• @dragontamer
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    8 months ago

    Every single Li-ion battery has a safety chip inside of it, a computer, likely made in Taiwan.

    An EV requires absurd numbers of chips to build the battery management system, as well as all other electronics.

    At a minimum, electrification will be stalled out when Taiwan gets attacked. Much like how we ran out of cars in 2021, it will be far worse.

    This isn’t just consumer electronics yo. It is fucking everything of the modern world. Antilock brakes? Thermostat. Industrial plant automation. Weapons. ECG monitor / healthcare.

    Even the COVID-19 vaccine was made on a supercomputer simulation.

    • @[email protected]
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      8 months ago

      This isn’t alarming enough to me to justify our military. We got though the pandemic fine, things were just more expensive. We already have chips in our brakes and everything, we just need to take care of what we have and build capacity for production in the meantime.

      And the fear isn’t that they’ll go away, it’s that China will control Taiwan right? And if the US needs chips, we’ll just be able to buy them from China who would be happy to sell them. Of course I support Taiwan’s independence, but I support that because of their right to self sufficiency not because of their economic value to the country I live in.

      • @dragontamer
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        8 months ago

        We got though the pandemic fine, things were just more expensive

        We had to shutdown multiple factories on just a minor blip of computer chips.

        What we are talking about is a major disruption, a loss of Taiwan would mean no chips for YEARS, not just a few weeks worth of blip.

        We already have chips in our brakes and everything, we just need to take care of what we have and build capacity for production in the meantime.

        All the people working those factories will be furloughed or probably even laid off if the chip supply doesn’t get stabilized. In fact, they were furloughed over a minor blip in TSMC production.

        And that’s not even tech workers like me who are directly impacted by the computer industry. I literally can’t do my job without chips.

        2021 supply chain crunch wasn’t a “small thing” for many, many people. And that was a small chip disruption, not a big one like China invading Taiwan would be.

        • @[email protected]
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          18 months ago

          I’d rather the tech workers lose their jobs then send American soldiers to die in a war over global power. Like I said, China could just sell us chips if we need them so badly.

          • @dragontamer
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            8 months ago

            If China wins the war of Imperial Expansion vs Taiwan, they’ll continue attacking outward, risking Japan and Philippines next, or maybe Korea. Hard to say what their next priority would be, but its up and out in any case.

            That’s the funny thing about war. When someone wins a war, there’s no reason for them to stop. And these ancient empires have memories.

            The safest time to handle everything is when the smallest flames of war begin. You snuff it out before it grows any larger. We’re going to fight anyway, the question is if we fight for Taiwan, or if we fight at a later stage.


            This is the same “Red China” that funded North Korea expansion / the Korean war. They have huge imperialistic and expansionist ambitions. Always have.

            • @[email protected]
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              8 months ago

              Why should I care if China is the empire vs the United States? The United States has been an imperialist, expansionist empire for centuries. You’re fear-mongering, but you’re really just worried about yourself and you’re willing to throw soldiers into a meat grinder for your own job security.

              • @dragontamer
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                18 months ago

                but you’re really just worried about yourself

                Yup. I’m a selfish asshole who lives here and cares about my job, my livelihood, and the people I support.

                Fuck you too.

                • @[email protected]
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                  8 months ago

                  But you don’t care about the people you want to send off to die? Don’t you see how that is selfish?

                  It’s especially bad when you look at the class background of military recruits compared to tech jobs. You’re sending the poors to die.

                  You can get another job, but those families can’t get new sons and daughters.

                  • @dragontamer
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                    8 months ago

                    But you don’t care about the people you want to send off to die? Don’t you see how that is selfish?

                    My uncle is in the marines. So are many of my close friends. Of course I care. But there’s also our interests that must be protected.

                    It’s especially bad when you look at the class background of military recruits compared to tech jobs. You’re sending the poors to die.

                    Marines in the family yo. You ain’t gonna be able to play this card on me. And its the Marines specifically who’d be tasked to protect Taiwan, given the terrain. (Island hopping specialists). Believe me, I know.

                    You know who are some of the most gung ho people with regards to going out and fighting for us? Even more so than US Army, US Navy or US Air Force?

                    Marines. I’m serious. If you knew them, you’d know what I’m talking about. Do you know any marines or are you just hypothetically laying out this discussion on me as if I’m an ignorant dumbass? Our job, most of the time, is to hold the Marines back from fighting. They are a bit mad and war-mongery more so than the rest of us. Its in the culture of the Marines.

                    So its our responsibility to point them in the right direction of what is worthwhile to fight, and what isn’t worthwhile. Taiwan would be much, much more important than the desert we sent them to last time.