I'll state it again, Geth.
This is China we're talking about here.
They care very little about how they get there, just that they get there. They'll do whatever it takes. Whether it's making artificial islands to expand their territory into otherwise international waters, sacrificing their population for the sake of maintaining appearances and stemming panic, using social media platforms to sway public opinion, or harvesting ethnic minorities for organs - there is no low that is too low for them because people are resources, and nothing more.
You don't win trade wars against mindsets like that. Much like in the movie, Wargames, the best move is to not play at all. And the US has been on the receiving end of that treatment as other countries - not just China - take their business elsewhere because we can't be trusted to keep a deal that we've made.
Darth Vader we are not. There are consequences for being all, "I'm altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."
The man is no business genius. It only seemed that way because he was letting big business do everything they wanted to. And while this might sound good, it really isn't - we already have plenty of anecdotal evidence that when you let businesses do whatever they please, there is certainly an initial gain... and then the bubble pops.
I'm no expert by any means, but I'm pretty sure that all we were seeing was a Dead Cat Bounce - that the rally would have been short lived anyhow, regardless of COVID-19. Really, I think the only reason why the economy was getting better was because it was recovering from all the shocks from Trump's trade war - not only with China but seemingly with the rest of the world as well. But like I said, China - hell, the EU and Russia as well - has the resources to weather a trade war with the US for any length of time. The EU because it's the friggin' EU. Russia has their oil reserves, which countries on either side of the continental divide dearly want, sanctions be damned. China because they'll make deals with anyone, no matter whose blood is on the money.
As for minorities...
It's really too early to say for certain. The only information we have as of yet to go on are surveys financed through both public and private means. The data won't truly shake out until the midterms.
But what do I think?
I think that it's an illusion. Enough of the demographic that you would have typically associated with the GOP decided to side with Biden that the share of minority voters appears to be larger. There's also the fact that this election has had a far greater turn-out than the 2016 election.
But even if it isn't and there really were more minorities voting for Trump than the Democrat's candidate this time?
I'd wager that most of the minorities that voted for Trump didn't vote at all in the 2016 election. That, I think, is mainly because Joe seems like a milquetoast example of a man to these people. Given the choice between two rich old white guys, they'll take the one who throws shade over his opponents on Twitter, never mind that he could be better using his time to actually do his damn job.
Trust me, I know the type. They fucking love dickheads and ass holes, because that's what they are, too. I've had to work side by side with people like this, and more often than not they can't hold better jobs because they're really that caustic. Much like people who are homeless not because they lost their job, but because their worldview is so distorted that they can't even get a job.
There's also the culture to take into consideration. Shameful as it is, a lot of these people fucking worship black celebrities like 50 Cent, all because they buy into this mindset that if they're gangsta enough, they could be rich like he is. And 50 Cent is all in favor of Trump because Biden wants to raise taxes on people who make over $400k/year. And these young black men in the inner city all follow what 50 Cent says, never mind that it doesn't matter for them even if they made $150k/year, because they all want to be 50 Cent.
To understand what I'm talking about, look at the cartoon series, The Boondocks. I never liked The Boondocks because I've met way too many people who were the stereotypes depicted in that show. And as bad as it is, those stereotypes exist for a reason. It's a fucked up reason, but unfortunately it's truth. The only difference between The Boondocks and Real Life is that Boondocks takes the caricatures of the real life stereotypes and amps them up to 11 for comedic effect. Otherwise, it's all the same fucked up attitudes and delusions - so much so that it just makes me cringe.
If you need another example, look up the official music video for Childish Gambino's "This is America". (Warning: NSFW) Every aspect of the video is a commentary about how Black culture in America has been shaped, from the facial tics in Gambino's face (A reference to Jim Crow - the character, not the laws that were named for Jim Crow), to the rider on a white horse that gallops through the background (a reference to the film, The Birth of a Nation) Even the school uniforms are a commentary on how they were most often enforced only in public schools in inner city areas with large minority populations, and how it only dehumanized young Black people as well as doing nothing to solve any real issues.
That's the minority vote that Trump is winning, and why I don't make very much of it at all. It's not the ethnicity Trump is trying to win over. It's the culture - one that he would very much like to see remain in place because it suits him, and those like-minded to him.
