affected 60 plus regime changes over the years none of the replacement governments were successful. I lived in the UK for a number of years and many people thought not following the US into Vietnam was a huge economic mistake. If you look at Chinese history, no one should be concerned by their rise. Thus far, China's belt and roads initiative has increased the world's GDP. It's enable Brazilian farmers to compete on the world's stage.
China has been practicing 5th Generation Warfare for over 3 decades. One gets the sense that their massive military buildout of the last 2 decades was a matter of hedging their bets. There was not much objective evidence that they needed to do so. It is true that they don’t have 800 military bases around the world, but they do have a large army of economic and cultural infiltrators throughout the world and especially in the US. Rather than bomb and invade, they purchase businesses and massive amounts of real estate, they purchase politicians and keep them on long term contract, they invade major universities with their students and keep them in-country with their newly minted advanced degrees to do their bidding and their version of smokeless battlefield destruction. They find ways to control institutions like Hollywood and the NBA and many others.
They steal very little high technology because most of it is simply given to them by American Big Business, via offshoring or inside university classrooms and campuses or simply within business partnerships. They flood American shores with illicit drugs, internet pornography and they participate in US electoral politics and election fraud as well as massive lobbying inside the beltway and within State governments. This is how China conducts war, most of it financed by US sponsorship and assistance. I believe this story will remain one of the most bizarre tales in all of geopolitical history, for China and the US. How and why could this story unfold as it has? How could this possibly happen?
I taught the Chinese for 5 years, from 2003 to 2007, in both the US and China. My students were mid level executives in the Civil Aviation Administration. I learned much about what it was like to live in China from dinner conversations with my students. Much has changed since then. China today is in big trouble internally. Perhaps on par with the US. Official corruption in China is threatening what little freedom the average Chinese enjoyed before Xi. It is a repressive regime today with many similarities to the regime in Iran, although driven by atheism rather than a false god.
China has a superiority complex. They believe their rightful place is as the leader of the world, the “Middle Kingdom”(Zhongguo) and that this position was stolen from them in a Century of Humiliation(1839-1949). If there is to be a world hegemon, they believe it should be China and they resent being in an inferior position anywhere on the world stage. This feeling is prevalent among many educated Chinese, even ones who hate communism. This is a rather ironic position as viewed in light of the nature of the world today and the uniqueness of Chinese culture and history(IMO)
I should add that one of the things I learned in my years with Chinese students was that the Chinese people(generally speaking)do in fact hate Communism. They want both freedom and prosperity, not prosperity without freedom. This attitude came out during mostly quite dinner table conversation with my students back in the early years of this century. I doubt such conversations would happen in any public way today. I was shocked in one classroom episode around 2006 when one of my Chinese students, his title was Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, stood up in class and “went off on Communism”. This man was an imposing figure, about 6’4” as I recall and only in his mid thirties. I was standing at the front of the classroom. No one interrupted him but I could read the disbelief on the faces of his fellow students, numbering around 20. Such an outburst(he was not yelling and quite articulate) would most certainly not happen in a similar setting today, even though his critique was squarely centered on Communist ideology and not on the CCP. When he was finished it was my job to regain control of the class on move on. It was my sense at the time, instinctively, that everyone in the class agreed with him.
Once they visit the current chaos of the nation they have admired since WWII (that is the USA), they are less likely to feel the way you have expressed. It seems to be a pretty universal trait to criticize one's own government.
So they’ll suddenly think their system is better? Yeah I’m not sure about that.
“This is a rather ironic position as viewed in light of the nature of the world today and the uniqueness of Chinese culture and history”
How is it ironic?
“the Chinese people(generally speaking)do in fact hate Communism”
I’m not surprised. But I wonder why that guy didn’t criticize the CCP. Maybe cause he was scared in case the word spread about his speech.
Your very informative observations suggest the CCP's anointment of Xi as China's President for Life may wear thin before his demise by natural causes
Or unnatural causes.
It is ironic to think that the Chinese, given their culture and history, would ever want to be the world’s policeman in today’s world, or be in charge in any way of this huge mess. It’s a helluva lot more trouble than it’s worth. I think the Russians think this way. They don’t want to be the world hegemon, they just want their old protective Soviet Union back and they want to be powerful enough to have territorial security and be left alone. That’s how I see it at any rate.
