Replies: @Blinky Bill, @sudden death, @Wokechoke, @RadicalCenter

It's hard to say when the US economy will stagnate. In the last 10 years (from 2014 to estimated 2023 GDP) the US economy has held up really well for an advanced economy. But as discussed before the US is not living within its means. It can go on for another 5-10 years? 20 years?

I asked ChatGPT to calculate the numbers below for GDP growth for major countries:

India (2,039,127 million USD in 2014; 3,736,882 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: 83.2%
China (10,524,241 million USD in 2014; 19,373,586 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: 82.2%
United States (17,550,675 million USD in 2014; 26,854,599 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: 53.1%
Germany (3,890,095 million USD in 2014; 4,308,854 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: 12.8%
Russia (2,048,836 million USD in 2014; 2,062,649 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: 1.67%
France (2,856,701 million USD in 2014; 2,923,489 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: 2.34%
United Kingdom (3,066,819 million USD in 2014; 3,158,938 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: 3.00%
Japan (4,896,995 million USD in 2014; 4,409,738 million USD in 2023) - Growth rate: -10.0%

Replies: @Blinky Bill

Reminds me of this video:
https://funker530.com/video/nsfw-grenade-lands-directly-on-russian-soldier/

Replies: @Ivashka the fool

https://youtu.be/O0ikW7pVa_I

Replies: @Ivashka the fool

The painting is about RusFed, not US. The painter is a patriotic Orthodox Christian. As I wrote earlier, do not underestimate the Russian capacity of self-derision and talent towards sarcasm. When the same painter painted Xi Jinping and the Youth of the World, that German Reader has pionted at, this painter probably was just as ironic. There is no ethnic Russian kids around the CCP leader, that is if one doesn't see the Mordvinian girl to the left as the symbol of RusFed (which would be funny). One has to have an eye for that details and understand the sociocultural references.

https://www.art-katalog.com/upload/gallery/26225.jpg

BTW, what did you think of my Hilux/Tacoma comment?

It's Hilux in Australia, but Tacoma in North America...

😉

Replies: @A123, @Blinky Bill

Kundera had his aversion to Dostoievsky in common with another talented individual, namely Chubais.

It's quite natural, for anyone who self- alignes with core Western values of pragmatism and self-gratification, cannot really appreciate what Dostoievsky represents.

Sucking up to the West in Kundera's times might have been understandable for an anti-Soviet dissident (although see Zinoviev or Shafarevich who were an order of magnitude smarter than Kundera was).

Sucking to what the West is becoming today, strikes me as a debatable strategy of personal self-identification.

Anyway, since reading him many decades ago, I have always thought of Kundera as a shallow thinker.

But then, to each his own.

As an aside, I have already written that your russophobic bias prevents you from seeing a very simple truth that when Russians are gone for good, you will be left alone to face Islam and the raising power of China/Asia. There is a joke I heard once in Tallinn when I visited there in the eighties: "Куркули ждут не дождутся когда по телику объявят что на Финско-Китайской границе всё спокойно". Perhaps that is what you also would want as a Lithuanian.

Your people are a small (although quite valiant and historically very significant) nation, be careful what kind of neighbors you wish for your folks. You could end up with worse than Russians...

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @LatW

you still get more than twice as many people as Europe has (currently ~750 million).
 

Replies: @AnonfromTN, @Blinky Bill

The original natives are related to Filipinos
 

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @AP, @China Japan and Korea Bromance of Three Kingdoms

Trump is the most hawkish on China.
 

Some of these seem to be itching for a fight with China; I am not.
 

Replies: @AP, @A123, @Barbarossa

A few more words on the military regime: I may have understated the economic catastrophe their policies have wrought on Egypt. My family is somewhat insulated from Egyptian economic turbulence because of our Saudi nationality, but I just had a conversation with my friends yesterday on the political and economic situation in Egypt, and it really brought home the extent of the military regime’s incompetence and repressiveness.

As I mentioned, the currency has lost 76%+ of its value since Sisi took office, and further devaluations are expected over the coming months. For comparison, it took 50 years for the US dollar to devalue by 86%, from 1972 to 2022. Inflation in Egypt is now running at an all-time high of 40%+, and we are at risk of heading towards Weimar levels of hyperinflation unless Gulf States and IMF bail Egypt out. The Gulf Arab states and IMF were fairly generous with Egypt in the past, but they are now fed up and have resisted Sisi's calls for more aid.

They've indicated that only deep restructuring of the Egyptian economy will make them inclined to help, basically telling Sisi that the military needs to cease involvement in economic affairs and privatize all its assets. The military regime is reluctant to off-load these assets since it is a tool for control and self-enrichment.

The military honchos have alienated practically all major sections of Egyptian society, including people who were previously supportive of their coup (nearly half the country). My friends yesterday were unanimous in their negative appraisal, we all agreed that Mubarak was a near-saint compared to Al-Sisi. The major issue with the latter is his ruthlessness, incompetence and massive ego. I recall an interview he gave early on in his presidency, where he stated that he had dreamt Anwar Sadat had given him a white sword, commanding Sisi to "fulfill his duty" and rescue the Egyptian nation or some such. As is typical of tinpot military dictators, he is surrounded by yes men and other obsequies subordinates, who follow through on his every half-baked vanity project without thought as to the consequences of such massive spending.

One of my friends mentioned that a family friend of his was arrested arbitrarily for a business issue, but was released when the Saudi government pleaded on his behalf. He also knows a prominent media figure who dislikes the military regime privately, but is forced to shill for them on TV. He is planning to retire and move abroad even though his income is substantial. Another related that a prominent businessman was threatened with blackmail by the government, who had tapped his cellular and online communications. These sort of anecdotes are enlightening since you don’t hear much about them in the media, whether at home or abroad. I usually tend to dismiss movie-like stories like these, but in Egypt conspiracies and dirty dealings tend to be true more often than not.

