China Dumps Dud Chips On Russia, Moscow Media Moans (theregister.com) 227
The failure rate of semiconductors shipped from China to Russia has increased by 1,900 percent in recent months, according to Russian national business daily Kommersant. The Register reports: Quoting an anonymous source, Kommersant states that before Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine the defect rate in imported silicon was two percent. Since that war commenced, Russian manufacturers have apparently faced 40 percent failure rates. Even a two percent defect rate is sub-optimal, because products made of many components can therefore experience considerable quality problems. Forty percent failure rates mean supplies are perilously close to being unfit for purpose.
According to Kommersant, Russian electronics manufacturers are not enjoying life at all because, on top of high failure rates, gray market gear doesn't flow with the same speed as legit kit and supply chains are currently very kinked indeed inside Russia. The newspaper lays the blame on economic sanctions that have seen many major businesses quit Russia. Gray market distributors and other opportunistic operators have been left as the only entities willing to deal with Russian businesses. Gray market folks are not renowned for their sterling customer service nor their commitment to quality. They get away with it because buyers of products with -- ahem -- unconventional origins self-incriminate if they complain to authorities. Perhaps they're even dumping dud product on Russian buyers, knowing that they can't easily access alternatives.
According to Kommersant, Russian electronics manufacturers are not enjoying life at all because, on top of high failure rates, gray market gear doesn't flow with the same speed as legit kit and supply chains are currently very kinked indeed inside Russia. The newspaper lays the blame on economic sanctions that have seen many major businesses quit Russia. Gray market distributors and other opportunistic operators have been left as the only entities willing to deal with Russian businesses. Gray market folks are not renowned for their sterling customer service nor their commitment to quality. They get away with it because buyers of products with -- ahem -- unconventional origins self-incriminate if they complain to authorities. Perhaps they're even dumping dud product on Russian buyers, knowing that they can't easily access alternatives.
A decision has been made. (Score:5, Interesting)
China has decided not to help Putin's Russia. China is busy humping the cooling corpse called Russia. The Eastern provinces are likely to become very cozy with China.
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Funny)
Early 2022: Russia second best army in world!
Late 2022: Russia second best army in Ukraine!
Early 2023: Russia second best army in Russia!
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Funny)
Moscow Media Moans
Well, at least they're getting laid.
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Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Funny)
Moscow Media Moans
Well, at least they're getting laid.
Wouldn't go so far. They're just getting fucked.
Re: A decision has been made. (Score:2)
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NATO? Nope.
And Chechnya has not been its own nation in over 500+ years.
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:4, Informative)
China was the victim of an unequal treaty in the 1800s with Russia, where Russia stole their land. And China remembers. Go look up history.
And seriously, do you really think Chechnya would not march straight to Moscow if they thought they could succeed? They've basically already bombed apartment buildings (unless that was Patrushev, of course).
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Informative)
China? CHina was not abused by Russia.
Vast areas of Central Asia, Mongolia, and Northeast Asia were once part of Qing China.
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Those areas were part of the Chinese empire. Now they're part of the Russian empire. China didn't deserve them then any more than Russia does now.
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Informative)
Perhaps. But China has deep resentments and festering historical grievances. You can't understand China without knowing that. They are still mad at the British about the Opium War and feel it is relevant how they treat HK and the border conflict with India (which was part of the British Empire when Aksai Chin was "stolen"). They talk about the Boxer Rebellion like it was yesterday.
Americans have difficulty understanding why China was so upset about Nancy Pelosi visiting Taipei. But they compare it to how Americans would have felt if the British PM had visited Charleston in 1861.
China doesn't officially claim any Russian territory, but there are deep resentments nonetheless. There is a growing asymmetry of economics, population, and power in NorthEast Asia. There are nearly as many people just in Heilongjiang Province than in all of eastern Siberia, and 20 times more Chinese in Manchuria than all the Russians east of the Urals.
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And like Russia, China was a HORRIBLE occupier.
Re: A decision has been made. (Score:2)
Taiwan IS China. Mainland PRC is run by communist separatists. The legitimate government of China operates from Taiwan.
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Those areas were part of the Chinese empire. Now they're part of the Russian empire. China didn't deserve them then any more than Russia does now.
