Just as the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the road to Chinese success in Sub-Saharan Africa has been paved with over a half-century of failed Western ventures and interventions.
Appreciate your article. It’s going to take me some time to get on the computer and follow (some of) the links. Will post a couple of links from LaRouche Organization/Schiller Institute calling for new Bretton Woods Accord.
Will, thank you again. Always an informed, useful and welcome contribtion. I think that Bretton Woods will be ending one way or another. Greatly diminished in power and influence, I hope, after the most recent USA weaponization of the dollar. We'll see, right? Let me return the compliment and run down the sources you've linked. I am a slow worker, however, and not a "hot-taker."
China is fighting a modern multifaceted war, that is almost not a war. They have studied history and incorporated every nuance of international dominance in trade, finance, medicine, manufacturing, sport and culture. China doesn't have to resort to guns and bombs, they just can stop supplying necessities to the West.
They are winning. Not sure I would call the game over, but if we look at position going forward, it is scary. I do think the current Chinese Covid Zero policy is a huge mistake. But it represents only a limited opportunity.
Thank you. A move, and all the related issues that come with that. All good. Working right now with a personal trainer who specializes also in rehab work. Been a high mileage life, so taking care of much needed business but still also and obviously strength-training. All best!
Excellent -- I came to the same conclusions reading some of the same materials years ago. In fact, I think Africa had, in many ways, a more generous offer under Western colonial powers, but we'll see how things play out with the Chinese.
Regarding answers for the US, we'll have to shrug off the federal government but I think the state constitutional republics can and should be saved.
Ironically, doing what Deng Xioaping did with 100 Hong Kongs in the 80s is very much what our playbook should look like today, I think, the goal being a new Shenzhen or two on the Gulf Coast. I don't know that we really need to fully compete with China in every respect, but should at least try not to be scuttled by them.
Immigrants show up at our southern border and plead guilty to a standard sentence: their state and local work permits, granting them economic access to the new Shenzhens, which they will build. Governors need only design the legal framework and auction the leases on public lands to various development authorities.
Meanwhile, cities, our biggest political liabilities, are on the verge of bankruptcy and anarchy, which can be used as a pretext to put them into receivership, privatize them wholesale with new carrots and sticks. There are a number of tools available for this, one being auctioning leases on upzones, offering discounts to flip the underlying titles into a public / private trust, something like this:
For holdouts, there are variable rate LIDs where the city builds some infrastructure and charges a special assessment on the property values in the vicinity, targeting the lowest FAR ratios each time. By jiggering the rate adjustment and the allowable FAR itself, cities could direct development however they like, again with the goal of getting titles into a trust that benefits the public purse but is privately managed.
Any of these investments could be offered exclusively through state chartered banks, say.
Now, dealing with the government is often like shooting pool with a rope, but if the developers and banks see profit potential, they will bring the impetus and the know how. It's not just a recipe for redevelopment, but for realigning political power where you end up with a balance between professional, for-profit management of cities on the one hand, and the legacy legal systems of the state republics on the other.
I'll need some time to both review these materials (linked) and to process some of your (to me, provocative) but clearly also informed and insightful remarks. But I thank you sincerely for your contribution to the discussion.
Have you ever read/listened to Matt Ehret? He's an historian/political analyst, quite astute. You'd probably like him.
I would just ad that it seems very much like the US/West/5 Eyes "narrative" is more like projection of what's going on THERE, rather than what China or Russia are doing... which is a great way, often, to get an idea of what the US/Black Nobs are up to...
Appreciate your article. It’s going to take me some time to get on the computer and follow (some of) the links. Will post a couple of links from LaRouche Organization/Schiller Institute calling for new Bretton Woods Accord.
Harley Schlanger ~ 15 minutes: https://laroucheorganization.com/article/2022/08/15/post-bretton-woods-unipolar-era-must-end-now
Lyndon LaRouche’s long talk posted again on 4 July 2022: 1:05 hours: https://youtu.be/1AOp7Aw0ZHE
Will, thank you again. Always an informed, useful and welcome contribtion. I think that Bretton Woods will be ending one way or another. Greatly diminished in power and influence, I hope, after the most recent USA weaponization of the dollar. We'll see, right? Let me return the compliment and run down the sources you've linked. I am a slow worker, however, and not a "hot-taker."
