147
I do not understand any of this lemmy integration hootenanny. You’re all on Hexbear now
I think “sufficient development” to China means that it can’t get kicked out anymore for being too important. Too high tech, too much resource control, too much production, too wealthy, and most importantly TOO INTEGRATED.
China already has the WTO by the balls by tying the economy of THE global economic hegemon (USA) to Chinese industry. China could likely live on without the US, though certainly not without stress and careful planning. The US, on the other hand, could not simply find a new China. Frankly, it is evident in US foreign policy that the US knows this as well. There is no other critical game to the US outside of China. People will say Russia, or the Middle East, but they really are just peanuts comparatively. Whether it is combatting China, reigning in China, or trying to be technologically superior to China, almost all US foreign policy ties back into China somehow. I’d even argue that US policy towards Russia is simply an extension of US policy towards China at this point.
Evo Morales, if you’re reading this…
It’s the exact same reason why Russia has been so difficult to sanction/restrict for western nations since the invasion of Ukraine.
Financial sanctions work really well on countries who have no industry and are basically only in the business of ways to move money around. The west all sanctioned Russia and expected it to immediately collapse, except they forgot that they are only a small part of the world and that Russia is not only in the business of just moving money around and actually produces tangible goods.
No matter how much you say “you can’t sell that here!” regarding a tangible good, somebody somewhere will buy it. The same applies to China for many, many examples, but most recently is the electric vehicle debacle. “Oh I can’t sell these in Europe or America? Whatever, I’ll just outcompete you elsewhere. Goodbye global market share.”
A very common misconception, actually. You might be even more surprised that for a long time, not even the USSR’s mineral resources were all state owned, nor was the mineral refining process.
In fact, here’s a bit of very interesting socialist history: During the first ever 5 year plan, the USSR was unknowingly committing one of the most heinous acts in history, and nobody seems to know about it. The USSR sought foreign expertise in the oil refining sector, and signed a contract with none other than the Koch brothers’ father, Fred C. Koch, to build 15 oil refineries that ended up making him extremely wealthy.
Link to the book if you have one? Either way, I’ll request that my library pick up a copy
No sectarianism pls
“Omg ________ in shambles”
Exactly. By carefully monitoring/pruning back capital and thus never allowing the power of capital to supercede the power of the state, you are put in a position where you can take advantage of capitalist development while never truly allowing it to gain a centralized chokehold over state power itself. You get to mitigate the most negative pieces of capitalist development while also getting to utilize all that it has already developed both domestically and in terms of the global market where, once integrated, there is no unified capitalist power which can (or would even want to) oppose your participation and continued development.
Somebody needs to make this to sell on Etsy or redbubble or something so the ghoul Biden campaign doesn’t get $22 to continue not doing anything to help lgbtq+ people
266
The Chinese government has introduced a slew of new measures designed to tighten its grip on lucrative natural resources used in everything from electric cars to wind turbines. In a list released by the country's State Council on Saturday, Beijing declared that rare earth metals are the property of the state and warned "no organization or person may encroach on or destroy rare-earth resources." From Oct. 1, when the rules come into force, the government will operate a rare earth traceability database to ensure it can control the extraction, use and export of the metals. China currently produces around 60 percent of the world's rare earth metals, and is the origin of around 90 percent of refined rare earths on the market. Advertisement
Beijing has already prohibited exports of rare earth refining and magnet manufacturing technologies. In January, it banned the export of gallium and germanium, both highly sought after by the computer-chip industry. Fears that China is looking to exert control over the industry, and could disrupt critical technology, automotive and renewable energy supply chains, have sparked a race to shore up supplies from alternative suppliers. Both the U.S. and the EU have launched efforts to procure rare earths at home and abroad, including in Vietnam, Brazil and Australia. A year ago, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced construction of the first large-scale rare earth refinery outside of Asia, located in Estonia. She said the move would "bolster European resilience and security of supply."
A 2022 analysis from the European Parliament warned that over-reliance on monopolistic suppliers was a major risk for Europe. "The EU imports 93 percent of its magnesium from China, 98 percent of its borate from Turkey, and 85 percent of its niobium from Brazil. Russia produces 40 percent of the world's palladium," it said. "The latter is a reminder of the strategic implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the need for the EU to prepare for an increasingly uncertain world."
The EU has launched a probe into anti-competitive trading allegations against the Chinese electric vehicle market, which benefits from heavy government subsidies and preferential access to essential rare earth metals. Earlier this month, the two sides agreed they would host consultations in order to try and resolve the standoff.
That last paragraph really is so damning. It is admitting the superiority of China’s central planning and how it is being used to actually improve society. ”But at what cost?”
Well, apparently the cost is that shares of China’s largest rare earth mineral mining firm have gone up 5% since the announcement. China proving socialists right every single day and absolutely crushing the capitalist development speedrun challenge. It’s genuinely hilarious that the development plan of China runs basically like what I’ll describe below, and capitalist nations are just completely incapable of stopping it from happening because the power of capital is greater than the power of their states.