There is a widespread rumor in Egypt that the military had rigged the 2012 election in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood, so that they can orchestrate a coup later and seize power. This one i’m somewhat skeptical of, but there is little doubt the election was rigged in some manner; and the military undeniably did actively sabotage the Muslim Brotherhood regime (by cutting off electricity several times) in an attempt to wrestle control.

I’ve unfortunately come to the conclusion that this country is worthless and a total dead-end. The quality of human capital outside the relatively small civilized elite is a complete joke. Some of my friends were drafted to the military and told stories of our compatriots, who if anything I was too generous in my previous assessments. If only people were far-sighted enough to understand the importance of fertility differentials, then maybe there would be a chance at improvement. Unfortunately, very few do, so Egypt will remain a dysfunctional shithole for the foreseeable future.

At any rate, I will be headed to London soon on another excursion. Yesterday I joked that the only solution to Egypt’s governance problems is to have the British re-colonize the place. Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement. I was only half-serious though; being ruled by a Western woke regime is probably not a good idea. But in retrospect it was a mistake to depose the British-controlled King of Egypt; the country would’ve been slightly better off had he stayed. Best current option is to resurrect the banner of pan-Arabism and hand over the keys to the Hashemite dynasty of Jordan. Almost impossible in the present political landscape though.

Replies: @Sher Singh, @Blinky Bill, @Dmitry

What is glaring is that there has never been in the history of TUR a Chinese or even NE Asian blogger.
 

There is not one writer about East Asia on Unz who knows anything worth paying attention to.
 

Replies: @Anonymous, @Twinkie

“And given Taiwan’s importance strategically, I don’t oppose America defending it’s sovereignty”

In that case, Liz Cheney is your candidate, although Nikki and Pence should also deliver
 

Btw, right now it’s looking like a Biden-Trump redux next year. You and Mr. Hack may have to vote Democrat. Trump would likely forget his anti-war rhetoric once in the White House but Biden is the only guarantee of a continuous military support for Ukraine.
 

Replies: @Wokechoke, @Mikel, @Mr. XYZ

I was replying to sudden death's posting about Russians dying out (they are dying out with a TFR of 1,3 children per woman) and RusFed being islamized by a higher TFR Russian Muslims and the immigrants from Central Asia. Thing is, if Russia is islamized, then Europe would be. The first link to young Russian nationalists (Сыны монархии) discussing about the Islamisation of RusFed on YouTube, didn't post properly but I believe it works if someone has time to spend watching it and knows the language.

The video of the German convert yelling is actually anti-islamic or at least anti-Salafi. It was posted on an anti-islamic channel that uses early Islamic sources to show that Islam is a dead end and is not a fair system it pretends to be. Salafi Islam is a dead end - no doubt about it, one has only to look at Afghanistan. Sufi Islam and Shiah in all their diverse manifestations are more open, there is more potential for evolution. But it is the Salafists who are leading the spread of Islam, not the Sufi.

Bottom line, I am quite confident that Islam would opporrunistically spread in the postmodern and decadent West, just like it is spreading in the corrupt and confused RusFed.

There is nothing to celebrate here or gloat about. It's like a man drowning slowly gloating about a man drowning faster than him.

Houellebecq's Submission novel is premonitory.

As is Мечеть парижской богоматери.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%8C_%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B6%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8

Replies: @sudden death, @LatW, @John Johnson, @S, @Blinky Bill, @Coconuts

My favorite type. She’s typically Korean, but is actually from southeastern China (Fujian),
 

However, I find it unfortunate that too many Chinese have the same last name - Chen. I collaborate with two with this last name, one from big China, the other from Taiwan. I had an excellent grad student with the same last name (now she is an Assistant professor in Indiana). They are all very different, and it's a shame that ~150 million Chinese share the last name Chen.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

https://youtu.be/chWm4uz1PLQ

Replies: @Blinky Bill

That actually isn't a bad idea. And Taiwan doesn't have violent underclass Hispanic and especially black populations that could exploit lax gun laws to dangerous effect. East Asians are very non-crime-prone, thankfully.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

The more important question, though, is why should the US be the arbiter of whether an island that has historically belonged to China should reunite with the mainland or not. I actually think it shouldn’t, if that’s what the islanders want, but Americans losing their lives to prevent that happening is as ridiculous as the Chinese trying to be the arbiters of the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US and using their military to impose their preferred status of that relationship.
 

Replies: @Mikel, @Blinky Bill, @Sher Singh

Here is a Yamato man with an interesting phenotype, or perhaps it's merely an attempt at Western affectation.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/OKAWA_Shumei.jpg/440px-OKAWA_Shumei.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Okawa_Shumei_c.jpg

I'm sure you would agree Shūmei Ōkawa was also a very interesting fellow.

He would of made an excellent Unz/Karlistan commenter.

For those unfamiliar with the chap, he was best know in the West as the Japanese Goebbels, but that doesn't do justice to the man. He was also a polyglot polymath, German, French, English, Sanskrit, Pali and Arabic. He also completed a Japanese translation of the Quran and translated many of the Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov works. Кризис западной философии (против позитивистов) and Vladimir Solovyov's "Tale of the Antichrist", in which China and Japan join forces to conquer Russia also Solovyov's 1894 poem Pan-Mongolism whose opening lines serve as epigraph to the story, widely seen as predicting the coming Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Shūmei Ōkawa also had an excellent sense of humour here is a photo of him in court, after he had just slapped Tojo's bald head while while shouting in German "Inder! Kommen Sie!" (Come, Indian!), that is why he is being restrained by a Heinz 57 American guard.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Okawa_Shumei_in_court.jpg/440px-Okawa_Shumei_in_court.jpg

During the trial, Ōkawa behaved erratically, including dressing in pajamas, sitting barefoot, U.S. Army psychiatrist examined him and reported that he was unfit to stand trial. The presiding American judge Sir William Webb concluded that he was mentally ill and dropped the case against him. Some thought he was feigning madness.

It wasn't till much later that his mental illness was confirmed to be caused by syphilis.

