We're seeing increased pressure in the imperial core to reinvest in public funding for industry and social programs due to competition from a large socialist project.

This happened throughout the first cold war, so it's telling to see the same patterns re-emerging.

Something I missed a couple months ago - The Senate Overwhelmingly Passed a Bill to Bolster Competitiveness With China

Passed back in June, the "Innovation and Competition Act" only really picked up support when it was renamed from the "Endless Frontier Act" and positioned as being an anti-China bill.

The more than 2,400-page bill greenlit almost $250 billion in funding for U.S. manufacturing and technology. It passed with a 68-32 vote in a Senate that has otherwise been mostly gridlocked by electoralist excuses (parliamentarian, manchin, fillibuster, etc).

Really telling quote from a Republican senator at the end of the linked article:

“Frankly, I think China has left us no option but to make these investments,”

Another quote with Schumer saying the quiet part out loud again:

“They [China] believe that squabbling democracies like ours can’t come together and invest in national priorities the way a top-down, centralized and authoritarian government can. They are rooting for us to fail so they can grab the mantle of global economic leadership and own the innovations.” - source.

A spokesperson from China's foreign ministry said that bill was “full of cold war zero-sum thinking” that “distorts the facts [and] smears China’s development path and domestic and foreign policies". - Source

In a strange way, this could result in some benefits for those workers trapped in the Imperial Core as it could potentially lead to renewed spending on social programs, especially as China's standard of living continues to improve.

I unfortunately don't view that as a net positive since we're already experiencing a spike in anti-Asian hate crimes, but it is interesting to see Capitalism's ongoing response to its global power being challenged for the first time in decades.

What other examples of this have you noticed? Were benefits like the (still underwhelming) stimulus payments also caused by this pressure?

    • SiskoDid2ThingsWrong [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Anyone reading this better be learning mandarin

      Honestly we joke about this here, to the point that some people seem to be taking it seriously and trying to learn Chinese, but it should be made aware to all that China has restrictive as fuck immigration policies. It's not enough to learn Chinese and meet some cute Chinese girl, you like have to be a well respected electrical engineer to even have a shot at Chinese citizenship. You can work there, live there, build a fucking life there, but actual citizenship for expats is borderline impossible unless you in the exact right position.

          • GoneWithYourWind [des/pair]
            ·
            3 years ago

            By the time they take over americans will welcome them with open arms to escape the hellworld the rich are creating for us

              • GoneWithYourWind [des/pair]
                ·
                3 years ago

                Because after WW2 the US bought off the allegiance of the working class with the GI Bill and a homeownership middle class society. They did that because 1946 had the most strikes in US history, and the standards of living in the USSR were starting to put the US to shame, and they could because they were the only capitalist power not destroyed in the war and so had plenty of money and productive capacity.

                They have no reason to do that now.

                • SiskoDid2ThingsWrong [none/use name]
                  ·
                  3 years ago

                  They have no reason to do that now.

                  I mean China may give them one. Wouldn’t be surprised if being a DemSucc started becoming more socially acceptable again once the big wigs realize Sabre rattling at China ain’t gonna cut it.

                  • GoneWithYourWind [des/pair]
                    ·
                    3 years ago

                    Yeah they may well have one soon. Which i think is why the infrastructure bill passed.

                    Let’s hope. Homeless camps everywhere fucking sucks.

                    • SiskoDid2ThingsWrong [none/use name]
                      ·
                      3 years ago

                      This county saw not inconsiderable uprisings after George Floyd’s murder. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have some sort of Bell Riots type incident in the near future that maybe motivates the bourgeois to go “shit we should probably throw the rabble a bone before they start kicking our doors in”.

      • bbnh69420 [she/her, they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I personally am not trying to immigrate, as much as I loved visiting the PRC, but in anticipation of mandarin becoming a much more useful language to know generally

      • FidelCashflow [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I'll roll the dice. By 2050 with a decent level of hsk and some education there is a good chance they will take defectors. If not, I will still have a skill in the most connomly spoken language on earth used by the new global super power. So I'll find some use for it.

        Maybe if I get a tatto of mao they'll know I am serious.