Hacker News Reader

I mean, if one country does it, everyone else is forced to do it to level the playing field. Hollywood churns out higher quality propaganda because huge budgets and USA global hegemony, but it won't stay like that forever as we move to a multipolar world. The same is happening with online news outlets that churn out cherry-picked propaganda to counter propaganda from another country - information warfare.

rocknoron 37% of the world’s population have still never used the internet

Ha, first world problems. For a poor person, having an internet connection massively improves quality of life, end of story.

rocknoron Steam has been banned in China

I agree, this rhetoric is true for western news about India as well. The BBC for example known to be awful at times, actively misrepresenting and hiding facts to suit their narrative. I guess they have to cater to their population with colonial mentality which can't bear the fact that some ex-colonies are on track to surpass them in the Asian century.

rocknoron U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

Multipolar is going to be the most likely future, with at least 4 poles: China, India, US, EU. Probably more in far future. Talking about US/China hegemony is just delusional fearmongering.

rocknoron China and India will have to ‘justify’ watered down coal pledge–Cop26 president

For people wondering what the numbers on cumulative emissions look like:

https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$model$markers$line$data$fi...

rocknoron China and India will have to ‘justify’ watered down coal pledge–Cop26 president

> That was true years ago

Uhh, no. What the parent comment said is true.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/eys0iw/per...

rocknoron China and India will have to ‘justify’ watered down coal pledge–Cop26 president

Idiotic comment.

The proportion of world population from India and China has been almost constant throughout history. They have not "bred more" than the rest of the world.

6-8 children was the norm even in developed countries in the past, economic prosperity and education changed that. European colonization actively prevented both from occurring in these countries, keeping birth rate high.

Post independence, both countries have decreased birth rates drastically, India is at replacement and still decreasing, China below replacement.

Stop using that stupid racist argument.

rocknoron Social media influencer/model created from AI lands 100 sponsorships

What is with this East/West bullshit oversimplification?

Humans have a tendency to divide things into two distinct groups with an imaginary gap between them (this v/s that, us v/s them), this comment is just another example of that.

There is so much more to it, but no, apparently it's just East/West. HN is going down the drain, it is the new reddit now.

rocknoron Squats can boost brain activity [video]

> Just like most western yoga studios are LGBTQ friendly and many Hindus are not.

That is false. Please don't spread this myth. The homophobia is mostly a social hangover from colonial times. Steps are being taken to change that, and it should go away with time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_religion#Hin...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India

https://time.com/5918808/homophobia-homosexuality-lgbt-asian...

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/asia/british-empire-lgbt-...

rocknoron The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

The bias in BBC's reporting is well known. For example, anti-India bias. Lots of other examples here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Specific_...

rocknoron Chinese authorities say overtime '996' policy is illegal

> They're just not having macroscopic economic impact today.

Nope. Sorry, you can't whitewash the facts so easily, us from the former colonies won't let you!

https://voxeu.org/article/economic-impact-colonialism

> If this is right, then a third of income inequality in the world today can be explained by the varying impact of European colonialism on different societies. A big deal.

> how come in the several generations since, Africa hasn't been able to develop off the back of African resources

Who says it hasn't? I invite you to look at graphs at https://gapminder.org/tools. You must avoid the natural binary thinking tendency, there is a whole spectrum between "developing" and "developed". Don't forget that factors like geographical/religious/linguistic etc affect speed of development. Why are black people in the US still not doing well, despite living in the richest country in the world? It is hard to get out of the vicious cycle of poverty.

> What about all the developed countries that never had any significant empire

Hmm, sneaky attempt at changing goal posts - I never said colonization was necessary for development!

rocknoron South African Unemployment Rate Rises to 34.4%(Highest in the World)

Why don't you watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBT5EQt348

rocknoron Chinese authorities say overtime '996' policy is illegal

> They do quite legitimately earn 4x as much because the work they are doing is worth 4x as much

A London taxi driver is not paid more because his work is somehow more valuable than a Beijing taxi driver's, it's just because everything in London is expensive. That's just basic economics. Read an economics book.

How did everything in London get so expensive? Read a history book about the last few centuries.

