indeed, I was about to add it, but cut it short since my comment was already running long =D Public numbers for China’s reserves are topped up to at least 80%, the US (Col Wilkerson on Danny today, off the top of his head)- hasn’t filled it at ALL since trump 1. So all the noise about US reserves keeping oil prices down stateside- ok, prove it.

Ah, yes I wasn’t posting numbers in response to your post, just the tweet. As you said, it was a different (and imo wrong) take.

There’s a scene I recall from GameOfThrones that I always think about, that has been repurposed a few times in blogs by people trying to wrap their head around empire’s ways- a failure of imagination. Namely, that the oppressed just cannot imagine the depths of depravity the empire will go, the chaos it will sow, the damage it will seek just to spite others, because we still retain our humanity and connection to each other. And seemingly that can be to humanity’s detriment because we keep losing. And for sure, I’d bet on the strategy being as you and others like berletic have said- empire seeks sowing chaos as its own end.

But related to that was an excellent post by Warwick Powell – the west sees conflict as inevitable and loves the thucydides trap as the example, but going by Chinese governing thought, (Confucius, Daoism, Legalism, and now evolving Marxist), that story serves as a parable about how good governance is about avoiding chaos and conflict.

https://warwickpowell.substack.com/p/reclaiming-thucydides-in-the-name

It is still a difficult thing for western thought to get their minds around, that things do NOT have to end in chaos and conflict. Again, assuming we are allowed to get there. Furthering this, there are two long interviews with Josef Mahoney (westerner now teaching at East Normal University in China) that I thought were excellent in many points-

https://resistanceisfertilepodcast.substack.com/p/understanding-marxism-with-chinese

in both he goes into the idea how even western marxism and thought may not be able to reconcile conflict beyond binary, win/lose, possibly even because it is embedded into the basis of indo-european languages, whereas Mao and Chinese Marxism reaches directly back to Chinese thought as a unity of opposites- yin yang, balance- On Contradiction being Mao’s classic treatise on this.

I am wary of prognosticators who try and game everything out for China, especially if they come at it from a western lens (ie predictive history/jiang really speaks from and for a western audience). And Mahoney above himself is a bit caught in a western Marxist, rather chauvinst take -he prefaces all Iran statements with an admonishment “I’m against theocracy”- it’s why I thought Joti Brar’s statement was so corrective- with purging of leftist/marxists in the region over the years, Shia is now the region’s liberation theology- poohpoohing it is such a pearl clutching bs move. The KMT/CPC united front was necessary, and that is what this is- alliance against the great evil.

Benji/resistance is fertile also did a podcast with Rami Yahya where the latter mentioned he now saw the Palestinian struggle, the west asia/middle eastern struggle as their current century of humiliation akin to what China suffered. And that the hope and belief is that now, we are nearing the end. And Arnaud Bertrand’s tweet about China’s overcoming their helium dependency requires so much input, collective work from the nation and its people, to truly build that level of resilience, that level of sovereignty, most nations simply do not have it. But the Iran war is showing that if you DO get there, China, and Russia, are there to help. Assuming we all do get there.

At this point, I’m all for what Indi.ca says about taking the resistance at their word and actions, and even their predictions, and their predictions have been pretty accurate- 2027 the end of israel inshallah. Oct 7 was the flood/Stalingrad, now Iran is completing the flood. Victory be with them for the sake of humanity.

tbf, I agree with the Russia worry as well =D I was tempted to put their listing in parentheses/quotes because of all their entanglements with the west/israel, but I also don’t worry THAT much yet? China hasn’t forgotten the split, and unless they are completely bonkers, wouldn’t go whole hog with them either. I’m honestly more worried about the pro-US camp in China- since opening up that has weaseled into those who traveled west for schooling, do joint ventures, the exported propaganda etc, and the humiliated mindset that so many still have by thinking they have to supplicate. But I will say, that is changing- compared to 2 decades ago, you can see it in the negative reaction of people to americans in random china vlogs when talking to locals (Katherine’s journey to the east is a great example- not all the time, but so many more than you would expect who just outright voice disgust when they find out she is from the US), armchair chinese political analysts are much more anti-US, etc. And thankfully that pro-US clique is not in control of the country, and hopefully stays that way.