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Comment by ksk | Hacker News Reader

Why do you think the US would stay the same if it became closed like China? What makes you think that the freedom is a liability?

You're essentially advocating to reverse decades if not centuries of policy that justified US foreign policy actions, because the US assumed moral high ground on several geopolitical fronts. IMO it would degrade the USs standing on several policy issues. "trust us, we're the good guys." no longer works. I'm sure China and Russia would love to park their navy outside of Florida in international waters because the US does similar things.

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>Why do you think the US would stay the same if it became closed like China?

I didn't suggest "closed like China", I said "treat them how they wan to be treated". Every country treated equally on their own rules.

>...US assumed moral high ground on several geopolitical fronts.

How is it not the moral high ground to "treat others as they want to be treated"? That is straight from the mouth of Jesus.

Edit: I misquoted Jesus... It's supposed to be "Treat others as you want to be treated"

How is the word of Jesus an objective moral standard?

Should we cut off a man and woman who had sex during the woman's period from society?

pretty sure Jesus never said such a thing, I think that's some old testament stuff.

It's already agreed that it's as objective a moral standard as one could be.

Jesus was only referenced as a rhetorical flourish. I prefer Kant's articulations, but the Jesus books include a not necessarily religious moral philosophy.

Society cannot hold together, when people make exceptions for themselves, or play the 'you did it first, so it's o.k. for me' game. That indicates an absence of moral principles.

Wait wait.. Isn't it "Treat others how you want to be treated"? Isn't what your suggestion essentially "an eye for an eye"?

Yes it is, I added a correction to my comment.

But that doesn't change the argument. The US wants to be treated as equals with China. Not like a sucker being tricked by a hustler, but as equals.

The only thing we control is our own actions. So to make our selves equal with China, why not make our deals with China based on China's rules?

It's: we'll do as you do.

Here is the tariff picture around the world for example:

https://i.imgur.com/ucahKjK.jpg

It's time for the US to start reciprocating trade behavior. Just look at those agriculture tariffs that nearly everyone else is using.

No eyes are in fact lost. The US increases the amount of goods it produces domestically and reduces the amount that it imports (ideally buying less consumer junk from China), which is entirely feasible now that China's manufacturing costs are nearly as high as the US. Or alternatively, the US trades with more open partners (eg where the US can properly own assets & businesses), or chooses partners that are strategically a better fit (such as Vietnam, where trade is booming with the US).

There is a tiny amount of precedent for this, in the form of reciprocal visa fees.

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