Hi David,

Our understanding of "self determination" is different and that's fine. The future is difficult to determine at the best of times, right now with a high degree of uncertainty its almost impossible. What lies ahead for both Hong Kong and Taiwan is anyone's guess. I like; "I support freedom", but how do we define "freedom", what does it really mean. Some are free to be poor, some are free to be rich, are we like the goldfish in the bowl, free to swim about, but restricted by things not of our making.

Dear Paul,

Anatole France said, "The rich, as well as the poor, are free to sleep under bridges. Self-determination came into diplomatic use in the Versailles Treaty after WW1. Woodrow Wilson, president of the US, pushed it. It determined how the three main defeated powers were treated. The Turkish Empire was broken up with mandates (like colonies) controlled by the British and French. Peoples thought not worthy of having their own countries like Arabs and Kurds would be controlled by the British and French. The Austrian Empire was broken up into countries like Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Wilson was a racist and apparently thought that lesser peoples, like Hungarians and Czechs, having their own countries would not want to come to the US. Germany, except for the Polish Corridor and Alsace and Lorraine was left intact. Self-determination was a consequence of the racist vision of Woodrow Wilson.

Typical of the village idiot to fawn over a Marxist dictator.

In his 10 years of power Xi has cemented his power and appointed himself leader for life. He's purged the ranks of any possible opposition and surrounded himself with yes men. The censorship and party control strip anyone that isn't a CCP member of any rights.

His political acumen is countered by his economic and diplomatic incompetence and the only person he has run rings around is himself. The Chinese economy is slowly imploding. Xi encouraged the housing bubble using its proceeds to finance his goals including expanding the PLA and navy, and when it grew too large instead of slowing it he cut off the credit of many of the developers and created a housing crisis that makes the GFC look like a hiccup. Even after pouring $Ts into construction, the sector is falling apart. Foreign companies have been bullied and many are leaving.

Xi was threatened by Alibaba's and 10Cent's success and clamped down on the tech sector so it lost 75% of its value. The Chinese stock market is corrupt and steadily falling as no one trusts the local regulator.

Xi's wolf warriors and expansionist efforts have turned most countries' attitudes from welcoming to mistrustful to the point where most countries now regard China as a threat.

My opinion is that Xi has done more damage to China than a swarm of US carrier groups could hope for.

The Village Nazi, has been posting nonsense about China for the couple of years he's been a Forum member. His entire knowledge stems from reading the menu down at the 'Golden Dragon Take-Away'. Shonky do yourself a favour and order the Chow Main and keep away from the egg noddles.

Hi David,

When Thomas Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal" he was referring to White Anglo-Saxon males, not women, and certainly not Negros or Indians, heaven forbid. If you were transported back in time to 1787 and confronted Jefferson with a claim of hypocrisy, he would be surprised and most likely outraged with your suggestion. He would expect that saying "all men are created equal" would be clearly understood, and needed no clarification. If you said; "What about the black slaves?" Jefferson would have retorted with a glassy stare ; "WHAT ABOUT THEM!"

Dear Paul,

At the same time Jefferson profited from slavery he was uneasy about it.

https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/jefferson-slavery/jefferson-s-attitudes-toward-slavery/

"Throughout his entire life, Thomas Jefferson was publicly a consistent opponent of slavery. Calling it a “moral depravity”1 and a “hideous blot,”2 he believed that slavery presented the greatest threat to the survival of the new American nation.3 Jefferson also thought that slavery was contrary to the laws of nature, which decreed that everyone had a right to personal liberty.4 These views were radical in a world where unfree labor was the norm.

At the time of the American Revolution, Jefferson was actively involved in legislation that he hoped would result in slavery’s abolition.5 In 1778, he drafted a Virginia law that prohibited the importation of enslaved Africans.6 In 1784, he proposed an ordinance that would ban slavery in the Northwest territories.7 But Jefferson always maintained that the decision to emancipate slaves would have to be part of a democratic process; abolition would be stymied until slaveowners consented to free their human property together in a large-scale act of emancipation. To Jefferson, it was anti-democratic and contrary to the principles of the American Revolution for the federal government to enact abolition or for only a few planters to free their slaves."

Go to the website to find out more

I see that the village idiot has no clue as to what is happening in China. I guess the last thing he read was when Mao was alive.

Pauliar (village Nazi)

If you picked up a book you wouldn't look like a complete twat.