Like many other Unz/Karlistan commenters he had a deep and profound fascination with India. In 1957, Jawaharlal Nehru requested an audience with him during a brief visit to Japan. The invitation was hand-delivered to Ōkawa's house by an Indian Embassy official, who found that Ōkawa was already on his deathbed. He died on 24 December 1957, most likely from late stage syphilis.

Replies: @China Japan and Korea Bromance of Three Kingdoms

Yes I've commented about him before, and his colleague Kanji Ishiwara who engineered Kantō-gun's annexation of Manchuria, and who wrote 世界最終戦論 "Sekai saishū senron" Theory of Final Götterdämmerung as a sequel to Frederick's Œuvres historiques, and who plotted to assassinate Tojo.

https://www.unz.com/isteve/rogan-rogen/#comment-5030210
https://www.unz.com/isteve/pakistan-exporter-of-people-to-the-world/#comment-5440371

What is your level of Chinese if don't mind me asking? Can you follow lectures such this on about Wang Jingwei? I'm hoping we can have a higher level discussion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-INLMWr3hQ

Replies: @Blinky Bill

So, in your opinion, is there any truth to the story, or is it all just made-up lies by the Western press for the benefit of the "brainwashed"? I find the story that our Professor has posted, about Uldarov being black mailed into making such a confession, involving some case of sodomy, to be the height of an active imagination. Did you see the interview? Why would a certain "Osechkin" be involved in such a bizarre situation?

Replies: @LatW, @Mikel

I was replying to sudden death's posting about Russians dying out (they are dying out with a TFR of 1,3 children per woman) and RusFed being islamized by a higher TFR Russian Muslims and the immigrants from Central Asia. Thing is, if Russia is islamized, then Europe would be. The first link to young Russian nationalists (Сыны монархии) discussing about the Islamisation of RusFed on YouTube, didn't post properly but I believe it works if someone has time to spend watching it and knows the language.

The video of the German convert yelling is actually anti-islamic or at least anti-Salafi. It was posted on an anti-islamic channel that uses early Islamic sources to show that Islam is a dead end and is not a fair system it pretends to be. Salafi Islam is a dead end - no doubt about it, one has only to look at Afghanistan. Sufi Islam and Shiah in all their diverse manifestations are more open, there is more potential for evolution. But it is the Salafists who are leading the spread of Islam, not the Sufi.

Bottom line, I am quite confident that Islam would opporrunistically spread in the postmodern and decadent West, just like it is spreading in the corrupt and confused RusFed.

There is nothing to celebrate here or gloat about. It's like a man drowning slowly gloating about a man drowning faster than him.

Houellebecq's Submission novel is premonitory.

As is Мечеть парижской богоматери.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%8C_%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B6%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8

Replies: @sudden death, @LatW, @John Johnson, @S, @Blinky Bill, @Coconuts

Replies: @Wokechoke, @Mikel

It was about Dmitri’s changing opinion on immigration into Western countries and why he is now more sympathetic to liberal positions.
 

She doesn’t suffer any practical inconvenience from it on the British side, so far it is more a psychological thing.
 

Replies: @German_reader, @Mr. XYZ, @Coconuts, @Europe Europa

East Asians don't have hair eye color variation, but have about as much facial feature, skin tone, hair texture, body type variation as other races.

There's also a non-genetic factor to the "all look same" stereotype-- EA men tend be conform to the clean-shaven look, so there's no variation of facial hair. This is (now jailed) anti-CCP billionaire Guo Wengui, he looks totally different since having grown a beard.

https://i.postimg.cc/TPQCpx5c/10432ebad79b7a006043fef9fb0cb72f.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Tw89hcRT/50080423content-Photo1.jpg

I also think Korean women tend to be quite pretty
 

https://i.postimg.cc/1z9wJBKm/123.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xue_Chen

Replies: @AnonfromTN, @Ivashka the fool, @Mikel, @Blinky Bill

Scot’s French and English, are a hybrid?
 

Replies: @Wokechoke, @Ivashka the fool

It was an ad for Russian girls to date Chinese guys (but kind of conveyor like). It went viral on some Russian sites a few days ago.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

I can't see the tweet, what does it say?

I'm sure it's good!

Replies: @LatW

Carl Zha is a typical PRC nationalist isn't he? He shills for CCP but doesn't live in China. He posts PLA recruitment ads but holds US citizenship. He went to Caltech but resents the people who founded the institution that educated him.

When Roe vs. Wade was overturned he was shilling about how China gives wahmen more abortion rights than the US.

Replies: @sudden death, @Blinky Bill

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3084026/mysterious-russian-wife-chiang-kai-shek-son-and-former

https://sinologist.livejournal.com/384159.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians_in_China

Blinky, anything to add about it ?

Replies: @Blinky Bill

South Korea has had the biggest IQ rise and the biggest rise in height.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

Replies: @Blinky Bill

Thank you!

So my conclusions from Blinky's and your images is that the Koreans seem to have the smallest eyes and widest faces. Contrary to Blinky's description, the longest faces appear to be Northern Chinese, who I guess are also the tallest, with Southern Chinese tilting towards the Southeast Asian appearance. In these pictures the closest face to the Amerindian phenotype, which I know quite well, is probably the Japanese, though not nearly as close as the Siberian and Sakhalin faces that I see on that website.

I guess there's a North-South cline in pigmentation, as most everywhere else in Eurasia. Some Asians are very pale, including some I've seen with reddish cheeks, like the ones you find among Europeans, but I don't know where they were from. I also think Korean women tend to be quite pretty but maybe that's just me.

All in all, I think these differences are more subtle than those among Whites/Caucasian, anyway. My guess is that anybody in the world would distinguish a random group of Northern Europeans from a random group of Southern Europeans, in spite of some individual overlap, although some more subtle differences, like Northwestern vs Northeastern Europeans may be equally difficult to notice for outsiders.

