yogthos

Exactly, everybody in the supply chain gets a cut here. It's a really effective embezzlement vehicle.

Exactly, it's already being traded outside the dollar and all it's going to do is piss off the Global South.

I completely agree, the EU wants to drum up fear to force the member states to put up money for their military spending slush fund. If there is prepping that should be done in Europe, it's for a looming economic collapse that could result from that.

What Lagarde was doing is pretty clearly embezzlement, and I would be willing to bet that majority of the EU politicians use their funds for their campaign staff. If you think this is an isolated incident, then you must've been born yesterday. That's the beauty of a corrupt regime, there's dirt to be found on any politician. All you have to do is decide where the spotlight shines and eliminate the competition. This is no different from what's happening in Turkey now.

If you think Le Pen is a unique case in France, I have a bridge to sell you.

I mean the reason they went after Le Pen was because neolibs see her as the biggest threat. If it was somebody on the left like Mélenchon they would've gone after him instead. I agree that they don't really need a precedent, but I'm sure they will leverage it next time now that it's there.

So like... when you apply law selectively that's a problem. For example, Christine Lagarde was found guilty of involvement in a corrupt 400m euro arbitration, received no sentence, and was awarded with the ECB governor job. https://news.sky.com/story/court-finds-imf-chief-christine-lagarde-guilty-of-criminal-negligence-10702431

Then there's von der Leyen who simply refused to disclose text messages she exchanged with the chief executive of Pfizer https://www.ft.com/content/72f0cb12-3753-42a9-aba4-7b3fb596e1cd

There are plenty of such cases and these people never face any punishment, but all of a sudden in this case there's a sentence handed down. Anybody with even a minimally functioning brain can see that this is politically motivated lawfare. If the law is not applied equally then it's no longer just.

This logic very obviously doesn't work for any country or a bloc that's up against a bigger one.

Good of you to continue exposing yourself as an utter clown. When presented with overwhelming evidence that Chinese investments in Africa result in huge improvement in standard of living, education, and infrastructure your counter is look at this bad thing that happened. That obviously negates everything. You are so very intelligent.

Way to whitewash your imperialism there dronie. A real class act. Can't wait to see what you're going to spew next.

See, continue to expose yourself as a troll. There are mountains of studies examining China's investments around the world, and they all show positive and persistent impact. This is the opposite of what you chuds did there, but evidently all a parasite can do is project and assume everyone else is also a parasite.

• https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3745021
• In Dec 2021, BBC Interviewed Dr. Deborah Bräutigam About the Debt-Trap Story in Africa. BBC Then Made It Look Like She Agreed With Them During the Broadcast. Corrections Were (Obscurely) Published Eight Months Later in July 2022 But Without Any Change to the Broadcast. https://archive.is/e0BYg
• Chinese Investment In Africa Has Had ‘Significant And Persistently Positive’ Long-Term Effects Despite Controversy https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022021-chinese-investment-in-africa-has-had-significant-and-persistently-positive-long-term-effects-despite-controversy/
• study on Chinese investments https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3745021
• another study finds no debt trap https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/02/china-debt-trap-diplomacy/617953/
• yet another one saying debt trap does not hold much water https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2023/11/06/sri-lankas-debt-trap-and-the-vultures/
• China and Africa: Ethiopia case study debunks investment myths https://theconversation.com/china-and-africa-ethiopia-case-study-debunks-investment-myths-177098
• https://www.lse.ac.uk/iga/assets/documents/research-and-publications/FDI-in-Ethiopia-Crescenzi-Limodio.pdf
• https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gild/2021/01/26/how-chinese-investment-shape-new-growth-patterns-in-africa/
• https://www.asiafinancial.com/china-debt-trap-claims-in-africa-stem-from-us-rivalry-study
• https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/chinas-infrastructure-investment-helps-fast-track-development-in-africa-expert/
• https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/08/20/china-forgives-debt-africa/
• https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2023/11/broadband-business-formation-and-economic-growth-in-the-global-south-assessing-chinas-impact

We have a great economy because of services that we provide. We have a highly educated population.

Nah, it's because you're leeches.

What the fuck? Using brain? Logic? In a tankie sub?!

Take your own advice little dronie.

Oh look more projecting. If you knew anything at all then you'd know that China has seen the highest rise in standard of living in human history. Being an ignoramus that you are, you don't even bother considering where China started at when comparing to your shithole colonizer country. Your whole standard of living is built on brutal colonial exploitation, particularly in the Congo.

From 1885 to 1960, Belgium plundered the Congo Free State (later the Belgian Congo) for rubber, ivory, and minerals, enabled by forced labor, mutilation, and mass killings that claimed millions of lives. King Leopold II's personal fiefdom and subsequent state rule extracted vast wealth, financing Belgium’s industrialization and public infrastructure while leaving Congolese society impoverished and fractured.

Today, Belgian corporations like Union Minière (now rebranded as Umicore) maintained control over strategic resources such as cobalt and copper, critical to modern technology, through neocolonial trade arrangements. Belgium’s social welfare systems and economy at large are directly subsidized by extraction of resources and labor from the Global South.

Belgium has never done any meaningful reparations or dismantled systems of exploitation, it's a parasitic nation. Its prosperity, built on ongoing extraction, underscores a global order where colonizers thrive at the expense of those they exploit.