With the rise of Christian Nationalism in America 🇺🇸, the world is once again contemplating dealing with a democratic republic led by a dangerous demagogue who has access to nuclear weapons.
However there is another country people should be concerned about, as it appears religious nationals of a different flavor are on the verge of turning the world’s largest democracy into a Hindu nationalist state.
Featured Image: Official Photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Since ascending to power in 2014, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi has worked tirelessly to replace India’s secular democracy with a Hindu sectarian state.
The construction of a temple in Ayodhya is the exclamation point on an agenda that has also included revoking the autonomy long provided to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, creating new citizenship and immigration rules biased against Muslims, and rewritten textbooks to whitewash Hindu violence against Muslims from Indian history.
India 🇮🇳 embracing Hindu nationalism at the expense of a secularism should alarm the public at large—but it is not due to the fact that India 🇮🇳 is led by a populist who has access to nuclear weapons (the latter concern is equally alarming all by itself).
For better or worse, India 🇮🇳 provides a blueprint on how theocratic nationalists can conquer democratic institutions & use political power to reshape national identity & culture.
Champions of secular societies who desire to avoid the experience of living in a theocratic republic should devise plans to counter the latter’s movement, as a victory for theocracy would be a step back for most of humanity.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland 🇨🇭, business leaders are preparing themselves to witness the return of the Orange Authoritarian to the White House.
MSNBC responding to New York Times article
Publicly, the global business leaders who gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, haven’t wanted to predict the winner of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The closest they’ve come? Referring to it as a “geopolitical risk.”
But talk to executives privately, and they’re more explicit: They expect Donald Trump to win and while many are worried about that, they are also resigned to it.
Before people begin placing their bets on who the next President will be based upon business leaders predictions, they should realize that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has a history of picking the wrong candidate.
“In Davos, Donald Trump is already the president,” Open Society Foundations Chairman Alex Soros told a panel at the World Economic Forum on Friday.
“That’s a good thing, because the Davos consensus is always wrong,” he said. […]
“Donald Trump owns the Republican Party. We’re in something I like to call the Trump cycle, because I think even if — and I believe, if the institutions hold, when — he loses this election, he’ll also be the Republican candidate in 2028 and maybe even 2032 as well,” Soros said, drawing a ripple of laughter from attendees.
“What’s the way out for him? He either winds up in prison or he winds up in power, he’s not going off on some beach somewhere and retiring.”
Joking aside, there is real reason to fear a second Trump presidency, as a win for Donald Trump would probably be the beginning of the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
This would result in a wider European war, as Ukraine 🇺🇦 collapsing would probably embolden Russia 🇷🇺 to take action against Moldova 🇲🇩, resulting in the rest of Europe being dragged into a regional conflict if Poland 🇵🇱 or Lithuania 🇱🇹 are attacked.
We could also witness China 🇨🇳 make a military attempt against Taiwan 🇹🇼, after Donald Trump hinted he would not defend the disputed island nation.
Donald Trump hesitant about defending Taiwan 🇹🇼
A conflict between China 🇨🇳 & Taiwan 🇹🇼 would spark a war in Asia which would ensnare Japan 🇯🇵, North Korea 🇰🇵, South Korea 🇰🇷, Australia 🇦🇺, & maybe the Philippines 🇵🇭.
Do Not Forget About South America
Also if the United States 🇺🇸 declined defending NATO obligations in Europe & Taiwan’s 🇹🇼 liberties, they probably would not assist Guyana 🇬🇾 if Venezuela 🇻🇪 decided to invade their neighbor.
Exxon Mobil CEO responding to threat of Venezuela 🇻🇪 invading Guyana 🇬🇾
The World Economic Forum probably fears three major wars either escalating (Europe), or emerging (Southeast Asia & South America) on three different continents under a future Trump Presidency, so they are beginning to hedge their bets just in case Joe Biden loses the election.
Unless one is in the war business, numerous regional conflicts will not benefit most companies as global resources devoted towards killing off people en masse does not inspire confidence into the future.
With Russia 🇷🇺 waging war against Ukraine 🇺🇦, & China 🇨🇳 threatening to wage war against Taiwan 🇹🇼, many American allies are becoming nervous about the pending elections in the United States 🇺🇸.
