dagblog - Comments for "Biden Imposes Sanctions on Generals Who Engineered Myanmar Coup"

Soft power - we still do that

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 01:52:40 +0000

In reply to You stated that we could, but

Soft power - we still do that

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/17/middleeast/saudi-biden-mbs-robertson-...

Wendy's (or Arby's)

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 11:29:30 +0000

In reply to Don't have any idea what that

Wendy's (or Arby's)

https://youtu.be/t1TGFGnH95w?t=40

Maybe sanctions on China

Aaron Carine — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 02:14:41 +0000

In reply to Really? $500bill/yr imports

Maybe sanctions on China could change their behavior, maybe not. I doubt we can turn them into a free country. Anyway, we aren't going to slap an embargo on China, because it would hurt us too much.

Don't have any idea what that

A Guy Called LULU — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 00:18:41 +0000

In reply to Dude, this is a Wendy's.

Don't have any idea what that is supposed to mean unless you are excusing nothing being on this menu of yours but big greasy nothing burgers.

Dude, this is a Wendy's.

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 23:51:53 +0000

In reply to You stated that we could, but

Dude, this is a Wendy's.

You stated that we could, but

A Guy Called LULU — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 23:45:48 +0000

In reply to So it's impossible to engage

You stated that we could, but still do not give any indication how we could, leverage our economic influence on China to help the Uighurs. You still maintain that it is the case that we have the leverage but still do not say anything to indicate what the fulcrum point is. Come up with a workable answer to that and win the combined Nobel Prize in economics and peace. Good luck, I would be happy for both you and the Uighurs.

So it's impossible to engage

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 23:14:53 +0000

In reply to It gets complicated, doesn't

So it's impossible to engage in win-win business and still stand up for basic human rights? Like we're all just so close to slavery work camps to make a buck? Quite the cynic. The US has done pretty well outsourcing certain manufacturing, while greatly increasing high-margin manufacturing. And yet Apple and WalMart make huge profits that go primarily to US investors. Yes, extreme poverty in the world has decreased from 30% to 8-9% since 1989 even as the global pooulation's increased by 50% - former Soviet satellites, Chinese, SE Asian countries entering the free market and doing quite well.

But yes, if we're paying for half a trillion dollars a year, we have some leverage. The TPP that Hillary was for was to diversify production around the Pacific, bolster Vietnam and Indonesia and Peru and others. But no, that was too evil, so Trump got in, and suddenly we don't pressure human rights violators anymore. China loves the shit outta that. (Of course Russia never got it's sanctions lifted, but Putin got a fair amount of love from Trump)

Cynical, Lulu. No, it's not an easy situation, but also not hopeless - with some effort. E.g. we had made some progress getting North Korea to back off its nuke development before Trump got his bromance. We got China to shiftt gears in pollution and greenhouse gases by stressing self-interest. Yes, there are things that can be done

It gets complicated, doesn't

A Guy Called LULU — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 21:13:06 +0000

In reply to Really? $500bill/yr imports

It gets complicated, doesn't it? You have defended shipping so many American jobs to China for the humanitarian reason that so many Chinese have been lifted from poverty. Now that so much of our manufacturing infrastructure is gone and we are financial codependents, how are we to use our *leverage* to change China's internal policy? Quit borrowing money from them and quit buying their products and quit selling them ours and sanction them until enough Chinese are forced back into poverty that they revolt and force their leaders to give the Uighurs a break? I don't see that working even if we actually had the power to do it. Again, what is our leverage and how should it be used? And, if you can describe a way that might work, do you think it has any chance of being implemented under either a Democratic or Republican administration if the 1% mostly responsible for offshoring those jobs could anticipate suffering even a 5% loss of profit from doing so? Or a 1%?

Really? $500bill/yr imports

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 19:29:33 +0000

In reply to We can't do much for the

Really? $500bill/yr imports means no leverage, can't do nuttin'?

Or we shouldn't, for some reason?

We can't do much for the

Aaron Carine — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 19:20:58 +0000

In reply to Yeah, but a million+ Uyghurs

We can't do much for the Uighurs.