>> Saudi Arabia, Iraq and others being clear counter-examples to such democracies
I thought I was pretty clear. At best, those are regional powers. And clearly fell into the "subordinate dictator" mindset. When Iraq stopped being a proxy-war launching pad with USSR backed Iran, it quickly was removed from even being a major regional power.
Saudi Arabia has far more than regional economic power, but that fits more into "the royal family is a rich family" in the US than "Saudi Arabia as a country is powerful".
>> EU has made several attempts at establishing an actual army to back up its economic strength with some actual muscle
That point was about EU economic power. China has clearly influenced many economic activities. Look at the removal of Taiwan's flag in the new Top Gun or the way John Cena apologized in Chinese as examples of the movie industry being pushed around.
I could go further than movies easily. It's just that they are a really visible example by design. They are not the biggest worry.
The EU could pass laws that really mess with the US, but they don't seem to.
>> including rant on casting living off of IP as anything other than rent seeking
I actually cannot tell read whether you are opposed to or supportive of the framing that living off IP is rent seeking. I can tell you are strongly on one side, but the exact wording doesn't parse for me.
<<I thought I was pretty clear. At best, those are regional powers. And clearly fell into the "subordinate dictator" mindset. When Iraq stopped being a proxy-war launching pad with USSR backed Iran, it quickly was removed from even being a major regional power.
I accept the argument. I missed the "major power" part. SA is definitely a regional power. Sorry for the sloppy reading on my part.
<<That point was about EU economic power. China has clearly influenced many economic activities. Look at the removal of Taiwan's flag in the new Top Gun or the way John Cena apologized in Chinese as examples of the movie industry being pushed around.
Yes, but China does it ( not completely unlike US ) with the implied threats of a power that has an army at its disposal. If I were to compare the situation to anything it would be to of a local mafia soldier coming over for payment of protection money. He is not threatening you. He merely discusses economic impact that lack of protection would bring, but the owner knows full well that the conversation has more than one level. To its credit ( and supporting your point ), I am not aware of China overtly flaunting its military power.
<<The EU could pass laws that really mess with the US, but they don't seem to.
Globalism does cut both ways. My argument is that EU does not do it not because it is noble or right, but because it effectively cannot at this time. At certain point, economic arguments have to be supported by something.
<<I can tell you are strongly on one side,
No worries. It is not relevant here and I am sure this topic will pop up on HN soon enough though:)
Sorry for the tone in "I thought I was pretty clear". That entire sentence should have been omitted.
<< China does it ( not completely unlike US ) with the implied threats of a power that has an army at its disposal.
The military is really relevant when pressuring the US, especially US companies. They use access to 1.2 billion customers as the threat. The EU uses access to 0.4 billion customers with a larger total economy as a carrot (although I have no idea if Brexit will result in the order flipping).
I mean, look at how Google has a special Chinese version. Now imagine a smaller company that was told to access the Chinese market they needed to make that version worldwide.
<< I am not aware of China overtly flaunting its military power.
I mean, they built artificial islands in the South China Sea (in international waters) and put military bases on them and use them to extend the claims of their international waters. The US ignores that and sails ships/flies planes close to them to point out they refuse to recognize them. I'm not sure if non-superpowers are willing to do the same and risk a war.
<< No worries
I'm not too concerned, but you should know that your phrasing was ambiguous. If you care about an issue, and I cannot tell which side you're on even when you're trying to tell me, I thought you should know.
>> Saudi Arabia, Iraq and others being clear counter-examples to such democracies
I thought I was pretty clear. At best, those are regional powers. And clearly fell into the "subordinate dictator" mindset. When Iraq stopped being a proxy-war launching pad with USSR backed Iran, it quickly was removed from even being a major regional power.
Saudi Arabia has far more than regional economic power, but that fits more into "the royal family is a rich family" in the US than "Saudi Arabia as a country is powerful".
>> EU has made several attempts at establishing an actual army to back up its economic strength with some actual muscle
That point was about EU economic power. China has clearly influenced many economic activities. Look at the removal of Taiwan's flag in the new Top Gun or the way John Cena apologized in Chinese as examples of the movie industry being pushed around.
I could go further than movies easily. It's just that they are a really visible example by design. They are not the biggest worry.
The EU could pass laws that really mess with the US, but they don't seem to.
>> including rant on casting living off of IP as anything other than rent seeking
I actually cannot tell read whether you are opposed to or supportive of the framing that living off IP is rent seeking. I can tell you are strongly on one side, but the exact wording doesn't parse for me.