I respect your perspective and experience.
I've often thought about what you characterize as the "smokeless battlefield." But, I can never get beyond why.
The Government of Israel has employed the same tactics for years, successfully too.
But its tactics are narrowly focused: it seeks financial succor and national survival.
And it has succeeded. Few of our elected officials deny what Israel's lobbyists seek.
Apart from Taiwan, what do the Chinese seek?
Global superiority. They say it publicly, frequently.
To what end?
Respect, admiration, more market shares in more countries yes, but I highly doubt they will attain dictatorial control of other countries.
But when they adopt the Latin alphabet, then it's really "game on."
Don’t be so sure. They may eventually have puppet govts in the Middle East and/or Africa much like the US has tried to do. They’re certainly trying either way by their loans to these countries, then when they can’t pay up, build military bases there. I think they’re on their way to becoming Chinese vassals…as long as China doesn’t implode.
I already suspected much of that you said but have a few questions:
“China has been practicing 5th Generation Warfare for over 3 decades.”
What is 5th gen warfare? If you mean the ways in which they influence the West, those are just different types of long-existing warfare. What are the previous 4 gens?
“Rather than bomb and invade, they purchase businesses and massive amounts of real estate, they purchase politicians and keep them on long term contract”
Don’t forget acting as a loan shark to certain countries.
“They find ways to control institutions like Hollywood and the NBA and many others.”
How do they control Hollywood?
“They steal very little high technology because most of it is simply given to them”
That may be true but a lot of IP has been stolen too, without which I doubt they would be this advanced.
“They flood American shores with illicit drugs, internet pornography”
Porn? I don’t think so.
“This is how China conducts war, most of it financed by US sponsorship and assistance.”
Can I have some examples?
“China today is in big trouble internally. Perhaps on par with the US.”
I’d say it’s even more screwed.
“although driven by atheism rather than a false god.”
Nah, it’s true they are atheist but they’re just a bunch of power-hungry bastards. Nothing to do with atheism. And it’s not like religion is completely forbidden there. They have churches.
Good question. Keep going.
I asked multiple questions, don’t have any more.
Each year the Communist Party prosecutes 70-80,000 Communist Party officials, some with death penalties, each year, for same corruption our politicians parade proudly (eg., "campaign contributions"). Please tell us all the first time the Republican or Democrat Party prosecutes its first party member.
Yep, “anti-corruption” campaigns are never a smokescreen to purge perceived threats or to gain popularity, are they?
First I took offense "put a second refrigerator in the garage" been there done that, but its so the noisy behemoth doesn't go to the dump, but instead store so much for the Great Thai cook wife. Whats wrong with that?
But then China never invaded? Ask the Vietnamese, or the Phillipino fisherman, about real examples and not the Taiwanese or Japanese getting all the threats. PUHLEASE.
I am not so afraid of robots, it's the people who program them that worry me. Machines only do what humans program them to do. More and more I see "Star Wars" being a future reality.
It all depends in how long before God looses his sense of humor.
Jim Marshall
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh... Voltaire
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Agentic Ai will have those robots thinking amongst themselves soon.
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Machine is reaching for God through man by way of nature's natural selection process...
We will all likely be cyborgs one day...
Robots definitely aren’t going to be conscious anytime soon, and if/when they do, it won’t be a result of “evolution” but our reckless drive for innovation at any cost.
Cyborgs combine organic and biomechatronic parts.
Part human and part machine.
The human reproductive, emotion, and resourcefulness remains but with enhanced physical and mental capacities.
IMO it's an evolutionary inevitability.
But when cyborgs mate, will they automatically produce a cyborg kid? Of course not, only later will that kid get the same upgrades their parents have. No natural selection here.
Gene editing/engineering is a whole other story though. Many people may be enhanced both through genes and machine parts, but only through genes can their traits be passed down to their kids.
... fortunately, or unfortunately, bio-engineered cells can already reproduce.
And that's what the folks doing this kind of research reveal, imagine what's not being revealed!
Well who knows if these cyborgs will have those bio-engineered cells? Even if they do, it’s still not evolution but human design. Unless you mean technological evolution.
How is a cyborg going to replicate itself biologically?
Humans can!
Cyborgs are an evolutionary dead end!
Cyborgs combine organic and biomechatronic parts.
