skells @skells@qoto.org

@yogthos@mastodon.social time will tell, I'm sure.

Have a good evening.

@yogthos@mastodon.social i think you can make a case that the federal US will collapse, but the states will likely stick the landing to varying degrees of success

i.e. the top down governing class (you know, like the soviet and chinese communist regimes) will tumble but the regional governments will manage ok

@yogthos@mastodon.social my contention is that you're still living in the fallout of the USSR because top-down systems atrophy the political instincts of the people

the US has the juice to revitalise itself, believe it or not - try not to guzzle all the propoganda

@yogthos@mastodon.social ...and yet it fell

@yogthos@mastodon.social of course not, can't take away from your personal experience

I know many Russians who consistently deplore the Communist regime; those who spent their entire life under it, are particularly against the USSR.

to draw a line under the debate, I have no doubt that China does a great many things better than the West. I suspect that there may be a Bismarck effect going on, where contradictions are being swept under the rug to the detriment of the political health of the country in the long term (see, Germany, Russia for historical precedents)

I'm ill informed and receiving propaganda from both sides so I agree that I have limited ability to make a call. But please don't imagine that China has circumvented the dangers of power and governance because *Communism* when historically it has such a poor track record.

@yogthos@mastodon.social it was developed in a lab run by the head of bioweapons for the PLA, don't give me shit about responsiblity lol

@yogthos@mastodon.social where in the USSR?

@yogthos@mastodon.social and I encourage you to do the same with people who lived in Communist Russia and beware of anything said by someone under the gaze of a panopticonic social credit system

@yogthos@mastodon.social China dealt with it by closing down internal flights, encouraging flights abroad and influencing the WHO to say nothing was wrong.

@yogthos@mastodon.social also fucking covid lol, thanks Xi, mandate of heaven brewed a spicy one

@yogthos@mastodon.social
as I said, if the Tongs (perhaps I'm using the wrong terminology) have genuine strength then fair enough

the reality is that many of the evils that concern me, lack of civil liberties, freedom of speech, right to protest etc. appear to be basic assumptions of the Chinese system.

Perhaps their people are happier for it but I am skeptical of their reports that everything is hunky dory, as I am skeptical of reports from my own government.

To bring it back to the source of the debate, the state controlling media and public debate is not grounds for a healthy system anywhere, in my view. If you have credible evidence that the Chinese state listens to and is open to vocal opposition then I'm interested to see it.

@yogthos@mastodon.social

the people have no say in how their country is run and opposition is generally met by a sudden disappearance

social and economic stability can be gamed for decades - the low standard of living in China pre-CCP gives plenty of low hanging fruit, when this stops, will the CCP reform to become more responsive to the needs of their people?

where is Jack Ma?

@yogthos@mastodon.social I'm under no illusions about the state of late stage capitalism, particularly in America.

To state outright that the CCP represents the people is not bourne out by their lack of political expression.

Let's assume for sake of arguement that the CCP and the people's interests are well-enough aligned at the moment (forgetting certain authoritarian and genocidal proclivities for the moment...)

What do you do once the low-hanging fruit are plucked? Can the CCP adapt to that situation or will is simply lockdown any and all opposition?

If the Tongs have more power and influence under the hood then I'm willing to listen, but you can sweep a lot of bullshit under the rug when you're in charge of a regime such as the CCP.