Replies: @Dmitry, @Blinky Bill, @China Japan and Korea Bromance of Three Kingdoms

Scot's French and English, are a hybrid? lol. MacAthur reminds me of DeGaulle in that image for some reason...

That's right De Gaulle was a Norman Aristocrat!

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle#/media/File:De_Gaulle-OWI.jpg

But with a bigger more hawkish nose.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

Okay, we will revisit this…on a forum like this it’s necessary to provide academic sourcing in comments section I guess? Instead of a simple primer to books like the Osprey one I linked to as purchase idea you require an exhaustive catalog. So be it. I even provided book titles in German, among the only people who might keep records of Ukie auxiliary soldiers.

So be it.

Replies: @Coconuts, @AP, @German_reader

People too often associate pars pro toto China with all of East Asia. There hasn’t been a major famine in Japan since 1833–1837.

The three major famines of Japanese history. Alan Macfarlane
http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/savage/A-JAPFAM.PDF

But yeah, nothing groundbreaking here, the period from being Africa-tier shithole to Deng's reforms. The research was partly done at a Western institution (Univ Maryland) on a Western paradigm (IQ) on a thesis named after a Western scholar (Flynn).

What is glaring is that there has never been in the history of TUR a Chinese or even NE Asian blogger.

Also, there are a number of white female commenters on iSteve, but I don't think there has ever been an East Asian female commenter. If you are one, you should be welcome to jump out and call me an idiot.

Otherwise what is good about all that awesome yellow IQ if you are too meek to speak out?

A typical Han genius can't even do a proper girl pushup--

Why do top American schools like to recruit youths with excellent athletics? Not just for them to represent the school in competitions... Athletic skills demonstrate that the person is strong-willed, physically fit, self-disciplined, and good at teamwork. This is the basic condition for becoming an elite. If such a person then receives a good university acculturation and education...

 

Replies: @OilcanFloyd, @Anonymous, @Liger, @BB753, @Blinky Bill, @Reg Cæsar

This is remarkably accurate.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzrIDd2n-rwL597PYHUtJ-UJX_0_mZ6DPyAw&usqp.jpg

There is indeed much phenotypical overlap between all three groups. There is also more variation within the Han Chinese group, compared to the other two. The Han Chinese cover a far larger geographic area, so there is also a North South Cline in Chinese appearance.

The Ryukyuan people IMHO are also rather distinct.

Replies: @songbird, @China Japan and Korea Bromance of Three Kingdoms

Why are you only posting pictures of chicks?

And its idiotically conceited, Chinese women don't have "bigger eyes". There are at least as many Chinese women with squinty slanted eyes even in Fujian.

Answer this for me, which region in China do the men grow the most facial hair?

Replies: @Blinky Bill

Find it amazing that rice was not widely cultivated in the Ryukyus until the 12th century.

Also interesting how the Chinese saw them as a land of immortals.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

Replies: @Ivashka the fool

Apologies if this sounds like a stupid question but do you know if there is any easy way to distinguish Chinese, Japanese and Korean faces? My understanding is that East Asians and people who have lived there can distinguish them quite easily but I think that all I'm able to distinguish is Southeast from Northeast Asians. It would be cool to be able to tell if someone is from any of these very different 3 nationalities.

Perhaps I have been visiting the wrong phenotype forums but this is the kind of thing I would expect to find there. Instead, most discussions seem to be around non-Europeans arguing how they are more European-like than people think and peripheral Europeans arguing how they are more Northern looking than people think, which is quite a waste of time, I reckon. I don't believe anyone is going to change their perception of what foreign groups looks like through these discussions.

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @China Japan and Korea Bromance of Three Kingdoms

Maybe another Mahdi?
On a serious note, it's striking how under-reported some of those conflicts in Africa are. Apparently there was a serious internal conflict in Ethiopia in recent years, with probably hundreds of thousands being killed, and yet you read hardly anything about it in Western media.
Sahel zone is also getting worse and worse, serious threat from jihadi movements; very ominous development for Europe.

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @Dmitry, @Ivashka the fool

A Flynn Effect of 3.5+ points per decade sounds modestly bigger than the Flynn Effects observed in the West over the same time period, suggesting the mainland Chinese improved moderately relatively to Europeans and Americans.
 

Secular gains in IQ test scores have been reported for many Western countries. This is the first study of secular IQ gains in South Korea, using various datasets. The first question is what the size of the Flynn effect in South Korea is. The gains per decade are 7.7 points for persons born between 1970 and 1990. These gains on broad intelligence batteries are much larger than the gains in Western countries of about 3 IQ points per decade. The second question is whether the Korean IQ gains are comparable to the Japanese IQ gains with a lag of a few decades. The gains in Japan of 7.7 IQ points per decade for those born approximately 1940–1965 are identical to the gains per decade for Koreans born 1970–1990. The third question is whether the Korean gains in height and education lag a few decades behind the Japanese gains. The Koreans reach the educational levels the Japanese reached 25–30 years before, and the gains in height for Koreans born 1970–1990 are very similar to gains in height for Japanese born 1940–1960, so three decades earlier. These findings combined strongly support the hypothesis of similar developmental patterns in the two countries.
 

Replies: @res, @Blinky Bill, @Truth

Eurasia is Eurasian, always was and always will be. These people lived side by side for thousands of years. They intermixed. There is a great deal of Turkic and Adhyge / Circassian ancestry in supposedly "White" Ukrainians too.

http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CU%5CHutsuls.htm

BTW, hoțul means thief / outlaw in Romanian (Vlakh).

Also see Cossack etymology...

Replies: @Mr. Hack, @Blinky Bill

From the IMF data update a few days ago. Here are 2023 GDP per capita nominal estimates for reference.

United States - $80,034
Germany - $51,383
United Kingdom - $46,371
Japan - $35,385
South Korea - $33,393
Czechia - $31,368
Lithuania - $28,094
Slovakia - $23,457
Poland - $19,912
Russia - $14,403
China - $13,721

I would say $25,000 is the cutoff for the first world. Amazing the distance between the US and everyone else. I wonder if the wide gap indicates the US is ready for a fall and stagnation when the budget finally has to be balanced. The US federal government deficit exceeds $1 trillion just for the first half of FY 2023.

