If you have read the news today, you might have learned that Google was forced by the US government to strip of Huawei’s Android licence. All currently excisting Huawei devices will continue to work but they won’t get any further Android updates. In the future Huawei will be forced to use the open source Android version. It also means that future Huawei devices won’t have pre-installed Google services like the PlayStore or YouTube. This is a clear attack by the US government on consumers world-wide. It’s understandable if consumers will be concerned about this. The US government is using false pretences again (the conspiracy that Huawei is a spying tool of China) to take economic actions. Consumers are reminded that the USA uses their own businesses as political tools, and shouldn’t forget that the USA is rather known for the practice of mass surveillance and spying than China. In reality, the recent case with Huawei is an economic attack on China by the USA (Sinophobia). In the past they have shown to invade countries based on fake evidence, they’re also bring up a new cold war atmosphere (Russophobia), and now they’re starting a trade war with economical regions like Europe and China.
As in the recent case, consumers need to become more aware of the fact that it’s impossible to trust US businesses due to the actions of the US government, and that there is a high chance of detriments if we purely rely on these products and services. The proper reaction to these news should be to rely on US independent products and services whenever possible. We also should start to understand with what kind of benefits these actions might come. It’s for example not unlikely that Huawei could be motivated to develop their own OS. This would also be a huge advantage for European consumers because it would create new options since there is currently an US monopoly in this market, which comes with the disadvantage that we have to accept pre-installed applications of untrustworthy origin. But instead of relying on US or Chinese products, we European’s would be well-advised if we would break these monopolies with our own products and services, which could happen with heavy subsidies of the tech market. Also the European Union would be well-advised to impose a heavy fine on Google, because the USA is acting against European consumers. The US failures and excesses shouldn’t be tolerated on our markets.
The recent case shows clearly why foreign companies cannot rely on doing business with US actors, they must develop their own solutions. And why foreign consumers can not rely on US products and services. If there are options, we should rely on alternative origins. Huawei is a good example of a quality product with a much lower price point. There is no need to trust in US products if there are much better alternatives on the market. Foreign businesses, especially in the tech industry, would be well-advised to develop their own ecosystems to become independent of trade-war aggressors like the USA. I also want to put out the reminder that Edward Snowden is living in Russia because he exposed how the USA is using their businesses and technologies to spy on the rest of the world, and there is a reason why he can’t go back home. We need to wake up and call the most hypocritical nation in this world by name.
The US government is not just acting against an economic zone or foreign businesses, it’s also an act against consumers. And we consumers must take this fight and act accordingly, which can be done by looking for alternatives to the US products or services we’re looking for. It might not be possible in all cases, but that is not the point. The point is to become aware of what your options are, and what the options will become in the future. I’ve purchases Chinese products in the past, and as you might have noticed as well, it’s a blatant lie that their products are inferior. In reality they can have equal or superior quality at a much better price point, which is why the US government is trying everything to make you stop buying their products. Also, if you are from Europe, watch out for European products, instead of US products. If possible, support your local economy.
This is how you can fight back as a consumer. This is how you fight politicians with hegemonial delusions and phobias. The world will change anyway, sooner or later, and the markets do already, which is why they’re getting nervous and why they act erratic. As it is now, they’re just trying to play the big boys as long as they still can. But their decline has already begun. By acting accordingly, you can speed the process up as a consumer, because if everyone does it, we’re getting diversity and we’re getting independent of them dictating what to buy. For them, free trade is only allowed if they have the monopoly. As a consumer you don’t want a monopoly, you want options. If you can, stop supporting those who want to dictate how you use your wallet.
Related to Huawei, it will be interesting to see what happens next. If they really develop their own OS in the future, it will probably become very successful in Europe because of the low costs of their mobile devices. The open-source route would be interesting as well. They’re known to offer decent mobile devices and I don’t think there are just a few people waiting to get out of US software ecosystems. It might also spark off a new trend away from closed app ecosystems like the GooglePlay store. I don’t think it will be easier to compete with Huawei. But what ever happens, we just need to learn the lesson here. If we only rely on US products and services, we restrict ourselves and stay dependent on them. Let’s hope that the European Union acts accordingly.