Sing ho for the contemplative.
China is fighting a modern multifaceted war, that is almost not a war. They have studied history and incorporated every nuance of international dominance in trade, finance, medicine, manufacturing, sport and culture. China doesn't have to resort to guns and bombs, they just can stop supplying necessities to the West.
They have already won.
They are winning. Not sure I would call the game over, but if we look at position going forward, it is scary. I do think the current Chinese Covid Zero policy is a huge mistake. But it represents only a limited opportunity.
Welcome back, Data Humanist. It's been a long time since your last post, so I was beginning to worry. I hope you're doing well.
Thank you. A move, and all the related issues that come with that. All good. Working right now with a personal trainer who specializes also in rehab work. Been a high mileage life, so taking care of much needed business but still also and obviously strength-training. All best!
Nice. Good luck with everything!
I'm inclined to agree. This is a tired analogy, but they're playing go, not chess. And we are encircled.
Good article. Thanks for setting the record straight as the msm will not tell it like it is. Linking today @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
Thank you!
Excellent -- I came to the same conclusions reading some of the same materials years ago. In fact, I think Africa had, in many ways, a more generous offer under Western colonial powers, but we'll see how things play out with the Chinese.
Regarding answers for the US, we'll have to shrug off the federal government but I think the state constitutional republics can and should be saved.
Ironically, doing what Deng Xioaping did with 100 Hong Kongs in the 80s is very much what our playbook should look like today, I think, the goal being a new Shenzhen or two on the Gulf Coast. I don't know that we really need to fully compete with China in every respect, but should at least try not to be scuttled by them.
Here's the plan:
https://chartercitiesinstitute.org/podcast/charter-cities-podcast-episode-30-how-displaced-people-can-build-economies-with-alexander-betts/
https://refugeecities.org/concept-note/
Immigrants show up at our southern border and plead guilty to a standard sentence: their state and local work permits, granting them economic access to the new Shenzhens, which they will build. Governors need only design the legal framework and auction the leases on public lands to various development authorities.
Meanwhile, cities, our biggest political liabilities, are on the verge of bankruptcy and anarchy, which can be used as a pretext to put them into receivership, privatize them wholesale with new carrots and sticks. There are a number of tools available for this, one being auctioning leases on upzones, offering discounts to flip the underlying titles into a public / private trust, something like this:
https://www.lincolninst.edu/sites/default/files/pubfiles/implementing-value-capture-in-latin-america-full_1.pdf
For holdouts, there are variable rate LIDs where the city builds some infrastructure and charges a special assessment on the property values in the vicinity, targeting the lowest FAR ratios each time. By jiggering the rate adjustment and the allowable FAR itself, cities could direct development however they like, again with the goal of getting titles into a trust that benefits the public purse but is privately managed.
https://www.vtpi.org/gihing_tod.pdf
Any of these investments could be offered exclusively through state chartered banks, say.
Now, dealing with the government is often like shooting pool with a rope, but if the developers and banks see profit potential, they will bring the impetus and the know how. It's not just a recipe for redevelopment, but for realigning political power where you end up with a balance between professional, for-profit management of cities on the one hand, and the legacy legal systems of the state republics on the other.
Short of that, it looks grim!
I'll need some time to both review these materials (linked) and to process some of your (to me, provocative) but clearly also informed and insightful remarks. But I thank you sincerely for your contribution to the discussion.
Honestly, I don't know which parts are provocative anymore. I guess I feel provoked at how poorly things are run! Anyhow, some grist for the mill.
Very interesting article! Thanks.
Have you ever read/listened to Matt Ehret? He's an historian/political analyst, quite astute. You'd probably like him.
I would just ad that it seems very much like the US/West/5 Eyes "narrative" is more like projection of what's going on THERE, rather than what China or Russia are doing... which is a great way, often, to get an idea of what the US/Black Nobs are up to...
Yup! Knowing about 5 Eyes is essential. And your point about projection, just excellent.
Ta.