Replies: @Mr. XYZ, @AnonfromTN, @Thulean Friend, @Blinky Bill

News reports suggest Huawei is upgrading its presence in Saudi Arabia into a regional headquarters, underscoring the Chinese tech giant’s commitment to the kingdom’s and the region’s economic and technological development.

Saudi Arabia’s Regional Headquarters Program requires a multinational company wishing to do business with Saudi government agencies to locate its regional headquarters for the Middle East & North Africa in the country. A joint initiative of the Saudi Ministry of Investment and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, it takes effect in January 2024.

This follows the signing of a business agreement involving Huawei by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Saudi King Salman during Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia last December. That agreement covers cloud computing, data centers and the establishment of high-tech complexes in different Saudi Arabian cities.
 

Replies: @Blinky Bill

Replies: @Yahya, @Blinky Bill

Re, Sisi: he is indeed dynamic and independent-minded, but not more so than Anwar Sadat, who was the most capable Egyptian leader since independence. Nasser was undoubtedly the “greatest” of the bunch; few Arab (or indeed, world) leaders compared to him in charisma and ability to command respect from the masses. But he was quite disastrous economically and militarily, losing the war against Israel and expelling Egypt’s foreign human capital - by far his most catastrophic decision.

It’s not much remembered but Alexandria in 20th century hosted not just any foreign rif-raf, but the elites of the Mediterranean - the creme-de-la-crème. Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Lebanese, Jews and elite Egyptians etc. It was the Roman imperium reborn. What sort of idiot would give that up? Only short-minded individuals who do not recognize the importance and scarcity of human capital. Constantine P. Cavafy wrote these lines as an ode to Alexandria, but it may as well have been an elegy:

Now that you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner,
you’ve destroyed it everywhere in the world.

The chief task before Egypt, like every other 3rd world country, is to improve its human capital base. Everything else is prosaic in comparison. The great error of the economic profession is to insist that 3rd world countries work "towards Denmark" in terms of institutions . They don't realize that institutions to a large extent follow genetics and culture, as Greg Clark has convincingly demonstrated in Farewell To Alms. The British had undergone several centuries of positive fertility differential (with upper class breeding at twice the rate of lower class) to reach the point of high-functionality which they are known for today. Improving the genetics and culture is difficult but not impossible. If median IQ can decline 2 points per generation (as it unfortunately is today), then the reverse is also possible. Egyptian genotypic IQ (assuming environmental inhibitors are removed) probably stands at the 91-94 range. All it takes is 6-9 points of IQ points to reach the Functional 100.

It means a) eliminating environmental inhibitors, and b) implementing eugenic policies if possible. 3rd world countries benefit from not being beholden to Western stigma around the words "eugenics" and "population control"; and leaders should take advantage of that fact, as Indira Ghandhi and the CCP had done. Population control is dirty and nasty, but is unfortunately necessary if you want to get anywhere. You have to sacrifice for the sake of future generations; no-one said prosperity and functionality comes free. The military regime has the power and force to implement these policies, but is not utilizing their full potential. They deserve credit for implementing population control policies; but more stress is needed on class differential (on the other hand, I wrote to Blinky Bill on the potential unintended benefit of Egypt's perverse urban planning on TFR differentials).

Second, Egypt should get ahead of the migration problem by a) deporting the millions of non-Arab migrants in Egypt, and b) returning to an ethnocentric patrilineal citizenship model. The government loosened requirements for citizenship by allowing Muslims who speak Arabic to obtain citizenship, and even passed a law a few months making citizenship eligible for anyone investing $300,000 in state-owned properties. Complete idiocy that will eventually bite us in the ass one day. It should be obvious to most that migration and demography are the chief challenges of our times; and given ease of transportation and decreasing TFR, short-sighted stupidity like this is a demographic death sentence. Egypt isn't under severe threat presently, but again "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound in cure". We should follow Tunisia's example on this.

In economic polices the military has produced mixed results. They can't be fully blamed for the spiraling devaluations and inflationary spikes, since these were always there given Egyptian dysfunctionality. But they can be partially blamed for excessive and sometimes unwise infrastructure spending. The Suez canal expansion project may have seemed like a good idea on the surface, but the ROI is insufficient given opportunity cost and discount rates. The Suez Expansion cost $8 billion, and brought in an estimated $8 billion dollars of additional revenue over the 8 years following 2014. Some of the 8 billion may just have been natural revenue increases, so overall it took roughly 8-11 years to recuperate the investment. Not bad, but not great either. Meanwhile the currency has depreciated 76%+ since Sisi took office, and toll has been particularly heavy on the poor. The military took control of several major industries and became heavily involved in the economy, which is unwise, but remains broadly capitalistic nonetheless.

One positive of the military regime is that they have effectively (but ruthlessly) crushed Islamism in Egypt; something I used to be conflicted about, but have come to see as an unabashed positive. The ruthlessness aspect gave me pause, especially because Islamists aren't necessarily the worst people in the world. In fact, as Orhan Pamuk sort of implicitly pointed out in his novel Snow, Islamists are probably the most sincere and honest actors on the political stage, many of them courageously dying and putting up with torture and persecution for the sake of their cause. But, that doesn't detract from the wrong-headedness of their ideology; and brutality may unfortunately be the only means of denying them political victory, given the popularity of their views. Ironically, Sisi is quite religious and was selected to be defense minister because the Muslim Brotherhood thought he would be more sympathetic to Islamism than his comrades. It's quite surprising to see him go after Islamism so forcefully given his piety (which is evidently sincere).