Isn't that the same logic Russia uses about Ukraine -- or is that your point? (not arguing btw)
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That's a nice sentiment, except for the entire attitude that China displays towards lands that were once part of China. They currently have 17 different disputes with neighbors, with Russia missing from the list because they know they can't bully Russia. Or, at least, they couldn't until Russia was shown to be a paper tiger made of wet toilet paper.
I would not be surprised to hear China making "historical" claims over far more of east Asia after the recent revelations about Russia's actual strength.
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China? CHina was not abused by Russia.
Vast areas of Central Asia, Mongolia, and Northeast Asia were once part of Qing China.
Vast areas of what is now Russia and smaller portions of Eastern Europe were once part of the Mongol empire. Not to mention parts of what is now China and down throuh Afghanistan.
You can thank the Mongols for the Silk Road as well as the postal service.
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Hey, first come, first served.
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Hey, first come, first served.
It's the other way around in Amsterdam / the Netherlands, btw. :-)
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:4, Informative)
Early 2023: Russia second best army in Russia!
The question is, which will be the best army in Russia? NATO? Ukraine? Chechnya? China? Finland? Latvia?
Many countries have long-standing grudges against Russia after centuries of abuse.
Ya, but Russia is pretty much a third-world country at this point, why would anyone want to invade it, much less occupy it. Not sure that's going to change much now even after the conflict ends -- however it ends -- for quite a while.
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Russia is pretty much the definition of a second world country. No one will occupy the whole country (except Chechnya or Ukraine if they could, those people are crazy). Each will just take the pieces they want.
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Apparently it is surprising to a great many people who don't know the meaning of the term "second world" or "third world"
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why would anyone want to invade it, much less occupy it.
Resources.
Russia has basically from everything the most known amount of resources.
Re: A decision has been made. (Score:5, Interesting)
Except navigable rivers. It's why Russia is unable to develop its resources like the U.S. They have to rely on slow expensive rail instead of cheap shipping by boat.
Re: A decision has been made. (Score:5, Interesting)
They do have a lot of farmland, roughly comparable to the US and Canada put together, which is why they traditionally exported the stuff, but yields in Russia are tiny. The average Russian grain yield is 1.85 tons a hectare as compared with 6.36 tons a hectare in the United States.
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Russophobia...I can't imagine why any country would be afraid of Russia. /s
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's almost like NATO expanded because russia's neighbors recognized a pattern of getting taken over.
A technical, but important point: NATO has never expanded its borders. Expansion of NATO implies taking territory -which has never happened. Nations have joined NATO out of fear of Russia's actions.
This is nearly the opposite of what is implied by stating that NATO expanded. Nations are pulling away from Russia, not being taken over by NATO.
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Insightful)
China and Russia will never really be allies of friends, and probably despise each other more than they do the US. They were never going to go near a drowning man.
All Russia is good for is oil and gas, and now China can get it for cheap thanks to sanctions.
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Russia == gas station with nukes.
That's all they'll ever be good for, at least until they rise up against Putin.
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Interesting)
A Gas station that China is going to own by the end of this war.
China is the only thing holding russia up right now, and they *will* be collecting their fee at the end.
Iran might be supplying a few hokey drones and shitty unguided cruise missiles, but China is keeping Russias economies alive. And all China wants in return is oil. And by "wants Oil" I mean *ALL* of the oil.
Russia will never be a superpower again.
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Depends how you define superpower. More nuclear weapons than anybody, and 18 times that of China (estimated), who are in 3rd place.
It might be all they have left... but it's a lot.
Economically? You're right. That ship hasn't just sailed, it sunk.
Re:A decision has been made. (Score:5, Interesting)
Chins projects more power than Russia right now because China has the money to finance infrastructure projects around the world. That's much more effective than nuclear weapons. China could build a many nukes as Russia but doesn't because China realizes that's just a waste of resources. They have enough for mutual deterrence and that's all that is needed.
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Russia == gas station with nukes.
That's all they'll ever be good for, at least until they rise up against Putin.
s/Russia/Saudi Arabia/
s/nukes/sand/
s/Putin/House of Saud/
What's the deal with the semiconductor sanctions? (Score:3)
Can someone give me the straight dope on the semiconductor sanctions?
