Category: China

RE: The emergence of postmodernism

Nietzsche thought there is no meaning out there, nothing outside Plato’s cave. The crisis of the “death of God” – we killed God. Meaning has no support and romanticism was presented as an alternative to scientific disenchantment with nature and the world. Art and creativity were placed against science. But the romantic became jaded.

The “Over (new) man” or “last man”: Existentialism, deconstructionism, and pragmatism emerged from the ruins. The crisis was that reason no longer exists. Nietzche was interested in philology and culture.

From “Beyond Good and Evil”

This work is aphoristic and poetic, not systematic, but colorful.

1. – The will to truth and the will to untruth.
Why do we want truth? We live by falsifying the world. Man creates fictions. Fictions can have good consequences, such as generated in great architecture.
– The will to truth and the will to power.
The philosopher tells a story and wants to persuade others by it. To Nietzsche, Plato has the “most dangerous” purveyor of errors and inventions. The world of Plato distracts. Instead we have nihilism, nothing. Christianity is Platonism for the people. Heaven does not exist and desire is what we are left with. There is a complex interplay with “how do we live in this world?”

2. Naturalism / autonomy.
Freud described our basic thoughts. Nietsche made reality. He believed the ultimate philosophical activity is the creation of values. All morality is a fight against reality.
The poet takes language and through controlled form creates a sonnet. He unleashes beauty and power. We are autonomous value creators. Value of the Good is something out there outside of us.

3. Subjective values and firm value judgements.
The Master morality seeks suffering and a natural awareness of death; a man who creates new values.
The Slave morality involves fear of suffering and growth. Dogs don’t worry. You too can escape and prevent suffering and never worry about death by becoming animals. The “Last man” has only basic biology needs.

4. The misanthrope and the humanist.
Nietzsche “defended humanity” against mediocre and sickly Europeans. It was a warning to them. (See WWII.)

While things are happening here, Russia and China are conducting joint military drills.

China has been warned by NATO leaders that its strategic economic and industrial partnership with Russia cannot continue without consequences:

“The PRC cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation.” (NATO on China the enabler)

This support of Russia probably has some reciprocity in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan. While one war is on Biden’s watch, another may start because of a lack of response.

Xi and Putin don’t care who’s woke.

The administration only now takes notice after it’s been in service?

This type of thing is getting more brazen, patrolling and lurking

So what’s going with the totalitarians over there right now?

– EU tarrifs on Chinese EVs are making the CCP unhappy and Beijing is discouraging other countries from going to the Global Peace Summit in retaliation. It is promoting a Ukrainian-sponsored peace plan instead.
– The PLA has deployed J20 fighters around the border with India.
– China has been accused of selling more garbage counterfeits goods, this time (intentionally?) to Boeing and Airbus.
– New Zealand is having to deal with security interference and intimidation of Chinese ethnicities in New Zealand.
– PLA is still continuing its expansion into the South China Sea with building up its island bases and nuke vessels of deterrence.

Besides that, they’re “friends.”

Beware this American (Chinese) news app featuring their news. The AI problems here range from inconvenience to danger. Never trust an app without some research.

China is not happy about their downgrade with Fitch.

The CCP has been sending its young men to “invade” the U.S. southern border. A strange thing since we don’t know the benefit to the Party. These are men in their 20s, which would suggest they may not be married and are therefore free of reliance on the family and on the Chinese government. I don’t know if the Right is correct here. It may not be a military action.

But one thing is for sure: Chinese culture is pulling ahead. While our youth (Gen Z) are drawn into the use of China’s TikTok and other social media, their youth are studying to be engineers. It’s really shameful. Seeing some man on the street videos recently, I am disheartened that we can’t get it together. Gen Z know a lot about what they should speak, but not how.

Other events, like the Chinese selling fentanyl and the spy balloon crossing the continent, point toward the Biden administration either not giving a crap, being careless, or worst of all, doing these things purposefully. I don’t want to say that last one is true, but these actions are evil (fentanyl) or provocative (balloon). One asks why the Chinese are proliferating a drug that is deadly. Wouldn’t it be better to keep your junkies coming back instead of killing them?

It just goes to show that the friendly Chinese are not that.

China has its tentacles into our
infrastructure. While the nation is diverted with other important issues. Also been watching the border situation get worse. When mainstream media outlets report on the issue then you know it’s not fake news.
“Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 37,000 Chinese citizens were apprehended as they illegally crossed the border; that’s 50 times more than two years earlier.”

Chaos reigns.

A number of things are going on around the globe concerning China:

– China is only calling for a two-state solution in Israel, not condemning Hamas. It seems the efforts to support a cease-fire are only words; Beijing is leveraging anti-Israel sentiment to enhance its standing. This is all to do with China’s desire to challenge U.S. authority and standing in the world.

– Beijing has not said a thing about the Houthi attacks on civilian shipping in the Red Sea. The crimes and threats there don’t seem to be a bother to Xi. Again this comes down to Chins wanting a geopolitical advantage over the United States. China says the U.S. is creating chaos and offers no support to solving that problem.

– A regional war over Taiwan could cost the world $10 trillion.

– And, of course, China is saber-rattling over Taiwan’s upcoming election. They’re pushing “US skepticism” and sowing doubt about our alliance. Because of Beijing’s disinformation campaigns Taiwan opinion about the U.S. may be changing and Taiwan’s geostrategic importance is evident.

– Tibet, ethnic Uyghurs, Mongolians, and Manchus; Beijing is seeking to erase Tibetan identity like it has done with those people groups.

This is all happening while the wars in Ukraine and Israel are taking place.

It’s pretty audacious of the CCP to rewrite the Bible. To do that, they are truly an atheistic government, an in-your-face move. I know it may seem unrelated, but the CCP’s desire for Taiwan is similar in that they have no qualms about letting their intents be clearly made. As one of the biggest human rights abusers (Uighur, Christian, minorities, and democratic protestors), their boldness is stark.

Domestically, the real estate crisis is serious. The Evergrande collapse is a harbinger, and their credit has just been downgraded.

They are building new coal-burning plants every month and are the largest polluters worldwide; they can’t be reined in. But do the greens care? Strangely, the Left pulls out their Chinese flags, and Newsom cleans up the streets just for them. That’s been in the news a lot, but it’s worth noting.

Note it against the backdrop of Palestinian flags and chants of “from the river to the sea.”

“The official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated. One does not need to read between the lines, one can read the lines.”
-Elon Musk

I’m trying not to be pessimistic, but I read that the U.S. lost 18 successive war games with a force representing China. Things are not looking good. The invasion of Taiwan may result in our humiliation.

For short term riches, we’ve given up our economic advantages as well. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have failed to curb Chinese territorial expansion. Other countries around the world have also sold land and water to China for short term gains.

Saw a different assessment about China timeline for attack by late September. Others have pushed it as far as 2025. The Taiwan strait is the most dangerous waterway in the world. I have faith in our men and women in uniform, our leadership not so much.

On a separate note, I’ve also seen the various edits of the Bible by the party. Today, the verses recounting Christ’s reaction to those who would have stoned the woman for adultery–he who is without sin cast the first stone–had added to them Jesus saying he too is a sinner and stoning her himself. Certainly strange and blasphemous.

The CCP is our and the world’s biggest worry.