I don't care much that he is independent-minded on the world stage. I'd prefer Egypt remain a stooge to America and continue receiving $1.4 billion each year. People are over-critical of American power imo; the American relationship has been pretty beneficial for Egypt. The human rights criticisms can be annoying, but the Americans are pretty light-handed, you can ignore them on many issues as successive Egyptian regimes have done. I don't think an alliance with Russia would be as beneficial, but perhaps one with China might be. It's too early to tell how China would behave as hegemon in the Middle East, but their bullying of Asian neighbors does raise some doubts.

Apologies for my barbed remarks on the last thread, incited by your constant denigration of ‘Eurotrash’ directors.

 

When I attack songbird for his racism, I'm fully cognizant that it would alienate him, but I don't care since he is my enemy. There are others here who make equally racist and offensive comments on Arabs, but I let it pass for the sake of maintaining good relations.

Replies: @Emil Nikola Richard, @Blinky Bill

They are, on average, about half a standard deviation duller than Turks are, though.
 

You believe these guys have lower IQs than African-Americans?

https://youtu.be/1j-62SaFVU0

I’m not saying every group’s IQ is the same.

But clearly there are environmental inhibitors; poor diets, parasite loads, and perhaps even testing errors. The Flynn Effect is real and observable.

I’d guess Syrian genotypic IQ average to be roughly around the 92-95 range.

Turkey roughly 3 points higher than that.

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @Mr. XYZ, @Hapalong Cassidy

Is that why most EU countries are taking away their freebies?
 

Replies: @German_reader, @LatW, @Blinky Bill, @AnonfromTN, @Wokechoke

Amazing the distance between the US and everyone else
 

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @Barbarossa

Has their automotive industry been struggling?
 

Slovakia did very well when the European car industry boomed, which allowed them to outperform their regional peers early on in the post-communist period.

Unfortunately for the slovaks, a lack of diversification typically ends up hurting you in the end and we're seeing this now. The Czechs also produce lots of cars but they have a bigger industry producing machine tools and other sophisticated stuff. The Baltics have very competitive IT service exports which, as far as I am aware, Slovakia lacks.

That being said, if we look at the richest areas of Eastern Europe they are now fast approaching East Asian levels.

https://i.imgur.com/fPUIVVK.png

Just as perceptions of China changed very slowly, I wonder how many people are aware of this. Hell, even supposedly "rich" Saudi Arabia is now behind the top Eastern European countries. Maybe the discussion on economic convergence will finally leave behind the tired East Asian examples, though I suspect nobody will draw the correct conclusions anyway (HBD trumps all other factors).

Infantile idiots will just bleat on about EU subsidies.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

People underestimate how quickly this effect will be felt. South Korea currently has a total fertility rate of 0.81. For every 100 South Korean great-grandparents, there will be 6.6 great-grandkids. At the 0.7 fertility rate predicted in South Korea by 2024, that amounts to 4.3 great-grandkids. It’s as if we knew a disease would kill 94 percent of South Koreans in the next century.
 

OR

Random tribe kanging about conflicts centuries old.

Do better.

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @German_reader, @Yahya

IIRC, the rumours were only about the possible call of Xi to Kiev after talks of Putin, but perhaps there were others too. Anyway, if there really was some essential deal achieved between RF and CCP'ied China, then probably Chinese ambassador in EU wouldn't be instructed so quickly to talk about relationship being "just rhetorics":

April 5, 2023

The ambassador, Fu Cong, said China was not on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine. “‘No limit’ is nothing but rhetoric,” he said, referring to a statement from last year about the countries’ relationship.

Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Steven Erlanger reported from Brussels, where they interviewed the Chinese ambassador to the European Union.

In an hourlong interview ahead of a European diplomatic mission to Beijing, China’s ambassador to the European Union said that critics had misinterpreted his country’s relationship with Russia, and suggested their ties may not be as limitless as their leaders once declared.

The Chinese ambassador, Fu Cong, spoke before Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission travel to China on Wednesday for a three-day trip.
 

Replies: @Ivashka the fool, @Mr. Hack

And that is probably why Surkov took up writing tearful poems.

It would have been more interesting if he would have tried himself at writing Taoist/Ch'an poetry in the style of Han Shan.

Replies: @Blinky Bill

That's some real geopolitical acumen by Putin. Claims the war is about discouraging the expansion of NATO and then chases a formerly neutral country right into their arms.

It's like telling one ex-wife she has no justification for getting a restraining order and then proceeding to beat up the other one.

Putin is a political genius. The complete opposite of what he claimed he would achieve. When the war is over NATO will have expanded beyond what anyone thought possible in 2021.

https://memesboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Very-Nice-Great-Success-Borat-Very-Nice-Meme.jpg

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @QCIC

As some of you may know; I have been second to none in condemning the European director for his affected, muddle-headed, anti-human assault on the senses which he likes to call a “film” or “movie”. But for some reason these directors are held up by the cinemerati as the new Shakespeare’s and Balzac’s of Western culture; and are showered upon with numerous accolades and automatic high-praise. I console myself with the hope that these directors will not stand the test of time; and that once Europe returns to its senses; the dreck they produce will be consigned to the dustbin section of the film library, only to be viewed by future scholars of the “Second Dark Age” of Europe.

But, and here is some good news, God has guided me on this blessed month to discover a truly first-rate European director, one who hails from, of all places - Italy. The land of Virgil, Cicero, Dante, and Michelangelo. A people with great intrinsic artistic capacity, but whose environment and historical trajectory has led to a cultural ebb over the previous few centuries. I have previously searched in vain for worthy 20th century Italian cultural products, but all I could come up with were the midwit singers Boccelli and Pavarotti. But the search is thankfully over, for I recently discovered the great 20th century Italian director Roberto Rossellini. (Okay, there is also Umberto Eco).

