this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2024
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/22969795

top 24 comments
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[–] fantawurstwasser 68 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's not "Germany". It's german factory owners, who are chasing profits. That is a big difference and we should use the correct language here.

[–] jenesaisquoi 7 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I mean, VW is at least partially owned by a federal state of Germany

[–] fantawurstwasser 6 points 6 days ago

Yeah, but VW is not the norm, but a really special case

[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

AFAIK not. You mean the state of Lower Saxony?

[–] federalreverse 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

... and Lower Saxony is a federal state (as in, "one of the 16 federal states").

[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 4 points 6 days ago

Yeah, I need to learn how to read it seems.

[–] germanatlas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 36 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Germany’s reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, combined with the phasing out of nuclear power, has increased the country’s reliance on imports and caused severe price volatility, ultimately putting pressure on both industry and taxpayers

This is false on multiple accounts, our massive reliance on Russian gas, Russias war in Ukraine and the subsequent boycott of their gas increased energy prices, not our renewables. They were the biggest factor that helped in these times because guess what, they are an independent source of energy, unlike imported gas.

Also the nuclear phaseout also wasn’t a factor, as a conservative politician recently got corrected on a very similar topic. In fact, Germany sold more energy to France (massively dependent on nuclear) in 2022 than it bought.

And wtf saying that phasing out nuclear puts pressure on taxpayers, nuclear is cheap in France exclusively because it gets heavily subsidized by French taxpayers, if wind or solar got similar subsidies energy consumption would probably be paid instead of cost something.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Maybe we shouldn't trust any media owned, operated, or financed by wealthy sociopaths?

Sondhi Limthongkul[a] (born 7 November 1947) is a Thai media proprietor, conspiracy theorist, pro-Beijing anti-democracy reactionary activist, demagogue, and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

The owners devoted his life to overthrowing democracy and returning to Monarch-ruled authoritarian dictatorship.

[–] federalreverse 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

This guy appears to be the founder not the owner:

Asia Times Online was created early in 1999, at atimes.com, describing itself as a successor in "publication policy and editorial outlook" to the print newspaper Asia Times, owned by Sondhi Limthongkul, a Thai media mogul and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy, who later sold his business. -- source, emphasis mine

Media Bias Fact Check lists them as "mostly factual".

None of which makes the paragraph cited by thread op any more correct, obviously. (Fwiw: coal power is cheap in China because it is heavily subsidized & there's no CO2 trading scheme, afaik. Overall, German companies opening factories in China because they're cheap tracks, however.)

[–] 0x815 5 points 6 days ago

The Asia Times is based in Hong Kong in the meantime, so the Chinese government will have a close hold on what they publish. That's why I'd agree with what others already said to not trust them to much ...

Just fyi: China does have its own national carbon trading scheme, but it appears to be as ineffective as those in the West.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Wow, they're hitting all the propaganda birds with this stone, aren't they?

[–] elvith 34 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] Kissaki 5 points 6 days ago
  1. Sell factory linked to forced labor
  2. Invest elsewhere
[–] 0x815 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

In other news, it is said that companies around the world are starting to cut prices and costs and scale back activity in China.

The interesting bit is that the Asian Times doesn't mention too many specific new German companies which allegedly have been investing in China recently. It just says things like German energy costs are higher.

[Edit for clarity.]

[–] Viri4thus 4 points 6 days ago

Was just seeing the same. The Asia Times is likely referring to the explosion of dropshippers in Germany, where everyone and their mother has a storefront to ship trash from China to the EU.

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 13 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Surely moving all the worlds factories into one country isn't a smart idea.

[–] GenosseFlosse 20 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

This Excel Sheet says it's very profitable. Isn't that the same? /s

[–] jenesaisquoi 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Srsly, those stupid managers.

Now, on an unrelated note, let me invest my retirement funds into whatever ETF that performs the best.

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Actually you bring up an important point. I feel like any investment into shares makes you complicit. Is such thing as an ethical ETF possible? What do you do with money you want to invest instead?

[–] jenesaisquoi 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

It's almost like the entire system of finance capitalism is completely broken. Almost.

[–] B0rax 4 points 6 days ago

But think of the profits!

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

BOOO! HISS! BOOO!

Stop empowering China while weakening your own country.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 2 points 6 days ago

What I find more difficult to fit in my head in all of this is that it was Germany one of the first supporters of re-industrializing Europe, to off-set the huge dependency on foreign production.

And now this?

[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 0 points 6 days ago

Well that's not very nice of them!