While Joe Biden has vowed to help Ukraine 🇺🇦 defend their territory against Russia 🇷🇺 & to defend Taiwan 🇹🇼 with military action if China 🇨🇳 attacks, his predecessor’s perspective would please Dictators Vladimir Putin & Xi Jinping, respectively.
“You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you,” Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020, according to French European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was also present at a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“By the way, NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO,” Trump also said, according to Breton. “And he added, ‘and by the way, you owe me $400 billion, because you didn’t pay, you Germans, what you had to pay for defense,'” Breton said about the tense meeting, where the EU’s then-trade chief Phil Hogan was also present.
If Donald Trump is re-elected President, then Putin will advance his attacks upon Ukraine 🇺🇦, as well as potentially use weapons of mass destruction—including miniature nuclear bombs—against Ukrainian troops.
Putin would even test America’s resolve by expanding attacks against Ukraine’s 🇺🇦 neighbors (including NATO allies).
Although Donald Trump was obvious about how he would abandon Europe if it were under attack, he was more ambiguous about Taiwan 🇹🇼.
Hewitt pushed Trump, asking, “If [China] did [attack Taiwan], would you take up arms against them? Force?” Trump continued: “They will not do it. Zero chance. And Russia would have never gone into Ukraine. Zero chance. There are other things you can do without going into a nuclear holocaust. There are other things you can do. China will never go into Taiwan.”
As I see it, the key line here is: “There are other things you can do without going into a nuclear holocaust.” This language suggests Trump’s belief that a U.S. military intervention over Taiwan would be tantamount to nuclear war. […]
Nevertheless, the fact that Trump immediately jumps to this nuclear concern is noteworthy. It strongly implies that he would be unwilling to risk using U.S. military force over Taiwan.
China 🇨🇳 currently does not have the capability of taking Taiwan 🇹🇼 thanks in part to corrupt military officials undermining the strength of the Chinese military.
However, that does not mean China 🇨🇳 would not attempt to spark a war with China 🇨🇳 & North Korea 🇰🇵 on one side, & Taiwan 🇹🇼, Japan 🇯🇵, Australia 🇦🇺, Philippines 🇵🇭 & probably South Korea 🇰🇷 on the other side.
It would be deja vu for America 🇺🇸, who stood by & watched as Europe & Asia were embroiled in bloody wars far away from their shores at the beginning of World War Two.
I knew we had an increase in the number of conflicts on planet Earth, but I did not realize we had this many!
TLDR News Global highlights an increasing number of conflicts on Earth
This week, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London published the latest edition of its authoritative annual Armed Conflict Survey, and it’s not predicting much peace for the holidays. It paints a grim picture of rising violence in in many regions, of wars chronically resistant to broking of peace. The survey — which addresses regional conflicts rather than the superpower confrontation between China, Russia, the US and its allies — documents 183 conflicts for 2023, the highest number in three decades.
A variety of factors are responsible (humans are to blame for the vast majority of them), but we might see more conflicts as democratic republics are replaced with authoritarian governments.
We will probably experience more conflicts in 2024–which will worsen the refugee crisis on Earth.
I knew chewing gum was illegal in Singapore 🇸🇬, but I did not know the reason why until now.
Chewing gum is banned in Singapore under the Regulation of Imports and Exports (Chewing Gum) Regulations.[1] The ban, which includes all gum substances of vegetable or synthetic origin such as bubble gum and dental chewing gum, carries a hefty fine and possible jail term for those caught importing, selling or manufacturing chewing gum.[2]
One of the objectives of the ban was to prevent vandals from using spent chewing gums to disrupt Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) services. Before the ban was enforced, there had been many instances in which vandals stuck chewing gum on door sensors of MRT trains, which prevented the doors from functioning properly and causing disruptions in train services.[3] The chewing gum ban was implemented to eradicate problems created by chewing-gum litter in public places like cinemas, parks and common areas of housing estates such as lifts, staircases and corridors, as well as the high costs involved to clean up the litter.[4] The Housing and Development Board (HDB) reportedly spent S$150,000 annually to clean up chewing gum litter.[5]
…which is honestly very terrifying. My biggest shock is that Henry Kissinger was never Secretary of Defense due to the amount of death he promoted as Secretary of State.
Another surprise is how many United States 🇺🇸 Presidents & international businesses Kissinger has influenced.