When I initially browsed through his oeuvre, I was impressed with the topics and events he chose to address. More importantly, I saw that he directed films centered around Socrates, Descartes, Pascal, Augustine, Medici, Girabaldi, Joan of Arc, King Louis XIV and St. Francis of Assisi; among others. What a magnificent roster of historical figures! Of course, cinema history is replete with depictions of Kings and Warriors. But imagine a director telling the stories of high-caliber philosophers like Descartes, Augustine and Socrates. Clearly this Rossellini was well-read and intelligent. All I hoped for was that he would be artistically sane and translate their life stories into a coherent, honest, penetrating and engaging movie - something he achieved with great skill and craftsmanship.

So throw out your Bergmans, Tarkovskys, Kiarostamis, Bressons and other pseudo-philosophical mid-tier garbage producers. Watch Rossellini instead. I personally went on a spree of his oeuvre, something I rarely do with any director. I usually like to nibble and move on. But after finishing a Rossellini movie I would always come out impressed enough to want to see more of his work; so I ended up watching 5 of his movies in a row: Europe 51’, Germany Year Zero, Il Generala Della Rovere, Cartesius, and Socrates.

The key to Rossellini’s greatness imo lies in his artistic humility: instead of consciously working to produce “Great Works Of Art”; he merely wished to produce solid works of cinema, meant to inform and entertain. He saw himself as a craftsman and not an ”auteur”; which is merely a euphemism for “pretentious twit who longs for critical approval”. From the movies I’ve seen; his main forte is in character-driven works; and underlying all his works is a certain humanism derived from Christian tradition and ethics; though interestingly he was not a religious man.

I’d recommend all of the titles I listed above, save for Cartesius, which I found to be lackluster (perhaps because it came towards the end of his career). But the rest are top-notch, the narrative and characters are consistently well-crafted; the casting for the main actors wisely chosen; the dialogue intelligent; and the movies engaging despite being fairly antiquated. Germany Year Zero and Il Generala were particularly fascinating because they were filmed shorty after World War 2 ended; which gives them a extraordinarily realistic character never to be matched by retrospective works. It’s exhilarating to watch a movie set during WW2 or the aftermath knowing the actors and everyone else involved lived through the time period as it was filmed. Europe 51 and Socrates were my two favorites though; the latter now ranking alongside The Seventh Companion in my list of greatest character-driven movies in cinematic history.

Europe 51’ centers around an upper class Italian lady played by Rossellini’s wife Ingrid Bergman; who though Swedish had an excellent command of the Italian language (but sadly not the Italian mannerism; though she can’t be faulted on that regard). The story resembles Dickens’ Christmas Carol - a self-centered, neglectful and busy mother realizes that she has been living life wrong after her son commits suicide due to parental neglect. There’s a powerful scene early in the movie where the boy is sick in bed and urges his mother to stay with him for the night; but she chastises him for being needy and hurriedly returns to a dinner party with some fancy guests. Bergman plays the role of Irene with emotion and force, and watching her was just a delight all on it’s own, but the role of her husband was badly cast, the actor is wooden throughout (his expression is still the same even after learning of his son’s death!) I was afraid the movie would be sentimental and overwrought, given the theme; but Rossellini manages to moderate the pathos and maintain a state between the two extremes. He adds a scene where one of the kids from the poor family attempts to rob her, which I think was necessary to avoid unrealistic romanticization of the working class. However, I had to knock this movie down a rating solely because of the last 20 minutes, when Rossellini transforms Irene into a martyred Saint. I thought the persecution was quite unnecessary; the Aristotelian/Scroogian theme of Irene realizing the good life came from helping others in the city/community was sufficient. But it doesn’t detract from the overall excellence of the movie. 9/10.

Socrates earned itself a position in my “Top 10” list of transcendental movies as soon as I finished it. Just a magnificent depiction of possibly the greatest literary and philosophical figure in the history of mankind - exalted Socrates! Bertrand Russell once speculated that Socrates may have been the invention of Plato. While the the great Hellenic philosopher certainly possessed the originality and brilliance to invent Socrates, it seems likely that he existed as a historical figure; although it is certainly plausible that Plato used him as a vehicle for expressing personal views. Be it as it may, Socrates is an exceedingly captivating figure, a rare combination of wisdom, goodness, and humor; and Rossellini does a brilliant job in capturing the essence of the man. The dialogue is faithful to Plato’s writings; and alongside the characterization makes this movie a magnificent work of transcendental art. I have a practice of screenshoting noteworthy dialogue whenever I watch a movie; but typically it would only amount to 10-15 screens. This time I took 150 screenshots; such was the excellence of the dialogue. The only criticism I have was the dark and brooding music; which for some reason Rossellini decided to maintain in the background for elongated periods of time. I would’ve preferred Greek ethneko music in the vein of Hadjidakis or Theodorakis; which I think captures the Greek character between; and I’m unsure why Rossellini seems smitten with dark music (which he also utilizes in Descartes and other movies). But highly-recommended, it’s free available on YouTube with subtitles. 10/10.

https://youtu.be/4bxbmVx8ews

This is a YouTube playlist of Rossellini movies for anyone interested; some of the movies I mentioned can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjp9cDM5tlPpQWcA9P5rN6qxTjjjl4jHG

Replies: @German_reader, @Blinky Bill, @Yevardian

I agree with Richard Pryor. Suck one dick and you are a faggot.
 

That’s so self-evidently true. Nature just didn’t make us as fluid as women.
 

to vote for someone because you like the guy, regardless of what he is actually going to do for your interests when he’s in power.
 

Political Pundit Mark Simone Admits Team Bush and Karl Rove are Group Behind Ron DeSantis Effort….

 

Put a fork in the opposition denials to what was increasingly obvious; it’s over.

Last summer we saw the fingerprints of the professional republican apparatus all over the construct that was creating the Ron DeSantis 2024 effort. The data was all going in one direction, all of the constructs were identical to the Karl Rove playbook with the single addition of the Republican Governor’s Association as a participant. As the months moved forward the Rovian elements became more and more clear. The DeSantis supporters tried to deny it, but the truth of the issue is just too obvious.

