If only there was a country selling cheap, reliable electric vehicles with extremely low running costs.
The missing middle in discussions around Chinese EVs is import quotas (and disconnection mandates).
Americans buy over 15 million vehicles a year [1]. Letting China export up to 150,000 EVs into America a year, subject to anti-surveillance measures (e.g. no phoning home), paid for by the importer and thus--ultimately--consumer, would not bankrupt American producers. It would, however, show American consumers what they're missing out on while increasing competition in the American car market. Hell, it might even give some stateside auto engineers some good ideas.
No, no. THAT is not acceptable.
there is a difference between 'good healthcare' and 'available healthcare'.
the US has some of the highest quality healthcare in the world to those that it is made available to.
the worlds' most rich and famous come to the US for treatment -- and the poorest in the US are among the most plentiful medical tourists to Malaysia and Thailand.
It's hard for foreigners to understand, but these two qualities are not mutually exclusive.
The availability of healthcare is the favorite talking point of those with socialized medicine programs because.... the quality sucks.
How many hundreds of NHS horror-stories are produced a year?
Yes, it's great that they are given a card that says they have medical coverage. It's not so great to wait 6 years for a cancer treatment that is nigh useless by the time the scalpel touches the patient.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas...
~75% of people get diagnosed in <1 month of urgent referral and 90% of people that want treatment get started in <1 month.
>and the poorest in the US are among the most plentiful medical tourists to Malaysia and Thailand.
This is such an absurd statement. The poorest Americans can absolutely not afford travel to the other side of the world for treatment.
Less than the millions of horror stories produced by the lack of anything like the NHS in the US.
That number is not just hyperbole. There are on the order of a million homeless people on the US, and 50-70% of them cite medical debt as a major reason why. This is literally unimaginable in any European country.
America (19.5/10k, of which 12 unsheltered) has fewer homeless per capita than, in increasing order of homelessness, Czechia (22), Austria (22), Sweden (26), Serbia (29), Canada (29), Germany (31), Latvia (35), Greece (37), Luxembourg (38), France (49, of which 4.5 unsheltered) and the UK (56, of which 0.9 unsheltered) [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_ho...
Nevertheless, medical debt is a significant driver of homelessness in the US, while it is not one in the EU.
Well, this isn't universally true. But regardless, the quality of care in the US sucks just as much if you aren't financially well-off. When you can get it.
> How many hundreds of NHS horror-stories are produced a year?
And how many thousands of horror stories are produced by the US healthcare system every year?
ETA: also, every country with UHC spends less on it as a portion of GDP than US public funding of non-universal health care.
The US is by way and away the richest country on earth, and ostensibly the best country on earth.
Surely they would aim higher and build a better system than the NHS, right?
Flip it around. You're in China. Would you want the CIA to have access to your life?
Of course not, unless you're an idiot. Every intelligence agency has near-limitless utility for disposable stooges.
You're comparing conditional probabilities without considering the priors. Given you're being coerced, it's worse to have that done by power close than power afar.
The downside for the FBI blackmailing an American is significant. Of course it happens and has happened. But it's weighed. The downside for the CIA doing pretty much fuckall is highly limited. This results in the common asymmetry in non-autocratic countries between domestic and foreign surveillance budgets and, subsequently, targets. (If it came out that the CIA had been leveraging the porn habits of Chinese citizens to coerce them into spying for it, I'm not sure there would be any backlash in Washington. That's literally their job.)
That example, by the way, hints at the lack of mutual exclusivity in your example. Every one of those disposable agents would subsequently be punished by Beijing. Same as if you got played by Russia or China (or Pyongyang or a non-state criminal outfit). The blackmail only works because you're rationally afraid of your local agencies--the CIA has limited means by which to directly coerce Chinese citizens in China.
In what sane society is this an acceptable point in conversation to be hand-waived away. The FBI has murdered American citizens in some cases and no one has faced any consequence. To me how is the FBI any different from the FSB at that point?
There's no difference to me. My government and its adversaries respect my privacy equally, which is to say they don't at all.
Even in cases of hostages, American citizens have been left languishing until a deal that satisfies both sides has been brokered. All governments view us as little more than pawns. I feel like I'd be an idiot to expect differently when there are dozens of examples of our government being outright hostile to innocent citizens, both directly and indirectly.
Stellantis, is, as usual, screwed up. The only remaining Chrysler product is a mini-van. The Jeeps designed after the Stellantis acquisition are not very good. (A plug-in hybrid with a 21 mile electric range?) The dealers demanded that the CEO of Stellantis be fired for incompetence, which was done. So far it hasn't helped much.
General Motors is still trying to push their "ladder of success": "Start your adventure with Chevrolet", and someday, reach Cadillac. This was a good idea around 1955. General Motors, post-bankruptcy, is a much smaller company than it was before the bankruptcy.
You fail to understand the magic of the Jeep Wrangler. It is a masterful exercise in checkbox engineering.
It is a lifestyle car or a practical SUV. It has a (shitty) 2nd row for the kids. It comes in hard top and soft top. You can get it in a hybrid, or 6spd manual.
It is literally the car that has a "well askshually" in response to whatever reason your significant other has for why not to get it.
Yeah 21mi plug in range is crap, but that's all it needs to check the box.
Sad part is it might still be worth it to buy after tarriffs at the rate American vehicles are going.