Kissinger was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — America’s highest civilian award — in 1977. In 1982, he founded Kissinger Associates, an international consulting group that became a revolving door refuge for top national security officialslooking to cash in on their government service. The firm leveraged their and Kissinger’s reputations and contacts to help huge multinational corporations, banks, and financial institutions — including American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Heinz, Fiat, Volvo, Ericsson, and Daewoo — broker deals with governments. “A big part of Henry Kissinger’s legacy is the corruption of American foreign policymaking,” Matt Duss, a former adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, told Vox in 2023. “It is blurring the line, if not outright erasing the line, between the making of foreign policy and corporate interests.”
Kissinger counseled every U.S. president from Nixon through Donald Trump and served as a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1984 to 1990 and the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board from 2001 to 2016. After being tapped to head the 9/11 Commission, families of victims raised questions about potential conflicts of interest due to Kissinger’s financial ties with governments that could be implicated in the commission’s work. Kissinger quit rather than hand over a list of his consultancy’s clients.
I wonder why Joe Biden did not seek out Henry Kissenger’s advice while President‽ He probably was familiar with him when Barack Obama was President (Joe Biden was Vice President then).
For those unaware, Kissenger had indirect involvement in the deaths of millions of people.
The Yale University historian Greg Grandin, author of the biography Kissinger’s Shadow, estimates that Kissinger’s actions from 1969 through 1976, a period of eight brief years when Kissinger made Richard Nixon’s and then Gerald Ford’s foreign policy as national security adviser and secretary of state, meant the end of between three and four million people. That includes “crimes of commission,” he explained, as in Cambodia and Chile, and omission, like greenlighting Indonesia’s bloodshed in East Timor; Pakistan’s bloodshed in Bangladesh; and the inauguration of an American tradition of using and then abandoning the Kurds.
China 🇨🇳 has seen better days, & post-COVID, the communist regime’s power might be fading. While this would be a welcoming outcome for enemies of the Chinese government, the collapse of the world’s second-largest economy could drag down numerous nations still dependent on the Asian giant.
Desmond Lachman of the American Enterprise Institute recently told Reuters that China’s economy is unlikely to eclipse the United States anytime within the next 20 years. Economist Paul Krugman, also a New York Times columnist, likens China to Japan in the early 1990s. That’s when runaway growth came to a screeching halt and worries about an Asian nation’s world domination proved wildly unfounded.
Japan, at least, had become a rich country by then. China still isn’t, and it may never join the ranks of so-called advanced economies.
China faces many structural and cyclical problems, including a declining population, likely to make India the world’s most populous country sometime this year or next. China has relied far too heavily on debt-fueled real estate projects to power its growth, which has now produced an ongoing real estate collapse some liken to a “Lehman Brothers moment” for China.
According to Yahoo! Finance, leading Presidential contenders in both major parties (Democrats & Republicans) have a hostile outlook towards China 🇨🇳, which means the communist government will not see any relief from American sanctions anytime soon.
While many businesses are attempting to exit China 🇨🇳 as soon as possible, far too many are dependent on the Asian giant when it comes to inexpensively manufacturing products in high demand worldwide.
A collapsing China 🇨🇳 will result in three scenarios, none welcoming to anyone outside of politics.
China 🇨🇳 collapses, bringing about a world recession (or exacerbating a post-COVID recession that many nations are experiencing)
China 🇨🇳 collapses & tries to reignite its economy by starting a war with Taiwan 🇹🇼 (resulting in a world war)
China 🇨🇳 collapses & either fractures apart (an extreme scenario) or experiences a coup by the military (life for citizens underneath remains the same)
Could China 🇨🇳 avoid collapse & emerge from this pending crisis more robust than before‽ Sure! But the Chinese government needs to implement workable solutions before the clock runs out & the sun sets on the Chinese economic empire.
Famous for its swordsmanship, anime, culture & unique food, Japan has distinguished itself on the world stage.
Image Credit: Image of Japanese Flag discovered on Kinashi-San.
Unfortunately, like many nations, Japan 🇯🇵 is experiencing a population decline, albeit faster than many nations.
Japan has the fastest-aging population of any post-industrial nation on earth. Its birth rate — the average number of children a woman typically has — started to decline in the 1970s. The country’s current birth rate is 1.3, according to data from the World Bank, well below the “replacement level” of just over two children per woman generally considered necessary to keep a population steady.