Now, insider republican political pundit Mark Simone admits that Team Bush and Karl Rove are the specific organizers of the DeSantis 2024 effort. Appearing on Fox Business, Larry Kudlow asks directly, “who is behind the DeSantis campaign?” Simone admits, “yeah, it’s Karl Rove – Karl Rove has been advising DeSantis, that’s why he’s been getting a little bit better every week.” WATCH:

https://youtu.be/rzfFcsbp_6M

 

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @Mr. Hack

Considering this absolute immortal masterpiece was produced in 1985, has really anything changed that much since?;)

You come into this country
You cant get real jobs
Boats, and boats, and boats of you
Go home you fuckin slobs
Sellin hot dogs on the corner
Sellin papers in the street
Pushing, pulling, digging, sweating
Where you come from must be beat
You always make us wait
You are the ones we hate
You can't communicate
SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE!!!!
 

Replies: @Mikel, @Blinky Bill

You have misplaced priorities. Your biggest enemies are your own government and your leftie liberal countrymen. Soviet boomers and Iranian generals don't even come close to that existential threat (unless the war in Ukraine leads to nuclear war, obviously, but then we'd all be dead anyway).

Replies: @216, @Blinky Bill

I’d much prefer to read a book instead, especially one filled with dense facts, information and statistics.
 

Replies: @Blinky Bill

I haven’t even seen The Seventh Seal tbh (apart from short clips). Kind of embarrassing, but I can’t muster up the will anymore to watch movies, even classic ones, given how short life is.
 

But fortunately I rediscovered an enthusiasm for cinema sometime last year. I can’t pin the reason down with precision, but it had something to do with my increasing appreciation for the value of aesthetics; and the discovery that their were many artistically worthy movies out there, not just trashy low-brow stuff. Movies are rather similar to imaginative literature; they aren’t designed to provide information, but an experience. Once you assimilate that concept it becomes easier to appreciate cinema. There are some valuable experiences to be had in watching films; especially the high-brow ones; and biographies of historical figures can’t compare to the depth of character in fictional representation. That’s the value-added component of fiction.

With regards to The Seventh Seal; it is the movie responsible for my rating Bergman lowly as a director. In retrospect I should’ve given Bergman more credit for his ingenious and original depiction of Death as a coldly self-assured, wryly detached, black-cloaked figure - perhaps the most riveting character I’ve witnessed on screen. But the movie as a whole, like many of Bergman’s works, lacked a coherent narrative structure; included many pointless and ostentatious scenes; and failed to deliver a single notable philosophical insight, despite the director’s pretensions.

This is a problem he shares with Tarkovsky; both are gifted with unique directorial skills but choose to engage in pseudo-philosophical pontificating instead; and they are clearly out of their depths. Compare the sort of meaningless twaddle they spout with the philosophical insights of proper philosophers like Socrates, Plato or Augustine. Rossellini was humble enough to adhere to the classical texts instead of concocting his own half-assed “insights”; and that is why he is deserving of higher esteem than Bergman or Tarkovsky imo.

On the other hand, perhaps I shouldn’t be too harsh on Bergman, since I recently watched Wild Strawberries and thought it was an excellent adaptation of A Christmas Carol (though strangely neither Bergman nor his fans have acknowledged the similarities and undoubted influence of Dickens’ novel on this movie). The protagonist Isak is an outwardly jovial but inwardly cold-blooded Scroogian figure who has grown lonesome and aloof from society throughout the years. The casting decision to recruit actor/director Victor Sojostrom as the protagonist was wisely made; as was the narrative flow in which Isak transforms gradually from a coldly rational to a warm-blooded human being. The cinematography is likewise excellent; the black-and-white visuals being more impressive than movies from the same period; and dare I say even today. The minimalism and coloring, alongside the calm dialogue and acting, gives the movie a uniquely graceful complexion; and Bergman deserves credit for this cinematic achievement.

There are many wonderful scenes in the movie; most particularly when Isak is with his neice-in-law Marianne; a well-put together character with a seriousness rare in females; who accompanies Isak on his transformative journey. She is utilized adroitly by the screenwriters and director to illuminate Isak’s character; first establishing him as an unloved, selfish man but then establishing a bond which turns into Platonic love and respect. The ending scene with Marianne visiting Isak in his bed was particularly powerful.

Unfortunately, as is typical of Bergman, he includes several lines of pretentious pontificating on his favorite subjects, God and Death, of which he has zero insights to add. He also includes a couple of surrealist sequences with bizarre imagery which add nothing to the narrative flow or character development; and merely serve to impress critics and film students. The pseudo-philosophy will always be tiresome, but at least he had the decency to attribute the surrealism to Isak’s dreaming; and to keep the pointless scenes to a minimum. But these are two flaws in an otherwise well-crafted movie. 9/10.

https://youtu.be/TxBY5kmUZR0

Replies: @Blinky Bill, @Mr. Hack, @German_reader

they were still there
 

Replies: @LatW

But Russian folk costumes were very colorful also, and Russian peasants were rather wild.
 

Replies: @Another Polish Perspective, @AP

"In a private transaction in 2016, before the U.S. presidential election, Mr. Cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford [Stormy Daniels]," reads the 2018 letter from Cohen attorney Stephen Ryan to the Federal Election Commission, which asserts that Trump was not involved in the hush payment to the former porn star.

"Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly."

Trump posted the letter on Truth Social on Wednesday evening, saying "Wow, look what was just found—A Letter from Cohen’s Lawyer to the Federal Election Commission," adding "This is totally exculpatory, and must end the Manhattan District Attorney's Witch Hunt, immediately."

"Cohen admits that he did it himself. The D.A. should get on with prosecuting violent criminals, so people can walk down the sidewalks of New York without being murdered!"

 
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fr2vrxmWAAAQYc_.jpg

 

Replies: @Blinky Bill

It’s strange because when I was in university I would read biographies of people like Ataturk or Lee Kuan Yew; and they were engaged in political activism from a young age; even going to prison for revolutionary activities.
 

Replies: @Blinky Bill