More than a dozen who served under Republican president quote his call for a ‘Time for Choosing’

More than a dozen former Ronald Reagan staff members have joined dozens of other Republican figures endorsing the Democratic nominee and vice-president, Kamala Harris, saying their support was “less about supporting the Democratic party and more about our resounding support for democracy”.

  • Cowbee [he/him]
    52·
    2 months ago

    China is currently debt trapping most of Africa. They pretty much appointed the current dictator of Zimbawe for example.

    Do you have evidence of this “debt-trapping?”

    The way I look at good and bad is on a scale. Whenever a country makes the life for the average human better in terms of material well being, but also political freedom, that is a good thing. Whenever they make those things worse then it is bad.

    Then China must be the best country in the world in your opinion, as it has largely eliminated poverty for the largest population on the planet.

    A huge reason the US is the country doing so many bad things, is that nearly nobody else can. Any large scale war between two countries in recent times had the US being the agressor or the US intervening massivly. Iraq was done after invading Kuwait and Russia despute having nukes and a resilient economy is not liking it either.

    Why do you believe the US does bad things? Like, what’s the driving factor?

    So we have to look at what countries choose to do with the power they have and the US is not the worst in that metric.

    The US is absolutely the worst in that metric, and it isn’t close. It’s the single greatest parasite on the Global South, they produce very little and expropriate the bulk of Value created by the Global South. It isn’t close.

    • MrMakabar@slrpnk.netEnglish
      14·
      2 months ago

      So you consider North Korea or Eritrea to be better then the US? Seriously?

      Can you proof China is not debt traping poor countries?

      It is very easy to call the US the worst country, when you ignore the bad other countries commit.

      • Cowbee [he/him]
        3·
        2 months ago

        So you consider North Korea or Eritrea to be better then the US? Seriously?

        Within the context of the world? Yes.

        Can you proof China is not debt traping poor countries?

        So you don’t have any proof, you just said it because if the US is bad, other countries must be bad. That’s western-chauvanism at its finest.

        It is very easy to call the US the worst country, when you ignore the bad other countries commit.

        It’d be nice if you could provide any proof for your claims.

        • MrMakabar@slrpnk.netEnglish
          22·
          2 months ago

          https://nation.africa/oped/opinion/Kenya-must-avoid-China-debt-trap-or-fall-into-Sri-Lanka-pit/440808-4551200-kv7y59/index.html

          https://www.news24.com/fin24/Economy/South-Africa/da-demands-details-of-r370bn-chinese-loan-warns-of-debt-trap-20180916

          For example, but that took me a minute to find. Just asking for proof does not work, when the other site is unable to argue its case beyond “I looked into it”. Not even an unsourced explanation of how Cowbee came to the cconclusion. Only that it is supposed to be “obvious”.

          I doubt I get a reply from Cowbee due to that.

          • Cowbee [he/him]
            2·
            2 months ago

            Why didn’t you reply to my comment if you wanted a response? You didn’t even @ me when namedropping, like you’re hiding.

            Your first source is an opinion piece saying African countries need to be wary of taking on debt they can’t pay back, without offering numbers. No evidence of debt entrapment, just loans.

            Your second source just talks about the lack of transparency of one specific loan.

            Neither proves China to be intentionally sinking African countries into debt, which is why I asked for sources.

            Meanwhile, China has been waiving loans, and many loans are interest free as a part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

            The US and other Western countries have stolen trillions from African Countries.

            You need to meaningfully prove your statements, otherwise you’re just a western chauvanist.

            • MrMakabar@slrpnk.netEnglish
              11·
              2 months ago

              China has been waiving no intrest loans, which can not be repaid. Debt restructuring inckuding forgiving loans is part of a debt trap too.

              Beijing, which has come under criticism for its lending practices to poorer nations, accounts for almost 40% of the bilateral and private-creditor debt that the world’s poorest countries need to service this year, according to the World Bank. It has helped forge recent debt-relief agreements, participating in the Group of 20 suspension of repayments during the pandemic.

              (From the Bloomberg article) The amount is certainly right and already working with the Western lenders as well.

              The AlJazeera opinion piece you linked shows pretty well, what it means. After all the IMF adjustment programs were how the West was able to exploit the South. China is starting to take part in that exact process.

              Obviously those are just loans. Do you seriously believe they sign documents named “debt traps”?

              • Cowbee [he/him]
                2·
                2 months ago

                I expect you to provide meaningful evidence that these are predatory loans, as opposed to beneficial loans. You made the claim that they are debt trapping, without providing evidence, just vibed, which teeters on western chauvanism.