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10 sats \ 43 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 30 Oct \ parent \ on: Do People Actually Believe the Election Result will Result in Positive Change based
Democracy depends on participation by enough citizens to make it truly representative.
Participation at all levels of governance.
Not just Presidential elections.
Levels of participation at all levels have been dropping except the level of corporate sponsorship and consequent control.
Apathy and inaction by a complacent population allows a democracy to slowly die.
This is what is happening.
Every election there are arguments like this that the Major election is irrelevant. I have argued the same. However, I'm voting for Trump and some other Republicans because I don't want anymore fuckery. Sure I should participate more but maybe I'm already serving in another capacity.
This election needs to be so obvious as to the intention of Americans that the elected can not manipulate the results.
We've already given the M5M the middle finger. They have an audience of 300,000, were No Agenda has millions, And Joe Rogan has astronomical numbers internationally.
In Spain and Portugal when I met people who found out I was American they would say, "I like Trump." So the idea that he's not respected over seas is a total lie.
Anyway...
I'm getting no sleep jabbering here. I tip my hat to all participants of this forum.
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Fair enough.
I'm not in America but from here in New Zealand there was a recent perspective I thought was interesting although I do not usually agree with the author. The rest of the world does still look to the US as 'the leader' and many outside America feel it is in decline and that China is rising into the void left by that.
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Maybe New Zealand is tired of the 5 eyes money and they are warming up to their neighbor in the Pacific. New Zealand has been quiet as far as we are seeing. No Agenda has a large Australian audience but not New Zealand.
My guess is that New Zealand is getting tired of the hegemony and maybe wants to join South Africa and Brazil in Brics.
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New Zealand is hugely dependent upon China for both getting the best prices for its commodity exports and for the supply of manufactured imports at the best price.
NZ is one of the few developed economies to have a fairly balanced trade with China- almost all other western countries operate a trade deficit with China.
NZ has the exports China wants (fish, wool, timber, meat, and some education and tourism) and NZ needs the manufactured goods China excels in producing at low cost.
Yet almost all countries globally are now more reliant upon China for the well being of their economies than the US- simply because China buys commodities and converts them into manufactured goods more efficiently.
Despite NZ being militarily and monetarily very much a tribute state to the US since WW2- 80% of our banking sector is majority owned by US shareholders- we pay a higher ratio of our GDP to US bank shareholders than any other OECD nation, the US has always refused to grant us any free trade agreement.
New Zealand signed the first free trade agreement between an OECD nation and China in the early 2000s. That has delivered huge economic benefits- nothing like it has been offered by the US...Trump closed down the Asia Pacific trade deal that was continued without US involvement.
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So maybe NZ will jump on the Brics wagon. It makes sense.
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It will be a divisive process as a majority of NZs law and culture and political heritage is as a western imperial tribute state. There are growing Chinese links but the transition is unlikely to be as easy and smooth as the transition from British Empire to US hegemony was.
NZ with its commodity based exports is best trading with countries with a need for those commodities and the ability to provide manufactured goods at a good price.
This difficulty of transition from a US empire to Chinese dominance with some variations in character can probably be applied to many other countries like Australia, Canada, the EU, S.Korea and Japan.
It is time of vulnerability and uncertainty for not just the US, but also its historical allies.
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NZ is already part of the US intelligence apparatus, all the 5 eyes countries are.
That was step 1.
Brexit was step 2.
Step 3 is just a formality/disclosure at this point. China will be used to justify the 5-eyes countries becoming US protectorates in the next few years. Book it.
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Very unlikely NZ would accept that.
Especially if Trump or similar leadership holds power in the US.
Brexit had little effect on NZ except reviving interest from Britain in redeveloping traditional trade ties and freeing Britain from some EU constraints.
The US is abandoning its traditional allies as it displays more insular and isolationist tendencies.
The US is increasingly seen as an unreliable 'protector' and Trump re-election would substantially accelerate that decline in relationships.
China already offers NZ and many other western economies far more value added than the US does.