“Free speech” is neither good nor bad. Rather, it doesn’t exist. Speech, ie what is discussed in the court of public opinion, is dominated by whatever mechanisms and institutions that have power. In countries like the US, this means large megacorps and billionaires can flood the information space with articles flattering their positions. Companies like google can censor importabt but inconvenient information from searches, and more.

Speech is controlled by whichever class has control, be it bourgeois or proletarian, or even aristocrat.

Incredible. Gorgeous.

Oh will do! Not leaving, just limiting, haha.

Wasting too much time online! Life is getting busier and I don’t want online time to get in the way of that.

Haha, no problem! I do post and comment quite a lot, looking to tone it back gradually.

The one I put by far the most effort in and most care is my “Read Theory, Darn It!” Introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list I like to keep on hand and link if I feel its appropriate. It’s not solely my effort, though, several comrades provided the epubs, audiobooks, and tweaks and suggestions. I made it after the 2024 US Election results, and wanted to give disillusioned people a productive route to understand why it happened that way, and a way to resist.

Outside of that, I really enjoy my overly-nerdy analysis of a leak of NCR Ranger Power Armor and how it fits/doesn’t fit into the NCR’s two-pronged Imperialist millitary structure, combining large, relatively slow units into the long-range scouting/guerilla arm of the millitary. Mostly because it’s stupidly unnecessary for what’s just a TV adaptation of a video game series, a series I happen to deeply love yet hate in almost equal measure.

Of course, lol. Somehow nothing ever seems to count as Communism as nothing can ever measure up to what they want, anything short of perfection is impure and thus an imposter or deciever.

Somehow it’s always there.

The collapse is a tragedy, and it needs to be thoroughly vetted and investigated. Looks like the investigation is ongoing, and the story is actively developing. However, this doesn’t translate to any of the following points:

1. That China is Imperialist

2. That construction with Chinese involvement (this project was a joint-effort) is worse on average than other available options

3. That China isn’t still the best option among those available to Thailand, Malaysia, and countries in the Global South seeking development in general

Ultimately, your original claims of China being a “bad trading partner” and is doing “economic imperialism” are backed soley by an incredibly recent tragedy that is still undergoing investigation. Even if 100% of the claims posited in your articles are correct, ie that substandard materials were deliberately used and that workers actually ran off with documents for the purpose of hampering investigation efforts, those are all problems that can be dealt with via thorough audits and policy correction.

Engineering and construction failures, by quantity, are fairly common, and when you’re one of the largest construction firms on the planet, it is all but certain that failure isn’t a matter of if, but when. In this manner, it is important to know why certain failures end up emphasized in media and which ones end up going under the radar. Western, english-speaking media has an invested reason to discredit China right now during the tariff war as public opinion on China is shifting to a positive direction, especially since the US passed 1.6 billion dollars in funding anti-PRC media.

That does not excuse any possible malpractice. This is a tragedy, and those responsible, Chinese or not, should be held accountable and punished. Corrective action needs to be taken. However, the investigation is ongoing and the geopolitical context makes it an especially convenient story to signal boost despite still being a developing story.

What matters most is the frequency of failure, and if proper investigations and corrective measures are taken. If the investigation concludes that CREC is responsible, yet no corrective justice occurs and no policy changes implemented, that is when we can begin to speak of China being an untrustworthy trade partner. Using a tragedy as ammo while the facts are still being uncovered leans more towards Sinophobia than genuine concern for the well-being of Malaysian and Thai peoples.

Also, as a side-note, complaining about Communists when commenting on a community with quite a few Communists is pretty childish, and ends up hurting your credibility more than helping you prove a point.

China is a good trading partner, but it isn’t a charity either. BRI is not Imperialism, nor is it charity. BRI allows China to lower shipping costs and increase trade, it gives them more customers to buy their products. Rather than the US, which gives out loans with clauses requiring privatization of key resources that the US can dominate with its immense finance Capital, China focuses on building people up so that they can benefit China in the long run as customers.

There is no real alternative third option between the US and China, unless you want to do something like Cuba or the DPRK are forced into through sanctions and embargo. When comparing the largest and most brutal Empire in the world to a country that focuses on creating more customers to fulfill its own intetests via building up infrastructure, it’s clear which is the better option.

The “neither Washington nor Beijing” crowd implicitly approves of the current US hegemony as there is no alternative fronted by that.

Yep, the reason China hasn’t done it long ago is because it was biding time to build up BRICs and BRI so that it has alternative customers, and thus was more reliant on the US as a consumer. Trump’s strategy likely would have worked in the 90s, but we aren’t in the 90s anymore. Now that the US is destroying economic ties to the PRC, China can respond by severing the US’s ties to Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and SEA. The EU will have to pick either China or the US.

The rug has been pulled many times already, eventually the quantitative buildup will leap to a qualitative shift. Whether the EU lasts long enough for that is a separate question though…

Yep! He probably has some help, but many Chinese write in similarly flowery ways, especially those who rise through the ranks of the CPC due to how its structured.

I also really like Democracy is not an Ornament and Water Droplets Drilling Through Rock.

When I describe my awe upon seeing the power of droplets drilling through rock, I am praising those who have the willingness to rise each time one falls, and the moral character to sacrifice for overall success. I am expressing my admiration for those who develop a solid plan and then have the tenacity to see it through to the end.

The EU has neither the industrial capacity of China nor the immense finances of the US, so the EU itself will have to choose who to rely on. If Australia pivots to the EU, they will be pivoting towards whoever the EU pivots towards.

You’d think they’d learn after repeated rug pulls, hopefully quantitative buildup will leap to qualitative shifts.

Entirely expected, but we will see which way the EU pulls. Right now approval for China is rising while US approval is falling.

The Foreign Minister of China is tweeting Mao speeches regarding Chinese resistance towards the US, so it’s safe to say they likely aren’t going to capitulate anytime soon.

Yep, that’s more why I was asking rather than just calling BS.

Sure, I agree that the US is fighting a losing battle and that the US Working Class will end up paying the most for it.