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Ben Norton Profile picture
@BenjaminNorton
Aug 23, 2019 • 5 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
New @Moderate_Rebels episode on Hong Kong:

With @CarlZha, we discuss the real colonial history of Hong Kong, the bigoted anti-China right-wing nativism fueling the protests, the economic conditions, and the local oligarchs' leading role in the chaos
soundcloud.com/moderaterebels…
@Moderate_Rebels @CarlZha In our interview @CarlZha talks about the extreme bigotry against mainland Chinese in the Hong Kong protests, especially among its US-backed nativist leaders and from Trump-allied oligarchs who publish ads comparing them to locusts:

soundcloud.com/moderaterebels…
@Moderate_Rebels @CarlZha Here is Hong Kong media oligarch Jimmy Lai (known as "the Rupert Murdoch of Asia") — who funds and strongly supports the anti-China protests in Hong Kong — meeting with neocons John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, and Mike Pence in DC this July
@Moderate_Rebels @CarlZha CNN did a blatant propaganda puff piece for Hong Kong's anti-Chinese right-wing oligarch Jimmy Lai ("the Rupert Murdoch of Asia")

Lai admits there is a new "cold war" and boasts: "We in Hong Kong are fighting for the shared values of the US against China"
edition.cnn.com/2019/08/27/med…
@Moderate_Rebels @CarlZha CNN: That right-wing media oligarch Jimmy Lai "has ties with the US is undeniable.

"Last month, he flew to Washington to discuss with US VP Mike Pence, Sec of State Mike Pompeo and Nat Sec Adviser John Bolton how fundamental Hong Kong's freedom is to the US' standoff with China"

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More from @BenjaminNorton

Ben Norton Profile picture
Apr 25
The US already is the authoritarian police state that they have told you for decades to be afraid of.

If you oppose the empire's genocidal crimes, police and state troopers will attack you and arrest you. "Free speech" only exists for rich oligarchs.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said anti-genocide protesters at the Uni. of Texas "belong in jail"

“Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses. These protesters belong in jail”, he said

The real face of the US authoritarian regime
thehill.com/homenews/educa…
Biden is banning TikTok (one of the most popular apps in the country), while Republican governors send state troopers to brutalize and arrest anti-genocide student protesters, saying they "belong in jail".

The US is an authoritarian regime. There is nothing democratic about it.
Read 4 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
Apr 19
The economics of imperialism: A new study shows how "the US’ exorbitant privilege has become a rich world privilege".

The world system has persistent capital income transfers from the poorest to the richest, equal to 1% of GDP of top 20% countries, and 2% of GDP for the top 10%.

Source: wid.world/news-article/t…Image
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The perpetual debt trap of imperialism: "Foreign capital income flows result in a net transfer from poor to rich countries of around 1.2% of the rich’s GDP. This big net transfer of resources allows the richest countries to incur in bigger trade deficits without the need to in-debt themselves to finance them.

"Moreover, it forces the bottom 80% of the world to record trade surpluses to be able to finance such a transfer. If they fail to do so, then they would need to compensate by acquiring more debt, which reinforces the dynamics".Image
As this study puts it, "The richest countries have become the bankers of the world, attracting the excess savings [of poorer countries] by providing low-yield safe assets and investing these inflows in more profitable ventures".

This imperial "privilege allows these [rich] countries to accumulate net foreign assets, even in cases where they run trade deficits. It signifies their ability to attract foreign investment at low rates and generate income from their external assets".

"This privilege has been translated in positive foreign capital income of 1%-4% of their GDP".Image
Image
Read 5 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
Jan 26
🚨 The president of the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) has said there is sufficient evidence for the genocide case against Israel. Image
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has said some allegations against Israel fall within the provisions of the Genocide Convention, and it applies to Palestinians. Image
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has officially recognized the Palestinian people's right to be protected from acts of genocide under the Genocide Convention.

South Africa's case has been approved. Image
Read 6 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
Jan 5
Western economists love to selectively quote Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, but conveniently ignore the lengthy chapter he wrote on how colonialism was central in the creation of capitalism.

Smith discussed the "injustice" of the "plundering of the defenceless natives". 🧵 Image
Adam Smith wrote how colonialism enriched Western colonial powers:

"To the natives however... all the commercial benefits which can have resulted from those events have been sunk and lost in the dreadful misfortunes"

Europeans "commit[ed] with impunity every sort of injustice" Image
Adam Smith acknowledged how colonialism raised "the mercantile system to a degree of splendour and glory which it could never otherwise have attained to".

For Europe, "new worlds have been opened to their industry", with big markets in the colonies in "Asia, Africa, and America" Image
Read 6 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
Dec 7, 2023
It's important to understand that the US is using Guyana to try to destabilize Venezuela.

US oil mega-corporation ExxonMobil essentially controls Guyana's government.

They're using British colonial-era rulings to try to take Venezuelan oil-rich territory
theintercept.com/2023/06/18/guy…
Image
"In Guyana, it’s become hard to distinguish where the oil company ends and the government begins. Exxon executives join the Guyanese president in his suite at cricket matches, and the vice president regularly hosts press conferences to defend the oil company". Image
Read 4 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
Nov 20, 2023
Far-right extremist Javier Milei won Argentina's presidential election.

Milei wants to:
-legalize the sale of children and human organs
-abolish public healthcare, education, and transportation
-abandon monetary sovereignty and adopt the US dollar

He says his dead dog Conan speaks to him from the afterlife and advises him on economic policy.

Image
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Argentina was invited to join BRICS, but far-right president-elect Javier Milei has pledged to withdraw.

The extremist boasted: "Our geopolitical alignment is with the U.S. and Israel. We are not going to align with communists" perfil.com/noticias/polit…
Argentina's extreme-right president-elect Javier Milei pledged to cut ties with China and Brazil (Argentina's two biggest trading partners, with 35% of trade)

Instead Milei wants Argentina to be totally subordinated to the USA, which he basically worships
ambito.com/economia/milei…
Read 9 tweets

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