alphahydra t1_jb07rbp wrote
Reply to comment by morningreis in New UN brokered High Seas Treaty Places 30% of Ocean into protected areas by 2030 after decades of talks by AstroEngineer314
Right, it would be naïve to blindly assume China is going to do the right thing, but it's also cartoonish to assume China is completely ungenuine about their environmental goals.
I don't think their motives are pure and altruistic, but I think they are at least somewhat serious about environmental reform.
The Chinese government is untrustworthy and malevolent in a lot of ways, but they're not stupid. Their geopolitical dream is to become the world's biggest superpower and leading economy. They're looking ten, twenty, fifty years down the line, and they're conscious that for that dream to come true, there needs to be a world worth leading in.
andeleidun t1_jb0n50j wrote
>They're looking ten, twenty, fifty years down the line, and they're conscious that for that dream to come true, there needs to be a world worth leading in.
It's sad that we've completely abandoned this principle, not only in government but almost entirely as a nation. Everything important happens between next quarter and 5 years from now. We don't even really try to plan beyond that anymore.
On one hand, our government is far too unstable and unpredictable. Heavy division and the two party system has resulted in legislative deadlock and every chance that what one president says won't be followed up by the next one. Other countries can only rely on our agreements for 4 years at a time.
On the other hand, profits for the next 4 quarters is what drives everything else. CEOs get brought in to increase immediate profits at the expense of longevity, and they walk away with multimillion dollar payouts for leaving 10,000 people without a job. R&D still happens, but only that which can have a good shot to turn a profit in the next 5 years.
WuTangFinance24 t1_jb1nc2w wrote
The last part is utter nonsense. If what you said were true to the extreme you implied, Tesla wouldn't exist. SpaceX wouldn't exist. We wouldn't be funding nuclear fusion. Venture capital wouldn't be a meaningful thing. OpenAI wouldn't exist. Tesla wouldn't be trying to create FSD. Google, Meta, etc. Wouldn't be investing in AI. The US is arguably leading the world in moving AI forward in both academics and in private industry. There are so many counterpoints to your pessimistic worldview in private enterprise that to suggest it's the reason why the US isn't thinking ahead is a lie, or willful ignorance. The government on the other hand, this is absolutely true. But it's also the nature of democracy. It's the fault of the voters because we reward politicians for short term thinking, not long term thinking.
andeleidun t1_jb1rj8e wrote
>Tesla wouldn't exist. SpaceX wouldn't exist. We wouldn't be funding nuclear fusion. Venture capital wouldn't be a meaningful thing. OpenAI wouldn't exist. Tesla wouldn't be trying to create FSD. Google, Meta, etc. Wouldn't be investing in AI.
The only thing that across belongs on this list is fusion, and I'll grant you that. There's dreamers out there, but by and large underfunded.
None of the other things tolerate MVP launch time frames of less than 5 years. Yes, they have larger plans conceptually, but nothing they'll actually plan for, stick to, the way the Chinese do. If it can't make a sale within 5 years, it's in the vague possible todo pile.
The Chinese actually plan their future out much further. They make modifications, but the concept behind them is to figure out how to bring circumstances back into alignment with the plan, rather than jumping ship to the next biggest profit opportunity.
And you've obviously no idea how venture capital works. If you have a 100MM fund to invest, you are actively planning for one or a combination of the start ups to be worth more than 100MM in 5 years. If not, it's a failure. If you can't convince a VC that you have a way to a profitable valuation in 5 years, you get no money.
morningreis t1_jb0ad8a wrote
Seems like their plan to become the leading superpower is to make the whole world its EEZ.
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