A survey conducted by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in 2022 found that close to a fifth of men and about 15% of women in Japan expressed disinterest in marriage, the highest levels since 1982. Almost a third of men and a fifth of women in their fifties in Japan had never been married.
Japan’s government has already vowed to take action to reverse this declining trend, & numerous experts have already submitted proposals on potential solutions.
While yours truly is not an expert in Japanese culture, economics, or language, it would be a tragic loss for the world if Japan 🇯🇵 faded from the world stage.
So, without further ado, here is a potential solution on how Japan can resolve its population decline without breaking the bank (note: video is long, so feel free to skip around via the chapters).
The government of Japan 🇯🇵 would provide helpful incentives to the population to encourage couples to not only get married but have multiple children as well.
The video above borrows “rankings” prominently featured in many games & anime to make it easier for viewers to process the information.
Bullet Point Summary Below:
F-Rank: Unmarried Japanese citizens would be granted paid time off (PTO) on their birthday.
E-Rank: Married Japanese citizens would be granted extra paid time off from work which includes
Paid time off from work on their birthday
Paid time off from work on their spouse’s birthday
Paid time off from work on their wedding anniversary
D-Rank: Married couple would “level up” after having their first child & receive additional benefits
Married couples would receive paid time off from work on their child’s birthday
Once per week at the taxpayer’s expense, the family would be eligible for a free house cleaning service (to make it easier on the family)
Recap of PTO: Family would receive paid time off from work on each of the respective couple’s birthdays (two days), wedding anniversary & now child’s birthday (four days total)
C-Rank: Married couple would “level up” again after having their second child & receive additional benefits
Married couples would receive another paid time off day from work on their second child’s birthday
Once per week (at taxpayer’s expense), the married couple would be eligible for free yard work service
Couples can mix & match yard work with house cleaning. For example, they could have the house cleaned two days in one week, then receive free yard work two days the following week. They could also do both house cleaning & yard work the next week
Recap of PTO: Family would receive paid time off from work on each of the respective couple’s birthdays (two days), their wedding anniversary, & both children’s birthdays (five days total)
B-Rank: Married couple would “level up” again by having a third child & receive additional benefits
Married couples would receive another paid time off day from work on their third child’s birthday
Once per week (at tax payer’s expense) couple would receive a free “date night,” which includes eating at their favorite restaurant, an event (movie, dancing, or sporting event), & free babysitter to watch their kids
Married couples could mix & match this with prior weekly offers: housework & yard work & now date night (they would have three options available throughout the week to mix & match to their heart’s content)
Recap of PTO: Family would receive paid time off from work on each of their respective birthdays (two days), their wedding anniversary, & all three children’s birthdays (six days total)
A-Rank: Married couple would “level up” again by having their fourth child & receive additional benefits
Married couples would receive another paid time off day from work on their fourth child’s birthday
Married couples would be eligible to receive a full body massage & makeover once a week at the taxpayer’s expense
Married couples could mix & match these weekly benefits as they choose as they would have four options throughout the week: free housework, free yard work, free date night & now free massage plus makeover
Recap of PTO: Family would receive paid time off from work on each of their respective birthdays (two days), their wedding anniversary, & all four of their kid’s birthdays (seven days total)
S-Rank: Married couple would “level up” again after having their fifth child & receive the following benefits
Married couples would receive another paid time off day from work on their fifth child’s birthday
The family would be eligible for a free tutor once a week at tax payer’s expense
The family could mix & match these weekly benefits as they choose as they would have five weekly options available throughout the week: free house cleaning, free yard work, free date night, free massage (plus makeover) & now free tutoring for their kids
Recap of PTO: Family would receive paid time off from work on each of the couple’s respective birthdays (two days), their wedding anniversary, & all five of their kid’s birthdays (eight days total)
SS-Rank: Married couple would “level up” again after having their sixth child & receive the following benefits
Married couples would receive another paid time off day from work on the sixth child’s birthday
The family would be eligible for a free amusement park ticket once a week for their entire family (unlimited rides & unlimited food). Government can limit the number of times this option is used (two or three times max per week) to avoid massive expenses
