Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
There’s a good chance that the Chinese company ByteDance still controls the TikTok algorithm, so Trump’s deal does not solve the national security concerns, yet it makes some of Trump’s friends a lot of money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jvd4avDcys
The Philippines is having trouble returning to pre-Covid levels of tourism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr2vOfmfb1c
Korea’s labor laws make firing employees very difficult. These strict laws drew out of the horrible working conditions during Korea’s economic rise under a dictatorship. Making it that hard to fire employees leads to: bad employees lowering companies’ efficiency, companies hiring fewer employees, companies keeping workers as contract employees or independent contractors and the employees therefore not getting basic benefits, brain drain as good employees can more easily move up the ranks and make more money in other countries, and discourages foreign companies from investing in Korea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjjhrwVYPE8
The US is in its weakest position compared to China. The US’s global trade war makes it less able to threaten China with a coalition of countries working together to counter it economically, and the US’s trade war with China revealed America’s severe weaknesses, which is why the US keeps backing down when the bilateral trade war reaches extremes. China was starting to understand and respond to a more coalitional strategy when that got blown up with a change of president.
The uncertainty of Trump’s tariffs have hurt small businesses and people who buy from them. If people can’t be sure how much something will cost, sometimes they just hold off on that economic activity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE6U7SFZz-s
The Chinese Communist Party refuses to buy other countries’ agricultural goods when those countries do things China doesn’t like. You offend the emperor, your farmers pay the price.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaESvrCqiJA
This war may have really been about China. China has been working hard to expand its influence in South America, and had been succeeding heavily in Venezuela. China may have had plans to base missiles in Venezuela. In a war over Taiwan, China could disrupt US shipping in the Caribbean. It is in US’s interest to not have great powers like China and Russia threatening it from nearby countries like Venezuela.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9dHm4b6Klg
In Cambodia there is a scam empire. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true. If something seems so good that you are wondering who is the sucker here?, then you may be the sucker. Don’t send money to people you don’t know, especially girlfriends who may be scamming you. Many people were offered fake jobs, and when they flew to the country, they were kidnapped and forced to scam people online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6kbJ9wV5_k
Japan’s anti-foreigner political turn is resulting in greater difficulty to start a business there and gain permanent residency. The people’s anti-foreigner feelings may be driven by too many tourists who do not respect Japan’s conservative culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTz6DQJH1Og
Thailand built its huge tourism industry on US military bases and US military R and R during the Vietnam war. Young US military men spent far more than other tourists. Thailand was then able to turn this war-time tourism industry into a permanent industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jS7aV568IA
Odd Arne Westad: How the Past Shadows China’s Future | Foreign Affairs Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubdp8te6rd4