“hmmm yes, today I will invest in the Chinese rare earth mineral market. Since China controls 90% of global production and all of the infrastructure is in place, all I have to do is bring my money, tech, and expertise with me and I’ll carve myself some serious profit! Easy money!”
“Ahh yes thank you for the help developing our mining industry/technology Mr. Foreign Capital. We appreciate your business and you had a great run, but unfortunately for you we have nationalized your mineral resources. The extractive capitalism will now stop. Feel free to reinvest elsewhere or compete with us on the global market tho :)”
”China is nationalizing its rare earth minerals, but at what cost? We need to ban China from–“
”Wait omg is that another investment opportunity in China where I can bring in my capital/technology/expertise to make some money? Hell yeah, where do I sign?”
Rinse and repeat
39
I am not trying to assert that Israel killed every single one of these people, but these kinds of forced mass migration/exodus events have historically been one of the main methods employed by genocidal entities in order to slaughter populations en masse. This is so fucking grim.
Reminder: it’s antisemitic to ask what happened to the other 1.33 million Palestinians that were in Rafah.
217
The New York Public Library is shitting on its own mayor for having terrible policy lmao
(hexbear.net)
Anyway, the NYPD paid out $58 million in overtime just to fly helicopters alone last year
119
“We were elected to implement an aggressive reform program. And that is what we are doing now. We now have three years without further elections ahead of us, our performance will be assessed in 2027.”
It almost sounds like a threat from the conservative Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. His centre-right party Nea Dimokratia With 28.3 percent of the vote, it easily took first place in the European elections, almost twice as many as the left-wing opposition party Syriza (14.9 percent). However, it remained far below the 33 percent target set by Mitsotakis.
The reason given was the currently largest It rises of the Greeks: the high Cost of living,According to the Bank of Greece, 27 percent of the Greek population spends more than 40 percent of their income on housing costs.
Mitsotakis wants to counteract this – and focuses on employer-friendly measureswhich, however, causes the unions and left-wing politicians to cry out.
Employees must be informed 24 hours in advance
From 1 July Employers may invite their employees to Six-day week This will make Greece the first country in the EU to introduce a 41-hour working week. Previously, this was only possible in the tourism and food industries, but now the arrangement of a sixth working day is permitted for all private and publicly controlled industries (but not civil servants). The employee must have at least 24 hours before For the sixth working day, a Surcharge von 40 percent of the daily wage; 115 percent if the day falls on a public holiday.
Overtime is not possible. The day must be entered into a system that is to be controlled by the state.
This is intended to ensure that “industrial companies with rotating shift work and highly specialised staff do not have to interrupt their processes,” quotes the HE DOES the Greek Ministry of Labour. Furthermore, every employee also has the right to eleven consecutive hours off work per day or night and to 24 hours every seven days.
Up to two jobs
But critics stress that workers are already under a lot of pressure: wages are too low, and many Greeks are forced to work two jobs to cover the cost of living – about eight hours a day in one job and up to five hours a day in the other.
Also that the Right of termination to be relaxed, will tighten working conditions: employers are to be first year can dismiss the employee at any time. Mitsotakis wants to encourage companies to hire more people: The Unemployment rate in Greece is twice as high as the Eurozone average (2023: 10.9 percent). Social security contributions employers should be reduced. A reduction in the VATwhich is often seen by left-wing economists as an effective measure to combat inflation, the Prime Minister vehemently rules out.
Protest by trade unions in September of last year when the law passed parliament.
Many working hours, but little productivity:
Economists have long complained about the low labour productivity in Greece – one of the lowest in the EU, while Greek workers already have the longest working hours in Europe compared to the EU. The German Federal Statistical Office According to 2022, an average of 41 hours per week, the European average was 37 hours per week. In Austria The average working hours per week were 35.7. The lowest value was reported for the Netherlands at 31.3 hours per week – due to the high proportion of employed people in part-time employment (43.4 percent).
We need to focus on increasing productivity and automating processes, otherwise the competitiveness of the country is not sustainable. This could also be achieved with a Reduction of working hours cites the HE DOES the head of the German-Greek Chamber of Industry and CommerceAthanassios Kelemis.
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I had a PTO request for this week approved months ago. Then about 3 weeks ago my manager told me that they need me to not take that PTO and it’s been un-approved. I told her that’s ridiculous because my plans are already set, and I’m going to be going on my vacation. They told me it’s officially unapproved, the PTO has been readded to my PTO pool, and that if I go on vacation I’ll receive disciplinary action.
So in about an hour when we all leave the office, I’m going to be leaving my printed out PTO approval on my desk, and go on my vacation worry free. Go ahead and try to fire me you clowns. If you fail, I got my vacation and apparently I also got my PTO back. If you do fire me, good luck beating my unemployment claim lol