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The anger at CCP & the vow of 'never forget' is predictable & even understandable. This crisis has laid bare the dire consequences of complacency & incompetency in many parts of the neoliberal world, which not long ago had been the most ardent promoters of economic liberalisation https://twitter.com/PradeepKTaneja/status/1246220480698179584
The neoliberal agenda has got rid of industrial policy & touted the virtue of free trade & comparative advantage, all the while weakening social safety net for the poor and neglecting nation-building. All is well, we're told. Share markets were booming, and the rich get richer.
It's thus disingenuous for US & Australian politicians now to 'suddenly' find out global supply chains not working in their favor. Those govts, along with IMF, World Bank, WTO & TNCs are champions of outsourcing and offshoring. Should we never forget who killed Oz's car industry?
Do we still remember Summers memo? "Just between you and me, shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [Least Developed Countries]? I can think of three reasons", thus wrote World Bank chief economist, later US Treasury Secretary.
On a political front, we have been led to genuinely believe liberal demoracy and individualist human rights are all that matters. These are cure-all and our best strengths, frequently used to name and shame other 'regimes' and cultures, who can never get anything right.
Illegal wars, killing millions based on WMD lies, can be forgotten; poverty can be allowed to sicken millions each year; easily treatable diseases are tolerated to ravage out-of-sight communities. But when a pandemic exposes the emperor has no clothes, they vow 'never forget'.
Of course you can now understand why they're angry at the CCP. We all--including all the smart politicians, economists, CEOs, journalists--have been duped all along by the CCP, who is using 'unrestricted war' and supply chains to strangle the world. Who else can they blame?
