Bulletins and News Discussion from January 13th to January 19th, 2025 - From Mar-A-Lago to Nuuk - COTW: Denmark (including Greenland)

Image is of Donald Trump Jr. in Greenland, proudly demonstrating what he's learned in his standing lessons.

The imperial core is continuing the process of self-cannibalization as the interimperial wars between Europe and the US over resource and territorial control continue. Greenland, populated with less than a hundred thousand heavily exploited people, is the newest territory to fall under Trump's gaze. The main draw is the mineral resources present there, of which it boasts nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum, and much more than remains unexplored under the ice. But the ice is melting, and profit must be made. There is an additional element of wanting Arctic territory to counter Chinese and especially Russian interests and aims; Russia is increasingly eyeing the northern Arctic route as an alternative to more vulnerable routes through the Suez Canal or around Africa, and is investing heavily in icebreakers for that purpose.

However, even if Europe possessed the desire to resist American annexations - and they absolutely do not, at the end of the day - they do not even have the ability. Denmark may, to a lesser or greater extent, make angry sounds and talk about national honour or some such, but their military would be trampled underfoot by even the New York Police Department, let alone a concerted military effort by the US. If Trump wants Greenland, he will have it. This will naturally increase the grumbling in Europe about reconsidering the Transatlantic alliance, and that grumbling may, in the medium-term future, as the American Empire continues its decline, lead to meaningful results. But in the short term, Europe shall have to bear whatever Trump throws at them, for they obviously cannot now ally with Russia, who was the natural counterweight to American interests for decades before 2022.

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1.1K comments

For me the main benefit of this "cultural exchange" isn't Americans learning that China isn't 1984
The benefit is Chinese citizens learning there is no greener grass on the other side, there's no western salvation, no capitalist led utopia across the pacific.
Honestly, the fact so many Chinese citizens didn't believe a basic fact like American ambulance fees, reveals a serious failure of the Communist Party to inform its populace about basic realities of the world, that goes beyond a simple propaganda failure and right into dangerous 1980s Soviet-style delusions about the western world, which is fertile soil for counter-revoulationary forces
- Citizens of the USSR said the same thing about issues like homelessness in the US. AES countries are just awful at getting their message across.
  I’m a little concerned that China will allow meta and google back in, allowing for more US propaganda to fill the country and the brainworms that come with it. Also concerned that they’ll be doing the same with apps like rednote as Americans go in there to spread propaganda.
  
  Citizens of the USSR said the same thing about issues like homelessness in the US
  I do wonder whether it was more "There's not actually homelessness in the US, our government is lying to us, we've seen the (carefully curated American propaganda) images and videos for ourselves,"
  or instead "There might be homelessness in the US, but I won't be one of those people, I have a steady and well-paying job in [business that will very soon be bought up and liquidated by American capitalists]."
  the former indicates both a disbelief in the authority and trustworthiness of the socialist state and falling victim to capitalist propaganda due to insufficient inoculation; the latter indicates both ignorance of how capitalists operate and lack of sympathy for more vulnerable people who may be affected
- To be fair, if you're used to living under a government that took care of you, there's a certain level of evil that is very difficult to imagine for the average person. I think a lot of this has to do with projection.
  Also, how are US ambulance fees even remotely relevant to a Chinese person's life? Like imagine you're some random middle-aged dude living in Xinjiang. What occupies your mind might probably be the US propaganda on the region's cotton. That is relevant anti-US news for you, where does the state of US healthcare even factor into any part of your thinking?
  IMO it's not so much a failure of messaging as it is just people not having a reason to care in the first place.
  The people who even give a shit about US healthcare past random curiosity on a good day are those actively looking to improve the healthcare system or liberals trying to shill for uncle Sam. If in the former, they already know what US healthcare is like and naturally dismiss it and if in the latter, they also know but just don't care and prefer to lie about it.
- Your average Chinese citizen does not give enough of a shit about minutia like this. The CPC releases a yearly report of human rights violations committed by the US, and the vast majority of Chinese people aren't going to waste time reading some boring report.

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