Part human and part machine.
The human reproductive, emotion, and resourcefulness remains but with enhanced physical and mental capacities.
IMO it's an evolutionary inevitability.
i think bb is getting dementia and has never heard of a country called taiwan also i think bill must have a sickle and hammer flag at all his mansions like any good billionaire and maybe the reason china doesn't have as many prisoners is because they kill them and harvest the organs to sell on the world market i think the Uyghurs in china might disagree with good old commy bill about life in china
🤣 You hit the nail right on Bonner's head!
You should go there before making such ignorant statements.
It's not bill bonner who's writing. It's that early clumsy chinese bot. Go XI!
Time for an upgrade.... Need that one that does "kung fun moves." Many Yums.🉐️
Excuse me but I seem to remember China invading and conquering Tibet in the 1950s. In the late 70s they tried it with Viet Nam but the Vietnamese, fresh from whipping the US's ass and equipped with millions of dollars of military equipment the US left behind, made short work of them...
And if you know of an AI that will make an annoying neighbor go away, I'd love to employ it...
While the Chinese are powering on using fossil fuels … we have been stopped in our tracks by climate change fear … a campaign no doubt funded by the Chinese!
"In the west, we more attempts to control the economy, The People, the news and the ‘narrative.’"
Bill, before I read further, tell me if this is your sentence or Chat GPT's. Your answer will indicate whether I should continue to read or recognize that one of you is a Bot.
Well, Bonner, there is only one course of action for you. Move to Beijing!!! The CCP will love you and probably pay you dearly for your daily anti-USA and anti-Trump missives. I can't guarantee the Chinese people will feel the same, but at least you'll be living in your dream society! Then you can even better bathe in your sneering contempt of the USA and Trump and live happily ever after!! Of course, it would be an added benefit if your daily commentary stayed in China, but whatever. At least it would be confirmed that you are a willing participant in the Chinese propaganda machine.
Mr. Gallien, I don't normally read Bill more than once a week anymore, but I thought I would take a gander on a lazy afternoon (after reading him on Monday or Tuesday), and I was stunned at his opinion piece today. No mention of dictatorship, concentration camps, psychiatric hospitals, conflicts with Vietnam, Taiwan intimidation, Japanese island conflicts, quietly stirring the pot in Africa and South America, etc.
You are so right. Bill should move to Beijing. Just sell his properties and move there permanently. He obviously thinks it's superior to all other countries, especially the U.S.
I'm with you, Frank. I've been toying with the idea of reading Bonner only occasionally. I'm starting to skim some of his columns as it is. I have nothing but contempt for him - contempt that has evolved over several years of reading his columns.
The reason there is no "mention" is because ithey're basically USG sponsored lies which really prevent us from staying at a par with China's growth and partnership. Please tell us when China actually drops its first bomb on another country/people or a Chinese soldier shoots the first foreigner in the latter's country. I doubt China will ever catch up with the 27,000,000 foreigners we have killed since WWII--in their own country. The last time (one of three other times in 3000 years) was in 1979 in Vietnam, when they may have killed a relative handful of Vietnamese.
I think Bill needs a trip to China. "You no have cancer" is this AI response or Bill's? China has most certainly invaded other countries. I am wondering what Bill's thoughts are about.
bill is at that age where dementia sets in and also he keeps looking at all those sickle and hammer flags at his many houses and thinks china is a great country i think he should ask the Uyghurs about life in china
Yes, he really should do that. His last time was 20 years ago and China was not even at a par with the US. Now there is no comparison. You should go see for yourself. China welcomes everyone, even you to make whatever comments you wish. At least then, your comments will have more credibility.
really? China is the mafia version of a country. "hey, this is a nice place, it would be a shame if something happened to it" or "sure we will loan you money".............. the NYTimes isn't going to call, Bill. You're like a typical leftist, you will build a country or system up because you are mad at ours. That I understand but being dishonest(by omission AGAIN) IS FOOLISH.
Amazing! But just think when criminal organisations get ahold of them and program them for crime????
It is of great concern when governments have access to and control of the most advanced technology. They of course are not the innovators or developers but with their confiscated wealth obtain it and deploy it as they see fit. Concerning in the hands of any government, but especially so in communist, fascist and theocratic ones.
This is a fine mess we got ourselves into.