Diary of Dennis 
Much of what you are seeing, Dennis, is Trump mandated. Next week he’ll change his mind and do something else stupid. He has very strong loyalties to himself, and little else, and the rest of us suffer for it. It’s been a very long three years.
I am aware. It’s a shame. Especialy the blogosphere taught me that people from the US are good fellows. I absolutely like people from the US and had many amazing chats with them, be it in in video games, via blogs, in real-life or social media. But their governments in the last decade, it’s unbelievable. But as we do in Europe, they also just have the choice between cholera and pest when voting day has come. So, it’s about politicans, about governments, playing their stupid war games, or trade-war games. Those who suffer are the citizens, no matter where they live. It’s a shame.
To be honest, I didn’t like Obama, nor did I like Bush… but Trump is definitely the tip of the iceberg of them all. He really makes the USA look hostile to everyone else.
I will continue to see the difference. Citizens are good, politicians are the aggressors. There, here, everywhere. We are the ones who always have to bear with this lunacy.
For sure US politics is broken. I vote for Bush, and I voted for Obama. For the time I voted for the Green Party in the 2016 US election. For the next election, I will vote Green Party again. I have no party affiliation, but I have lost respect for the Republican and Democratic parties.
I agree with you that much of the rebuke of Huawei is about a trade war. The USA did the same to Japan in the 1980s: https://thedandelionpub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2018/05/DANDE_brunch-042619.pdf
Same here in Germany. Smaller parties gain more popularity because people don’t trust established ones anymore. At this point, many people aren’t even sure anymore if our governments have something to say or not… it’s like a lobby decides what they need to do.
Your links is a restaurant menu 😀 Did you paste copy the wrong one? 🙂
Yes. LOL. Wrong link. Darn. It should have been my blog. https://islandinthenet.com/
I was providing a hint to my kids for Fathers’ Day. That restaurant is a British style pub in Philadelphia that serves English Breakfast. Please ignore.
I don’t know if Huawea is a tool for the Chinese government or not. I do know I look forward to the day when Trump is no longer president so things can get back to at least somewhat normal.
I think all people wait for this, even outside of the US. Because he’s worsen the political relations between countries.
But don’t worry, we have idiotic politicians as well. And often the same situation like you guys… being able to vote between cholera and pest. But Trump is probably pretty high on the list of lunatics.
I sometimes stop readings news, because it’s utter insanity. I definitely don’t like your government, nor do I like mine… what I like are people… you, and me, and others.. we’re the ones who have to take the nonsense of our politcians and their stupid wargames, or now trade-war games. We’re the ones who manage it to have good relations.
That’s also where I make the difference. They, and we. Fortunately we people know how to have good relations, because we know it’s about connecting, sharing and talking about our cultures, but these politicians don’t because they driven by greed, claims of power and fear. It’s so blatant.
I usually don’t vote because I have learned that no politician can be elected to a high office without being at least somewhat corrupt. They need money for their elections and the big money doners will only support someone they can control.
I don’t know how Trump was elected. Perhaps people thought he was different and people were looking for a change. Unfortunately, I don’t think a president that embarrasses our country every day is the right kind of change.
I always go vote, but with the same mindset you don’t… I still know it’s a cholera and pest decision, but I don’t want that the older generations to drive our nation against the wall by being the only ones who go vote. They highly believe the TV propaganda and vote for established parties that have shown to make decisions for everyone but not for the German people. There are much better alternatives, and they might end up in corruption scanalds as well, but at least they would think about Germany first, and then about others. As I know my friend circle, we vote the exact opposite of what our grandparents vote for. And the trend shows it’s a good decision, because now we have a real opposition in the Bundestag, while all other parties are basically the same which we often call “Einheitsbrei” (means something like… Mishmash / The same old story).
I do not have a party affiliation but my friend is a Democratic and he believes everything a Democratic says and nothing a Republican says. I have tried to convince him to do research before believing everything he hears but he won’t do that.
This is often a problem. Some people who take a side, become biased and refuse facts and stop listening or looking at your view, what you think or found out. But they believe every single statement of a politician of their parties. Disagreeing is reasonable because there are topics where there are different angles to look at it (like different interpretations of data or charts, or different and conflicting news article where you can choose what to believe). So, if someone disagrees with me because he shows me links/data/articles with a different view than what I looked at, that is ok, but I know too how I showed a friend a link once and he replied “Nah, I have already my opinion, don’t want to read what you found”. I thought that was the most stupid thing to say, because it basically proved that the discussion with him didn’t make sense in the first place. If I am open to discuss politics with someone, I should at least also look at the stuff he used to back his opinion up. Otherwise, just don’t discuss it with me, I thought about him. Since then I ignored politics with him.