Don't tell me to Google it because everyone reporting on it has some kind of "angle." I am asking here because the technically informed geek world might have some answers.
Did China do something recently to provoke this? Or is this simply a continuation of a Let's Get Tough on China policy?
Is this following through on one of Mr. Biden's campaign promises? China may have "smelled" this for months, but as a USian, I had no idea this
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This is just my "off the cuff" guess, based on absolutely no inside information:
China is taking moves intended to capture Taiwan. This is very uncomfortable for the US, because of the important semiconductor production there. It's also embarrassing, because we promised to defend it, but realistically we are limited in how much we will do. So we're taking steps to limit semiconductor access. Also trying to get plants built elsewhere. And, according to at least one story, threatening to blow up the facto
Re:What's the deal with the semiconductor sanction (Score:5, Insightful)
China is taking moves intended to capture Taiwan.
Note: not just Taiwan. They've threatened basically all of their neighbors, with varying levels of believably.
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It's also embarrassing, because we promised to defend it, but realistically we are limited in how much we will do.
The US should be embarrassed if it can't defend Taiwan, as well as the Taiwanese. Taiwan is separated from China by a 90 mile moat. If China had a land bridge to Taiwan, it could send millions of troops to subjugate Taiwan. China doesn't have the amphibious transport capability to send hundreds of thousands of troops into Taiwan. Also, China has a military command structure similar to Russia's. They currently fight like they came out of WW I. Its unlikely that China's air force could operate useful
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In the near future, the US (and Europe) cannot afford to lose TSMC as semiconductor foundry. So my wild guess is that the US will at least try to fight off the Chinese navy and air force if they start an invasion.
I'm not sure if the US are willing to station troops on Taiwan, but sinking a bunch of Chinese troop transports could already make a big difference.
Re: What's the deal with the semiconductor sanctio (Score:3, Interesting)
The other comment is good but there is also another angle.
Globalism is breaking down especially depending on policies with COVID. This has caused huge delays in the supply chains for semiconductors. The US and EU are both pushing policy to get that production domestic because it's so vital for almost everything.
In fact the article outlines this issue. No one is trading with Russia except China, so China can now dump all its sub quality batches of semiconductors on them. What can they do except take it up th
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No one is trading with Russia except China
No, India too. They're also getting a lot of things cheap from Russia these days. That's why they haven't condemned Russia's actions either.
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It's down to two things.
Firstly, the attack on Huawei wasn't quite as effective as hoped. Huawei developed much of the critical technology for 5G, and continues to stay ahead in other areas. So naturally everyone bought Huawei gear, rather than waiting years for Western companies to catch up.
Those Western companies didn't step up their R&D game though, meaning this is going to happen again. To prevent that they are hoping that denying Huawei and other leading Chinese companies access to as much technolo
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Western companies need a good hard slap in the face to get them going. They've been over-charging and resting on their laurels for way too long. That's why I was able to buy a mostly assembled and functional Chinese 3D printer for less than the cost of the parts from Western sellers.
The printer itself is fully documented including tech drawings, schematics, and firmware source code. But it's still cheaper to buy it from China than it is to source the parts and DIY it, even if I value my own time and trouble
Troll (Score:2)
Troll
From not reading the posts (Score:2)
I asked a serious question, and I am getting a number of serious answers.
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Whereas the the ones serving the grey market with knockoff and clone components don't care where their chips go or even if they work properly or not. And Russia companies are probably sourcing through middle men & dealers so they have no idea where they came from either. It all ends up being a total clusterfuck.
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They dont need to "help" Russia. No matter how this idiotic war ends, the only guaranteed outcome for Russia is, that at the end China is going to own Russia.
GG Putin, Russia Strong, right?
The remaining 60% will fail (Score:2)
40% of chips already fail from the factory.
The remaining 60% will only fail quickly after leaving the assembly line.
Re:The remaining 60% will fail (Score:4, Interesting)
At this point... (Score:5, Funny)
China should just write the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition into their constitution.
Re:At this point... (Score:5, Interesting)
.
