It is genuinely painful to try to read through the individualism-brain, western-centric stuff these types of publications put out. Like this part:
Yet the convergence between the two leaders appears to run deeper. In many ways, they both want what the other has: Trump desires China’s world-beating manufacturing prowess, and Xi is envious of the US’s control of advanced technology as well as the global financial system. And when it comes to style, both have shown a willingness to take drastic policy measures to achieve their goals, with little regard for markets.
Xi is envious
Fucking fanfiction headcanon of a head of state’s feelings. I have to laugh or it just hurts. At least with Trump, I can kind of understand language like “he desires” because the guy puts himself front and center as the thing to pay attention to, but to compare that to Xi as any kind of similarity is ludicrous. The two people are absolutely nothing alike and coming from completely different understandings of the world and goals. Trump embodies the narcissistic con artistry of the USian colonizer and Xi embodies the collective-minded dialectical practice of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Neither is a surprise when taking into account the kind of society and conditions they derive from, and both are an extension of that, not an outlier; that’s about the extent of their similarities, but at that point, I’m kind of just saying they’re both human beings who are influenced in some part by where they come from, which is… everyone.
It is genuinely painful to try to read through the individualism-brain, western-centric stuff these types of publications put out. Like this part:
Fucking fanfiction headcanon of a head of state’s feelings. I have to laugh or it just hurts. At least with Trump, I can kind of understand language like “he desires” because the guy puts himself front and center as the thing to pay attention to, but to compare that to Xi as any kind of similarity is ludicrous. The two people are absolutely nothing alike and coming from completely different understandings of the world and goals. Trump embodies the narcissistic con artistry of the USian colonizer and Xi embodies the collective-minded dialectical practice of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Neither is a surprise when taking into account the kind of society and conditions they derive from, and both are an extension of that, not an outlier; that’s about the extent of their similarities, but at that point, I’m kind of just saying they’re both human beings who are influenced in some part by where they come from, which is… everyone.