This is China we're talking about here.
They care very little about how they get there, just that they get there. They'll do whatever it takes. Whether it's making artificial islands to expand their territory into otherwise international waters, sacrificing their population for the sake of maintaining appearances and stemming panic, using social media platforms to sway public opinion, or harvesting ethnic minorities for organs - there is no low that is too low for them because people are resources, and nothing more.
You don't win trade wars against mindsets like that. Much like in the movie, Wargames, the best move is to not play at all. And the US has been on the receiving end of that treatment as other countries - not just China - take their business elsewhere because we can't be trusted to keep a deal that we've made.
Darth Vader we are not. There are consequences for being all, "I'm altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."
The man is no business genius. It only seemed that way because he was letting big business do everything they wanted to. And while this might sound good, it really isn't - we already have plenty of anecdotal evidence that when you let businesses do whatever they please, there is certainly an initial gain... and then the bubble pops.
I'm no expert by any means, but I'm pretty sure that all we were seeing was a Dead Cat Bounce - that the rally would have been short lived anyhow, regardless of COVID-19. Really, I think the only reason why the economy was getting better was because it was recovering from all the shocks from Trump's trade war - not only with China but seemingly with the rest of the world as well. But like I said, China - hell, the EU and Russia as well - has the resources to weather a trade war with the US for any length of time. The EU because it's the friggin' EU. Russia has their oil reserves, which countries on either side of the continental divide dearly want, sanctions be damned. China because they'll make deals with anyone, no matter whose blood is on the money.
As for minorities...
It's really too early to say for certain. The only information we have as of yet to go on are surveys financed through both public and private means. The data won't truly shake out until the midterms.
But what do I think?
I think that it's an illusion. Enough of the demographic that you would have typically associated with the GOP decided to side with Biden that the share of minority voters appears to be larger. There's also the fact that this election has had a far greater turn-out than the 2016 election.
But even if it isn't and there really were more minorities voting for Trump than the Democrat's candidate this time?
I'd wager that most of the minorities that voted for Trump didn't vote at all in the 2016 election. That, I think, is mainly because Joe seems like a milquetoast example of a man to these people. Given the choice between two rich old white guys, they'll take the one who throws shade over his opponents on Twitter, never mind that he could be better using his time to actually do his damn job.
Trust me, I know the type. They fucking love dickheads and ass holes, because that's what they are, too. I've had to work side by side with people like this, and more often than not they can't hold better jobs because they're really that caustic. Much like people who are homeless not because they lost their job, but because their worldview is so distorted that they can't even get a job.
There's also the culture to take into consideration. Shameful as it is, a lot of these people fucking worship black celebrities like 50 Cent, all because they buy into this mindset that if they're gangsta enough, they could be rich like he is. And 50 Cent is all in favor of Trump because Biden wants to raise taxes on people who make over $400k/year. And these young black men in the inner city all follow what 50 Cent says, never mind that it doesn't matter for them even if they made $150k/year, because they all want to be 50 Cent.
To understand what I'm talking about, look at the cartoon series, The Boondocks. I never liked The Boondocks because I've met way too many people who were the stereotypes depicted in that show. And as bad as it is, those stereotypes exist for a reason. It's a fucked up reason, but unfortunately it's truth. The only difference between The Boondocks and Real Life is that Boondocks takes the caricatures of the real life stereotypes and amps them up to 11 for comedic effect. Otherwise, it's all the same fucked up attitudes and delusions - so much so that it just makes me cringe.
If you need another example, look up the official music video for Childish Gambino's "This is America". (Warning: NSFW) Every aspect of the video is a commentary about how Black culture in America has been shaped, from the facial tics in Gambino's face (A reference to Jim Crow - the character, not the laws that were named for Jim Crow), to the rider on a white horse that gallops through the background (a reference to the film, The Birth of a Nation) Even the school uniforms are a commentary on how they were most often enforced only in public schools in inner city areas with large minority populations, and how it only dehumanized young Black people as well as doing nothing to solve any real issues.
That's the minority vote that Trump is winning, and why I don't make very much of it at all. It's not the ethnicity Trump is trying to win over. It's the culture - one that he would very much like to see remain in place because it suits him, and those like-minded to him.