If they'd adopted western democracy and capitalism, they would have replaced the US as the top dog sometime around 2050. The way things are going? Their GDP per capita is about the same as Russia, and I'll be genuinely surprised if it rises much more. Xi is locking the economy down and independent thought is no longer welcome. The guy is probably going to be in power for another 10-15 years, and you can dismantle 50 years of progress in that amount of time.
.
He'll achieve his goals of control and stability, though. Mission accomplished.
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They value control first, stability second,
Aren't stability and control just two sides of the same coin?
Re:At this point... (Score:4, Insightful)
Aren't stability and control just two sides of the same coin?
No.
Market economies have stable supplies of goods and services, yet no one is "in control" of setting either production or prices.
Top-down economies suffer from empty shelves and black markets as central planners misjudge demand and misprice products.
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Market economies have stable supplies of goods and services, yet no one is "in control" of setting either production or prices.
I'm not sure that's true. Certainly we have toilet paper problems from time to time.
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I'm not sure that's true. Certainly we have toilet paper problems from time to time.
Have you ever used Russian toilet paper?
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Yes, in fact. It was fine.
Re:At this point... (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, in fact. It was fine.
I'm suddenly reading that in a Russian accent, interpreting it differently as if it were missing an article, and flashing back to a scene from Demolition Man [youtube.com].
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Nice.
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Lately all my communication has come out with the tone of this soviet official from Chernobyl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
His confident ignorance is a delight.
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Yet, US economic might largely derives from huge military spending.
How does high military spending lead to economic might?
Most economists see military spending as an unproductive resource drain that lowers economic growth.
Re:At this point... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's basically a large Keynesian stimulation package that is forever ongoing, forever giving industry something to do, and something to aim for, for a customer with endless supply of money.
Do you really think it is merely a coincidence that US military spending is the highest in the world, while also having the largest economy in the world?
Did you really forget how the internet started? The internet that ultimately gave rise to 10s to 100s billion dollar money machines like Google and Amazon, and you could argue Microsoft and Apple in today's internet economy?
Are you really under the delusion that good old fashioned free market economics is what really drives the US economy?
Re: At this point... (Score:2)
War is unproductive. Training a fighting force and equipping them is not.
Re:At this point... (Score:5, Informative)
China's hybrid economy has shown itself to be a far more successful
True, but China is partially abandoning that model because it was proving hard to control.
China's big tech companies have lost a trillion dollars in market cap since Xi cracked down on the sector.
The real estate and construction sector is reeling from massive debts and bad loans.
Much of China's prosperity was built on a "demographic dividend" of a rising workforce yet few unproductive elderly and children. That is rapidly going into reverse.
Re:At this point... (Score:5, Informative)
Nonsense. In less than 30 years they've brought over half a billion people (more than the entire population of the US mind you) out of poverty while Russia's economy has basically sat stagnant. China's economic growth these last few decades has been absolutely phenomenal and is literally the envy of every country in the world. Pretty much any other country would be thrilled to have just half of their average economic growth from the last 30 years.
Or how about their infrastructure? We wish we could build like them. Their commercial ports alone put ours to shame. Meanwhile Russia is still mostly running on their old Soviet infrastructure.
Those two countries absolutely do not have equivalent economies.
Re: At this point... (Score:2)
The U.S. seizes corporate assets all the time. If you don't follow the rules of the nation you're in, that's what generally happens as a rule.
No, the big issue China has is corruption, not some misplaced designation of capitalism.
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Thanks for a genuine LOL moment.
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Rubble is spelled with 2 b's.
Sorry Shellski (Score:5, Funny)
Russia is a mark right now. (Score:5, Insightful)
The world is coming for that ass.
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"All your pretty girls are belong to us."
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China's been running game on Russia, though. Their tires are a big part of how Russia got into this mess.
Not surprising (Score:2)
Problem is, that Russia is trying to use those SAME chips in their weapons. GOOD LUCK ASSHOLES.
Equality (Score:2)
They should have bought it on AliExpress (Score:2)
Then you are entitled to getting your money back.
Beggars can't be choosers (Score:3)
Nobody else is willing to sell sophisticated goods to Russia (due to sanctions). So China can sell them whatever trash and Russia just has to deal with it. If Russia doesn't like that, they can always leave Ukraine, it's not that hard, just order the vehicles to do a 3 point turn and start driving the other way.
