[-] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago

Just think of it as enforced touch-grass day

[-] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Ok I'll elaborate but don't get mad at me for pointing out things that are kinda obvious from an asian perspective that seemingly alot of western commentators miss/overlook. I'm also not going to claim to be an expert on Chinese foreign policy.

Trying to keep your head down and not draw the US's ire is the worst possible way to deal with a belligerent facist power engaged in a zero-sum game of world domination.

Ah, yes, which is famously why China has gone to war with the United States to establish global communism in the time since the Korean War. To quote Deng Xiaoping, Chinese foreign policy since the 1980's has been “biding our time and hiding our capabilities”. Actually pertinent leftist criticism of Dengism and China has been the amount (or lack thereof) of support for socialist causes/states, especially post Sino-Soviet split. Ask yourself: if China is socialist, why are the us and china trade partners? Shouldn't principled communists fight to end capitalism at every turn? (And to be clear so I don't get mistaken for an ultra: there are very good reasons for China embarking on the the path it has taken. But this is still a valid criticism.)

How does the relationship between earth and the trisolarans map to the us/china relationship at all?

It needs to be stated that China has had a long history of being the victim of colonial powers. The Century of Humiliation is as important context for this work as the Cultural Revolution, and much of the driving force that created the Chinese Communist Party and fuels Chinese nationalism to this day is the desire to avoid a repeat of that dark time. The Dark Forest Theory as it is presented in the book is meant to be approached from the defender's side: is it wise to bide our time and hide our capabilities? Is it enough?

It's a Sci-fi allegory to frame the question: "Is it possible for a technologically inferior nation to avoid colonization by a technologically superior one, and if so how?"

I think it goes without saying that a Chinese author might give a pessimistic answer.

Also, to cover all my bases: Chinese foreign policy has shifted rather significantly under Xi Jinping to a more active role. Please remember that the Three Body Problem was published in 2008. Also, and this should really go without saying- it reflects the views and fears of the author only, and all that entails. Whether the allegory is as relevant now as it was when it was published is a separate matter of discussion.

Just speaking on the first book (I haven't finished books 2 & 3):

Like i don't really get what the author was going for how can China hide from the US?

This is kinda the open question the work is concerned with, and in the end the conclusion is that ~~Humanity~~ China can't? That the only conclusion to avoid open war and colonisation is technological parity?

[-] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago

Hey, look, as a person living in a glass house I'm not about to just start throwing cringe stones everywhere, but imo I think we should be really clear on whether we're discussing the Three Body Problem (the book/tv show) or The Dark Forest Theory (the thought experiment), because there absolutely are legitimate criticisms of both of those things, but we kinda need to be careful not to conflate the two, because the chief concern of the book is the question "Is it possible for China to not get colonised by a technologically superior foe?", which is somewhat related but quite a bit different from the "The Reason we don't hear from aliens is because everyone's really mean".

[-] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago

Nah, I'm not gonna be as uncharitable as all that (beyond the snark in my original post). Online western leftists have diegetic essentialism built into them as a survival mechanism, so when chuds deliberately push their reading of dark forest theory (and to be fair, it is very easy to see how Game Theory Law of the Jungle, Kill or Be Killed can be read that way) it sets off their Hitler particle detectors. I don't blame them as it's probably the most common take they'd encounter online.

The defensive realpolitik 'Keep your Head Down' reading is only apparent if you're familiar with China's recent history and foreign policy decisions post-Deng.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago

Elon saying “Put your hand in the box” except the box is a tesla

[-] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago

Kill la Kill's entire concept started because someone at Trigger thought it'd be funny to make a pun out of fashion and fascism.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

I take solace in the fact that no fascist will ever put the shows I, the One True Anime Communist, like, in a list like this.

Because no fascist will ever sit through Mushishi or The Tatami Galaxy without getting bored.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago

It was the usual "your issues are distracting from the class struggle/you are weaponizing your identity to play identity politics" type stuff, that tbh I haven't really seen since the trans struggle session and the Great Purge that followed.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago

Yeah pretty much.

Only thing I kinda miss is the UlyssesT posting, but that’s probably because as a fellow member of the “Hexbear Highschool Teacher’s for Media Literacy” Caucus he yelled at people for their bad takes that I just don’t have the energy for.

One thing the site has gotten better at from the r/chapo days is the inclusiveness- used to get a whole bunch of class reductionist’s come out the woodwork anytime a PoC/Queer/etc. opinion was expressed, this site becoming an overwhelmingly trans friendly space having many great knock on effects for other minorities. It’s not perfect, but it’s better

[-] [email protected] 21 points 8 months ago

The actual problem is that Oda is using monarch's as an allegorical stand-ins for politicians, so Luffy overthrowing Walpole's regime but saving Vivi's seems hypocritical from a Leftist perspective unless you sorta glaze your eye's over and replace "King" with "Person who's Ruling the country", cos then Luffy only beats up those who are self-serving and leaves the one's who (largely) represent the wills of their peoples alone.

Except King Triton, yeah the right-wing coup was worse but he deserved it for letting things get that bad in the first place, fuck Fishman Island really is the worst arc

[-] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago

New (New) Netflix adaptation of Death Note just dropped

view more: ‹ prev next ›

CriticalOtaku

joined 4 years ago