By Brendan S.
The Vehicle of Aggression
Once again we observe US congresspeople inciting globally hegemonic tensions as they did before the invasion of Ukraine. Republicans and Democrats unite under jingoistic imperialism, entirely careless of its potential impact on the general population.
No efforts are being made from either the Chinese state nor the US to de-escalate, as this flashpoint is highly profitable when commodified into information, industrial complex expansion, and speculative markets. The Taiwanese people, like Ukrainians, are the first to be impacted by such hegemonic imperialist tension.
The Reality of the Flashpoint
Nonetheless, the Chinese state lives at the very core of the neoliberal order alongside the US, and it does not intend to lose its footing within it. It is very unlikely that a full-scale conflict would develop soon given everything that the Chinese state would lose. The Russian state does not have the same interconnectedness with the Western economic sphere that the Chinese state does, thus its economy was able to recover from sanctions quickly.
The Chinese state, with most of its economy predicated on race-to-the-bottom exploitation from the West, would suffer immeasurably from Western sanctions. An immediate and devastating economic collapse in China would open up the state to vulnerabilities it has never experienced before, and Jinping is not dumb enough to neglect this. The Chinese state imports significantly less from Western states than it exports to them, enabling a trade balance that favors the West in any exchange of sanctions.
The Impact of Information
From a media standpoint, there is absolutely no need to add to the commodification of imperialist tensions by spreading alarmism. In doing so, you empower some of the most destructive actors on the planet and feed their propaganda machines. As journalists we have the power to influence global narratives and norms. We must use this power for the benefit of humanity, not ourselves.
I refused to contribute to Cold War narratives before the Ukraine invasion and I refuse to contribute to Cold War narratives now.
Enough with the alarmism. Don’t be a fuckface journalist.