But it’s possible with other friends. In my circle we have different voters, and non-voters… we sometimes have political topics but we know when and where we won’t get a consensus, because we have different and conflicting informations, or a different stance. So, we try to have political conversations at a low level, which means sometimes but not too often. Also, we’re not mad if we disagree. Kinda respectful, and when we don’t agree, we usually laugh and thing “Ok, doesn’t make sense, we have a different view”. That is ok. But ignoring what I show to people, that is a disqualification of discussing politics with me, because it’s ignorant (the blind eye, I don’t want to see it type of persons).
There is a saying that you should never talk about politics or religion and I think that’s true. You won’t change anybody’s mind and you will probably make an enemy in the process. I don’t pay attention to politics. I actually stopped watching the news 4 years ago. I’m one of those people who believe and I can’t do anything change my government’s policy so I simply try to be happy with the world the way it is.
In my circle it’s possible to talk about politics. Especially younger people feel the need to talk about things our parents and grandparents didn’t. We speak out what we dislike, and we don’t make exceptions, as same as we mention things we like. TV stations and media told us not say what we are concerned about… Unlucky, we did and will nonetheless. I’d go so far to say that this is a thing in my generation. We’re pretty rebelish 😀 As I experienced it, there is an increasing demand to talk about the things we previously were taught not to talk about. And the younger people I know oppose this, and it’s also visible in the German part of the web. People make use of their voice. I think it’s an attempt to be different than our grand parents, who completely trusted TV stations, since they had no other options. We don’t want to be indoctrinated by a single source, nor do we see the media as an authority to tell us what to do, how to think, and what to say.
If a friend can’t listen, and if he feels attacked, I don’t think he earned the title “friend”. They think the same. We know when and how to disagree with each other, and that it’s not doomsday to have different opinions in some cases, and in others the same. I know most of my friends from the sandpit times, or others I have meet during teenage, in school or when I was apprentice, and in work life. I left those behind me who tried to shape me in any way. I’d rather have a friend who constantly disagrees with me, than one who feels offended by all kind of things. I respect people with a different opinion, and I want them to have a chance telling me how they think. That’s the way I think a friend should be. I don’t think that talking about politics necessary means wanting to convince someone. Under friends it’s sharing a perspective, having a good controversial chat or being interested in their opinion. I find it more important to not go over board with it. So, it’s not our main topic, but it’s possible to talk politics. And I generally don’t talk with anybody about it who is not literate about the topics they want to talk about, like the one guy I mentioned for example. So, in my friendcircle it’s no biggy to talk politics at times… they aren’t easily offended 😀
In the case of religion, it’s the same. We can talk about it, but usually it’s about how we can’t grasp the concept of believing in a greater being, and how we think that religions have been tools in the medieval to shape societies and make them do things their patriarchs wanted. Or how religions contributed to aggressions between cultures. We agree all on that, no different opinion in my friendcircle. In public, some people would probably be very offended about our opinion. We talk a lot about the universe though, and the space documentaries we watched. In a way this can get a bit religious as well, especially when the question “I am, but how?” comes up. xD
You are lucky to have such good friends but talking politics with people that are not your friends could cause problems.
I once commented on Facebook that I voted for my cat for president because “he cares about people more than those two.” By those two I meant Trump and Hillary Clinton. The friend I mentioned yesterday accused me of making false accusations about Clinton. My sister replied to him in my defense and soon there was a very bad fight on Facebook. I had to delete my post. I have always avoided talking about politics on Facebook but I thought talking about voting for my cat would be funny. I was wrong.
I agree with your views on religion and even mentioned it to my wife once. She became distressed because she thought that she wouldn’t see me in heaven if I had ideas like that. I never mentioned it again.