The family could mix & match these weekly benefit offers as they choose as they would have six weekly options available throughout the week: free house cleaning, free yard work, free date night, free massage (plus makeover), free tutor & now free amusement park ticket for their family
Recap of PTO: Family would receive paid time off from work on each of the couple’s respective birthdays (two days), their wedding anniversary, & all six of their kid’s birthdays (nine days total)
SSS-Rank: the married couple would “level up” again after having their seventh child & receive the following benefits
Married couples would receive another paid time off day from work on the seventh child’s birthday
The family would be eligible for a free visit to a hot spring (including staying at an inexpensive hotel) at the taxpayer’s expense. The government could limit this to one or two times max per week (as this would become super expensive for the government)
The family could mix & match these weekly benefit offers as they choose as they would have seven weekly options available throughout the week: free house cleaning, free yard work, free date night, free massage (plus makeover), free tutor, free amusement park ticket for family & now free hot springs for the family (inexpensive hotel price included)
Once a year, the family would be eligible to fly anywhere in the world for vacation at taxpayer’s expense (tickets & hotel would be free for the entire family)
Recap of PTO: Family would receive paid time off from work on each of the couple’s respective birthdays (two days), their wedding anniversary, & all seven of their kid’s birthdays (ten days total
How Would Japan 🇯🇵 Pay For These Weekly Benefits‽
Japan 🇯🇵 could help offset the cost of all of these weekly benefits by offering a Cultural Visa (the price would be up to Japan 🇯🇵), obtaining fees from Japanese citizens desiring to teach foreigners (citizens can use the additional job as a way to earn extra income) & by taxing Akiya or abandoned houses purchased by foreigners.
Summary of Cultural Visa & what it would entail:
Foreigners would learn the language & culture of Japan 🇯🇵 from a Japanese citizen in their native country for a year before moving to Japan 🇯🇵
Foreigners would also (if applicable) pay to learn a trade or skill needed in Japan 🇯🇵 so that when they enter the country, they would have a job available to them
Summary of Cultural Visa Teachers & what it would entail:
The government would collect fees from Japanese citizens willing to teach foreigners (government needs to make sure Japanese citizens are qualified to teach)
People in between jobs or those with lots of free time would be excellent candidates for this. Allow teachers to set their prices, but the government would collect a small fee from the classes taught
Summary of Akiya or Abandoned house sales tax (applies to foreigners only)
Foreigners would pay 10% of the sale price of the Akiya housing
This would be based on the house sale or final transaction, & not on the assumed value of the property
Final Thoughts
This proposal is not perfect, but if anyone has any suggestions, criticisms, or opinions about this potential solution, then they can either comment below or contact yours truly across various social platforms, which include:
The latest statements from Xi Jinping (President of China 🇨🇳) hint at a possible conflict between the Chinese government & the United States 🇺🇸.
China’s leader Xi Jinping hit out at the United States with unusually direct comments as he called on the country’s private companies to “fight” alongside the Communist Party at a time of mounting challenges at home and abroad.
“[In the past five years,] Western countries led by the United States have contained and suppressed us in an all-round way, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to our development,” Xi told a group of government advisers representing private businesses during an annual legislative meeting in Beijing on Monday.
The United States 🇺🇸 has recently been strengthening military alliances in Oceania—most recently by helping Australia 🇦🇺 secure deals to build nuclear submarines & convincing the Philippines 🇵🇭 to grant America 🇺🇸 four additional military bases to be constructed upon the island nation.
China 🇨🇳 views these recent maneuvers as a threat, & has been increasing threats against the United States 🇺🇸 for challenging its power in Southeast Asia.
“If the United States does not hit the brakes, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing, and there will surely be conflict and confrontation,” [Foreign Minster] Qin [Gang] said on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
Even taking these threats at face value, the government of China 🇨🇳 must realize that it can not win a long, protracted, conventional war against the United States 🇺🇸, as the former would be fighting dozens—if not over a hundred nations thanks in part to various war treaties & vengeful neighbors (as India 🇮🇳 would love to reclaim the land China 🇨🇳 captured from them decades ago).
A rational person would view these threats as nothing more than that—threats. However, we live in irrational times & just as Putin launched Russia 🇷🇺 into an irrational war against Ukraine 🇺🇦, Xi Jinping could launch China 🇨🇳 into an irrational war against the United States 🇺🇸 in a quest to seize control of Taiwan 🇹🇼.
