As a committed democrat, I would dearly love to be able to convince doubters of democracy’s superiority by pointing to its leaders. And in the past that has often been easy. Today, not so much. This came home to me the other day as I followed the speeches at the
Continue readingTag: China
Views from the Beltline: We still need the U.S.
Reading The Guardian last week, two articles captured my attention. Set side by side were “A ‘tyrant-clown’ has destroyed my love affair with America” by Robert McCrum and “‘Chairman Xi’ seeks only to purge and subjugate. That is his weakness” by Simon Tisdall. In the first, McCrum talks about his
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: CHINA VS THE WEST? No, it is freedom vs empire – of any kind
“Delegates from American companies, including ADM, Cisco, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Warner Bros, Xcoal, General Motors, and PepsiCo, were told by Ning Jizhe, a vice-chairman of the commission, that China always welcomed more investment from American companies. Ning said the US business community should “seize the opportunities brought by China’s booming economy
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Importing From China, Part Two: We Need A Green New Deal, Not An Orwellian Police State
What is the state of China and the West? Here is a brief synopsis and overview. This much, at least, should be perfectly clear: switching off fossil fuels – with a full speed, WWII level effort – is urgently required, and renewables are the clear answer, along with the even
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The sun sets on Hong Kong
Once an enterprise Canadians went to war for, the British Empire is now in disgrace. And no wonder. It owns many sins. The Atlantic slave trade, the Kenyan gulag, the theft of aboriginal lands, the list is long. And dark. But the history of civilization is the history of empires
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: When Jason Kenney Told Off China and It Backfired
Covid-19 upended everything. No one knows whether the world will snap back to “normal” like an elastic band or be gone forever. Economists, futurists, and historians are all over the map when it comes to what to expect in the future. Some, like conservative historian Niall Ferguson, suggest we
Continue readingWill the "Red Menace" Work in the 21st Century?
During the Cold War, conservative politicians could always be relied on to trot out the “red menace,” accusing opponents of being soft on communism. It was usually good for a few votes—in the U.S. for many votes. It was, of course, just a version of one of the oldest and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus & Common Sense
“We were once distressed by crimes: now, by laws”, wrote Tacitus. How relevant is that today? Extremely so; but the sheep are trained not to think; and see, therefore, only what they are told to see – which, they obediently do. Orwell would shudder in horror. Still no one can
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Decline, Decay, Death and Rebirth of Democracy and Freedom
The two greatest threats to democracy and freedom in the West, or to peace, justice, equality, or even a viable future for humanity, are without question, the currently reigning de facto world government of neofeudal corporate oligarchy, also known as neoliberalism, and the fascist order which it is rapidly
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus: Martial Law & The New Police State
An excellent live webstream discussion was given last night by Sayer Ji, the founder of GreenMedInfo – the best source I know of for science-based health information. His remarks offer a calm, well-reasoned, fact-based entry into the discussion as to what in the world is really going on with the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The coronavirus pandemic: Not good news for anyone, but probably worse news for the West than China
The novel coronavirus hit China first. Today was the first day China reported no new local infections since the global pandemic officially began in Hubei province in the fall of 2019. No new local infections means that while there were 34 cases reported in China in the previous 24 hours,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus: Facts & Fall-Out
Four explanations of coronavirus outbreak: 1. Standard narrative of Western governments and media: natural virus, extreme danger, draconian measures needed, justified 2. Weaponized biowarfare virus accidentally leaked from Wuhan BSL4 bioweapons lab 3. US elites (military industrial complex, or deep state) launched biowarfare in hybrid war with China, without informing
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s almost as if the new coronavirus has evolved to exploit the vulnerabilities of the modern neoliberal state
“The risk to Albertans is still low,” the Government of Alberta’s official website soothingly assured us yesterday afternoon, the day the World Health Organization officially declared the effects of the coronavirus swiftly coursing ’round the globe to be a pandemic. This may reassure some of us. Others, not so much.
Continue readingFrom Emperors to Emperors and Tsars to Tsars—Plus ça change
The French proverb plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same) most aptly describes what has been happening at the pinnacle of government in China and Russia. Two years ago, the Chinese Communist Party, completely dominated by its 64-year-old president
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Lockdown: Fascism 1, Sanity 0
China and Italy, both with authoritarian governments, are the first to put their countries under lockdown. The Davos oligarchs think that’s wonderful, of course. Divide & conquer, sow fear & reap control. There are many roads to fascism. This is one. The response is far more dangerous than the crisis
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Importing From China: A Virus? Or A Totalitarian Model Of Elite Control?
Someone prescient once said, “Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little security, deserve neither, and will lose both.” We would do well to remember those words now. And we are most definitely in the process of losing both, as we speak. But maybe we aspire to be
Continue readingThe EU Declares War
I apologize for the alarmist headline. The European Union hasn’t actually declared war, more a case of having recognized a war, a shadow war. Vera Jourova, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, claims Russia and China are engaging in a “digital war” with fake news and
Continue readingTaiwanese Choose Freedom and Democracy
Last Saturday the Taiwanese re-elected President Tsai Ing-Wen. Tsai won more votes than any presidential candidate since Taiwan began holding direct elections for president in 1996. Her party also maintained a majority in the legislature. The landslide was not only a strong voice of support for the incumbent, but an
Continue readingHong Kong Has Spoken
Hong Kong has spoken, indeed has shouted, and it has shouted “democracy” loud and clear. Pro-democracy candidates secured almost 90 percent of district council seats in Sunday’s election, taking control of 17 out of 18 councils, a staggering defeat for the Chinese government and pro-Beijing Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why Canadian media won’t call post-Brexit protests ‘pro-democracy demonstrations’
If there are riots in Britain after the hard Brexit Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party cronies have scheduled for Halloween, will mainstream media in Canada describe them as “pro-democracy demonstrations” as they do when similar violent outbursts take place nowadays in Hong Kong or Moscow? On the
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