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Vehicles are stuck in mud with failed Chinese tires.
Anyone else getting the idea that Xi tricked Putin into this?
Well duh (Score:2)
Ali Express (Score:2)
40%? That is not even "untested"... (Score:2)
That is "tested and found bad". Well, another thing Putin probably did not expect.
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Everyone calling for censorship of people they disagree with are supporting fascism.
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Democracy can tolerate practically all forms of speech except for one. Speech that attacks fundamental Democratic institutions can and should be suppressed. Up to a point this can and should be done through social means rather than legal. I do n
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Democracy can tolerate practically all forms of speech except for one. Speech that attacks fundamental Democratic institutions can and should be suppressed.
This is the exact same argument the anti-communists used for decades. It's nonsense. Don't follow the same path as Senator McCarthy.
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Agreed, the solution to this is journalism and education, not banning certain ideologies.
The fascists know it too, which is why they are so fixated on convincing everyone that organizations like Antifa and BLM are "just as bad" as the Nazis they protest. If they can control that narrative, they can operate unimpeded.
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You mean apart from that time they held a huge Nazi rally in Charlottesville and murdered a woman by driving a car into a crowd of counter-protestors, or that time the Proud Boys tried to stage an insurrection and overthrow the government.
The reality is that Antifa wouldn't even need to exist if you didn't have a Nazi problem. BLM wouldn't need to exist if you didn't have a racist cop problem.
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You sound just like Dayton Betts, who posted "kill all fascists" but who was supposedly "not Antifa": https://nypost.com/2019/08/06/... [nypost.com] . Or maybe you sound like Michael Forest Reinoehl, who hunted down a peaceful protester and killed him for being pro-Trump. Should we look at the people who set up CHAZ, which burned down a police station and took over several city blocks -- until after the second murder in just a few weeks within those blocks, when (you guessed it) Antifa/BLM-linked people killed a teena
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You think that the GD dems with their cancel crap, and blocking of any news, media that ANYBODY ELSE says is 'Democracy'?????
Extremists in BOTH parties are killing America.
The fascists/GOP are doing it because trump tells them to do it and he is being paid by Putin.
At the same time, the Marxists/Progressive are doing it because the goon squad tells them to do it, who is being controlled by Xi.
NO. We have SERIOUS issues here. It is not just the fascist.
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Only an actual fascist would call a party that would be considered a moderate conservative party anywhere else in the world, marxist and progressive.
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I love how your post begins. A bit of hyperbole and probably overly dark but in essence not wrong.
And then you get to your "probable candidates for dictatorship" and they're all from one party.
So you turned from valid social commentary to obvious political propaganda. You went from making people think to making them roll their eyes at you.
Fascism is aeftist concept. These Republicans may well be corporate puppet scumbags but fascism? That entails identity politics and the current undisputed artisans of iden
Re: This will be America in 15 years (Score:2)
There's a substantial number of people in this country that want to install a dictator. For some damn four reason they think they'll still have a say in things after doing that. Substantial number of Americans believe they can deny democracy to people they disagree with but keep it for themselves.
Agreed 100%. As an external observer, I just want to point out that your statement describes both sides of the American political spectrum. The Trumpist right and the Woke left both want to impose their beliefs on everybody else.
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I'll take the western system, thank you very much. At least until something else proves itself
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Moron Lives Matter!
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No they don't. That's why we stuff them into armies and send them off to die.
Re: This will be America in 15 years (Score:2)
The founding fathers didn't want a pure democracy but certainly believed in equal voting. Those aren't the same. The weight of your vote didnt change based on how much land you owned, how much taxes you paid, or how much money you has. Yes, that means even the dumb ones. Whomever you may define that group to be.
And back then, you just needed to own land and live on it to vote. But social norms meant slaves, prisoners, and women couldn't vote. That has changed fairly recently. But the citizenship requirem
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Just wait 'til that gets turned around into "no representation without taxation" and the value of your vote is tied to the amount of tax you pay.
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The founding fathers...certainly believed in equal voting.
Yeah, white male landowners is so equal voting.
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Is this why Biden just tried to destroy China's semiconductor industry?
To stop them from selling fake chips to Russia? Maybe you could explain to us why that makes sense to people from your planet.