https://twitter.com/Slasher/status/1291552038455775233?s=19
If trump manages to ban league, fortnite and tiktok in a single executive order there will be a zoomer rebellion the very next day
Counterpoint; he has found a wedge issue between zoomers and millennial socialists.
Put me down for storming the white house but I don't know if I can bring myself to install league of legends in solidarity.
The sinophobic shit seems kinda pointless now, but every day that goes by America's global hegemony seems to weaken just a little bit more, while China's position only gets stronger. The folks who benefit the most from American imperialism are absolutely involved in this, and they're playing the long game. They will spend years trying to topple the Chinese government and then turn it into a fractured and defenseless basket case a la the former USSR. All to prevent any challenge to American hegemony. But they're also working to make Americans fear China more and more every day in case they can't topple the CCP so then they go to plan B, a hot war - very possibly nuclear - against China.
The sinophobic lunacy is not the banning of these companies as much as it is the reasons they're listing.
It's incredibly common that countries raise tarriffs or block imports from countries who do not allow you to operate in their country in a comparable way. Tik tok is garanteed to make a shit ton of money from their US business, and because big tech can't do the same in China, banning it is totally reasonable by basically every globally standard geopolitical practice.
I should make it clear first that I am in no way an anti China person.
This said China absolutely requires American companies to sell majority equity stakes in investments into China. It's an incredibly common practice there and elsewhere. It's a critical part of how virtually every country that's become wealthy has been able to make it happen.
Microsoft operating in China is absolutely different than what's happening with tik tok. America has not banned Chinese enterprise software companies from operating in the US at all, they haven't banned Chinese video game companies either. China as a matter of fact had revoked the right of companies such as Facebook in particular from operating in China after they had already been operating there by creating new laws such as what's happening in the US.
A better question is why are you defending the principal's of free trade when it comes to the tech industry when it's well established that the existence of free trade has absolutely desimated the working class of western nation's. This is absolutely no different than that. European nation's are foolish for allowing American tech companies to operate their if we're being honest instead of forcing something to he built domestically.
I agree that the jingoistic stuff is dumb and what was done to the Huawei CFO was weird.
I deeply disagree with Stollers position on China and find him to be an unhinged fool on virtually every foreign policy topic.
It's absolutely rediculous that you're defending free trade in a leftist forum though, and are blatently refusing to accept the fact that that's how the problem with tik tok can very reasonably be perceived.
Huawei bans are absolutely a different thing and are much more unhinged than what's happening with tik tok. The Huawei stuff massively hurt American enterprise as the electronics industry is highly globalized and integrated. That is not the case with tik tok and banning them presents virtually no risk to currently existing American jobs.
Just so we're clear here, I'd be against blocking any foreign enterprise from operating in any other country in any case where they do not allow an equal class of such corporations from operating freely in their country. If Sweden decided to ban Twitter I'd be in support for if the US banned Spotify in retaliation.
It is literally the job of the American government to protect American jobs, yes only American jobs should matter to the American government, just as China was correct to build out their own tech platforms as to create these jobs within their own country rather than being taken advantage of by the US. For far too long, the US government has favored private capital over building up domestic enterprises, but a tik tok ban alongside aspects of the various trade wars of the past few years are good. It was a key piece of Sanders platform to end PNTR and to protect American industry in this exact way.
And as I've said before we are not talking about Huawei at all and I think what happened there was completely unhinged. American capital has played a considerable role in the financing of bytedance so any damage a tiktok ban does to them hurts the American venture capital sector anyways.
I'm sorry that I view the status quo as set by the devos types that run the world trade organization as being a fundemental threat to the advancement of working class interests. There's a reason why Xi goes to speak at davos and talks about the dangers of populism in its desire to roll back aspects of free trade.
Signalling to everyone that it's 100% political and nothing to do with national security in the process.
If it were national security it would be ALL properties, since they could use any of their properties in exactly the same way.
Wait does this actually affect League? That's going to be interesting to watch the reaction to if so haha
This shit is popping up everywhere. The point of the executive order is to ban WeChat, and WeChat is single out. It doesn't matter what other things Tencent own.
I'm pretty sure one of those companies also has a stake in Reddit, though. Please ban Reddit, Mr. President.