I know what you mean. I won’t disagree. It’s different with strangers. There is this new trend and culture of being upset and feeling insulted by all kind of stuff, instead of taking it as it is, a world with people and different views. I personally often read political statements that I don’t agree with, but it doesn’t affect me in a way that I feel offended. Still, I am more on a trollish or rebelish side and can’t shut my mouth if something in my mind that needs to get out. If I feel the need to share my opinion public, and someone else gets strong emotions, then I see it as a weakness, as an disability to control emotions (especially when they insult me). So, it’s a problem in their lives, not in mine. I had this happen to me too a few times and someone called me “asshole” once on FB, and my reply was “I feel sorry for your being that affected by different views, please calm down because anger can cause gastric ulcer. Stay healthy!”. That made the person flip out even further and I found it to be super entertaining and decided to put even more fire into the oil. I watched the spectacle and banned the person from my list when it got boring. Trolling can be fun, I grew up with that stuff as a PC gamer lol. Those who preach freedom of speech the most, are usually those who can’t take other views. It’s like they think they have the monopoly on thoughts. It’s especially strange when it’s caused by a satire post like in your case. I thought your cat comment was funny, it could have come from me 🙂 But yeah, even funny posts can upset people.
My FB list is very little today. I went down from 300 or 400 connections to maybe 40 people who are all either closer friends or family. I don’t even have work mates in my list anymore, because at some point I saw no point in it anymore. Some people just want to collect “virtual friends”. When I went with the ban hammer into my FB friendlist, I got a lot more privacy, and freedom to do whatever I want to do. Before that I found it super toxic and strange. It was really trendy when FB was new, but nowdays I don’t want to give too many people access into my private life. Being a work mate, doesn’t grant anyone access to my private stories, like my personal pictures (selfies, family or photos of friends). Also I had a boss as a friend in FB once, and it felt awkward, like I had to control myself what to say, what to post. Can I post a picture of me and a friend having a glas of whisky? I barely drink (like maybe two or three times in a year, and the older I get, the fewer it happens), but the boss could have thought I am a drinker. I hated the feeling of giving people access to my private life and banned like 95% of them all lol. Because I am who I am, and I don’t want to adapt to people. And I speak out what I want to speak out. More recently, many of us got super tired of social media anyway, and we re-discovered again that it’s better to maintain real-life connections. Barely use it, only if I want to transfer a picture to a friend, but I often use WhatsApp for that instead of Facebook. So, I barely still log into it.
We have a president who doesn’t know economics from ping-pong. My best hope is that we will have someone closer to a normal human being in office after the 2020 election. This guy is SUCH a loser. Don’t worry. He’s screwing Americans MUCH more than anyone else.
Hehe, yeah. Ironically I thought about ping-pong too. And it will probably end like a ping-pong match where there is no winner. I am pretty sure the European Union will put heavy tariffs on Google, and Trump and his clique will answer, and then the EU again and back and forth. Until everyone realizes it doesn’t make sense. I believe everyone waits for 2020, so that good political relations can be build up again with your politicians.
We have our fair share of losers too, but Trump is definitely unbeatable in the world ranking of strange politicians. It would be funny if he would be a comedian, but it’s dead serious, which is sad.
Whenever I get mad at US foreign policy and Trump, I remember myself that I met fine American people through blogging, gaming, social media or tourists in my city. Like I said to others here, we world citizens are the ones who maintain good relationships and have great cultural exchange, not our lunatic politicians, who constantly put oil into the fire in this world.
Hi Dennis, see this: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/725139664/lessons-for-today-from-the-u-s-japan-trade-war-of-the-1980s
It’s all happened before.
That was a very interesting read. I didn’t know about this particular trade war. I watch quite a lot of documentaries about historic events, and I am also often surprised that some things repeat. No matter who starts a trade war or not, I can’t grasp why certain elites or our industries can’t get the mouth full enough. I think many of us grew up with the mindset that competition is good, and here in Germany it was actually preached by the same political guys who now see China’s manufacturers as a threat as well. China has a lot of dirt under the carpet for sure, but we do too, mainly our hypocrisy and arrogance (Like praising our industries doing business in foreign countries, and grumping if others advance, catch up and take their own share at our places as well).
In many ways the USA was founded as a protest against religious and economic discrimination. But, it has forgotten this and here we are in 2019 having elected a leader who I think represents nothing except religious intolerance and economic hegemony.