Seems like you're just some typical western chauvinist with no real argument.

rocknoron Chinese authorities say overtime '996' policy is illegal

Bad argument, not even comparable. Colonization of Africa, Asia and Americas was orders of magnitude worse, and more importantly, incredibly recent. Which is why the lingering effects are still there.

rocknoron Chinese authorities say overtime '996' policy is illegal

Sure, the UK has certainly not been free riding from its profits. But the UK wouldn't be nearly as rich as it is now without the initial investment that came from plundering colonies. Innovation doesn't come for free, wealth is needed to finance it. People say the physical resources that were stolen don't matter, but that's absolutely not true, they matter a lot, even to this day (see how the media is talking about the Taliban sitting on trillions of dollars of minerals in Afghanistan).

For example, if not for India, Britain would be absolutely destroyed after WW2 and would be far from their current position in the 21st century (assuming allies still somehow win, big if). India was Britain's cash cow and is the reason why it survived the war.

rocknoron Chinese authorities say overtime '996' policy is illegal

It's in the EU? It has proximity to other rich countries? It wasn't left in nearly as bad state as ME/Africa/South Asia after decolonization? Want more? Just read a book or two.

rocknoron South African Unemployment Rate Rises to 34.4%(Highest in the World)

What an ignorant comment. You would have done the same if you were in their place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_transition

rocknoron Afghans Delete Social Media as Taliban Seizes US Surveillance Equipment

The connection between the Pakistani ISI and the Taliban is very well documented.

https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/117472/DP%2018.pdf

https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/08/06/a...

rocknoron The prices hospitals negotiate with private insurers for patient services

Do you even know what 1/2/3 world means?

rocknoron The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

I hope it does impact rich countries soon though. That's the only way they'll take the problem seriously without pushing vague ideals like "human rights and dignity"

rocknoron The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

Yeah, people don't understand that the human body is remarkably adaptable. Just need to stay in a place for a while (a few weeks to months). I've cycled to school ~10 kms everyday in 35-40° as a kid, came home to cool down instantly under a ceiling fan. Now in my current city I find 27+ too hot.

rocknoron Observation-based early-warning signals for a collapse of the Gulf Stream

Yet more anti-China western propaganda. You can criticize China for many issues, but this isn't one of them. You have to look at facts.

You can't just look at absolute emissions per capita, you need to look at consumption-based emissions:

https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$model$markers$line$data$fi...

https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/eys0iw/per...

I don't see any such "trajectory" that you mention.

rocknoron Reducing CO2 emissions by targeting the world's hyper-polluting power plants

Wtf? I'm talking about consumption emissions - taking into account exports/imports. That's what matters. Stop with your lies and dishonesty.

rocknoron Dating in Delhi when you're poor

I don't think you know what "arranged marriage" really means.

Previously it used to be that your parents would choose your partner for you and you didn't have a choice (well this was true everywhere in the world). This still happens in rural and lesser urbanized areas, but things are changing pretty fast. In urban areas, arranged marriage is basically Tinder with parents - but the goal is to optimize for long-term happiness. Also it's not like the partners never meet each other before marrying - it's usually at least a few meets to decide if they are compatible. If not, you just move on to the next family in the list. The idea is that compatibility is more important. If you're compatible, "love" will happen eventually.

It's true that a few meets are not usually enough to judge compatibility, which is why arranged marriages are on their way out and will eventually die out.

rocknoron Dating in Delhi when you're poor

Makes no sense. Religion is rapidly declining yet the citizens are getting more patriotic and developing a stronger common identity. Things like culture/tradition/language/food are much more important than religion for unification. This applies everywhere in the world.

rocknoron Three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet

> Earth can only support a certain number of human beings at a given standard of life.

Correction, to be pedantic. Earth can only support a certain number of human beings at a given standard of life with our current sciencific advancement. The number increases with advancements in renewable tech.

rocknoron Three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet

Yup. It's called demographic transition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_transition

This is a great video explaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBT5EQt348

rocknoron Reducing CO2 emissions by targeting the world's hyper-polluting power plants

> has a per capita emissions about the same as the UK, even taking into account exports vs imports

Wrong!

https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$model$markers$line$data$fi...