• SwitchyWitchyandBitchy [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      China hasn’t been avoiding working with countries that are close to the US. They didn’t even start avoiding working with the US until recently despite the US trying to undermine China for decades. I don’t know all the pros and cons of their foreign economic policy but it is consistent.

    • HamManBad [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      Developing the forces of production in Saudi Arabia is the best way to create the conditions for the overthrow of the monarchy. I’ll allow it

          • الأرض ستبقى عربية@lemmygrad.ml
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            3 months ago

            Your productive forces are already developed, where is your communist revolution?

            Other Arab countries that have a history of agriculture, craftsmanship and industry are far more likely to have a communist revolution. The GCC countries are very different: socially, politically and materially. We have a history of being merchants and making money through trade since ancient times. The Nabateans were so rich that anyone who could afford a tomb had one carved, not just kings. In fact one of the biggest Nabatean tombs was commissioned by a merchant. Arabs have been proto-capitalists for at least 2000 years. Islam has rules for trade, capital, investments and so on. Getting rich from resource extraction is very new for us, and agriculture and industry practically nonexistent.

            So again, I assume you are from one of the industrialized Western nations, to which I ask, where is your communist revolution? Materially and socially, you are far more ready than us.

            • HamManBad [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              3 months ago

              I didn’t say it creates the conditions for communist revolution, I said it creates conditions for the overthrow of the monarchy (and other feudal relations). We haven’t had to deal with a monarch here since 1776. Unfortunately you need class consciousness for communism, which is the one thing we’re missing in the States. Or any conscience at all, really

              • الأرض ستبقى عربية@lemmygrad.ml
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                3 months ago

                I would take a monarchy that gives me free stuff over whatever the US has. Got a Master’s degree without a single dollar of debt. We never had feudalism, but we are still very tribal, though not as much as a hundred years ago.

                  • الأرض ستبقى عربية@lemmygrad.ml
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                    3 months ago

                    No. Saudi Arabia was made up of an urban minority who lived in the cities or oases and are non-tribal, and a nomadic majority who were tribal. The tribal majority are loyal to their tribe chief, and as long as the tribe chief is loyal to the monarchy the entire tribe is loyal to the monarchy. The coup was lead by urban Hejazis who had their kingdom annexed in 1925.

                    Since then the majority of people have settled in cities, but people still identify as whether they belong to a tribe or not. Tribalism isn’t as strong as it used to be but still plays a societal and privilege role, the government actually had some success in weakening tribal allegiances since it does compete with Saudi nationalism.

                    The non-tribal urban vs tribal [formerly] nomadic wedge is still a major divider in Saudi Arabia. The cultures, values and allegiances of the two populations often clash.