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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Anyone else worried?

73 replies

CitrusStorm · 13/10/2021 03:31

Is anyone concerned with the situation unfolding with China & Taiwan?
The fact that Taiwan is under real threat & our economy vulnerable because of the potential difficulty in obtaining microchips?
I've been watching events unfold with a growing sense that this could escalate catastrophically for the world though not many people seem to be aware of what's happening.

OP posts:

TheGrumpyGoat · 13/10/2021 16:03

I’m aware of the situation. I don’t have the headspace to worry about it.
I try to focus my attention on things I can control, not those I can’t.

MakingM2 · 13/10/2021 18:13

The problem with China for us is, as a society, they have a long term orientation. They have a plan and they'll just keep pursuing it. They may bend and sway a little to make it easier to get their own way, but they won't stop. I don't think they will anyway.

The more pressing problem for us is our own government. They are in the shit and I hate to point out the obvious but when governments are struggling, fighting is their favourite diversion. Also, I'm not sure they are equipped to deal with China - in anglo nations we focus on the short-term. It makes it hard for us to sustain a successful strategy towards a long-term oriented country like China. We're more reactive. It's not great.

Plus there's always lots of money in conflict for disaster capitalists. The people who get richer don't tend to be the people who fight and get buried. Also not good for us.

I'd like to think our shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan was a signal that they have finally learnt that most things can't be solved by being aggressive and violent, but I'm not that naive.

It's like being surrounded by bloody chimps. We are clearly currently at the stage where the big boys from the anglo nations are sitting around stroking each other and eating each others fleas.There will probably move onto big boy swinging their bllcks and screeching at each other games before long.

MakingM2 · 13/10/2021 18:17

Everyone should be anxious about those microchips @Workinghardeveryday. They are heinous..and quite possibly a crime against humanity

HeartsAndClubs · 13/10/2021 18:23

If only they hadn’t used all those microchips in the vaccines. ;)

Peregrina · 13/10/2021 18:58

If we had to leave Afghanistan with our tails between our legs, how on earth do we think we could stand up to the might of China?

Porcupineintherough · 13/10/2021 19:17

@HeartsAndClubs

MyMoneyIsAllSpent · 13/10/2021 20:17

America has stood down. There won't be a challenge from the USA, apparently.

I've been following this guy for years and he's more often then not, right. He claims the Philippines will be next.

MissConductUS · 13/10/2021 20:26

@MyMoneyIsAllSpent

America has stood down. There won't be a challenge from the USA, apparently. I've been following this guy for years and he's more often then not, right. He claims the Philippines will be next.

So he has "sources" in Washington who give him secret military intelligence to put out on youtube.

I loved the bit at the end about the alien power station in Alaska and the new world order.

Silversun83 · 13/10/2021 20:28

@HarlanPepper

Sure why not, I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the heads up.

Florelei · 13/10/2021 20:34

Honestly I can’t worry about anything else.

Dutchesss · 13/10/2021 20:34

Sure why not, I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the heads up.

Got to love Mumsnet.

TottiePlantagenet · 13/10/2021 20:44

Too much to worry about re China.

China will take over the world soon enough and we in the West will have no choice but to accept it because a) many nations owe China money b) Chinese military is huge c) CCP don't have to worry about elections and voters so they will do what they want to stay in power d) as long as most people have a stable life, food on the table etc. they will not revolt about who is running things.

Hong Kong has just been the warming up exercise for Tai Wan. The West will be the biggest fools if they think they can win in any kind of economic or military tussle against China. Give it another 5 or 10 years and Tai Wan will no longer be an independent state.

BoredZelda · 13/10/2021 20:54

There is already a worrying situation closer to home.

It as possible to worry about more than one thing at a time.

Ignoring a situation just because it isn’t “close to home” is foolish in a global word.

FluffyBooBoo · 13/10/2021 21:06

Ignoring a situation just because it isn’t “close to home” is foolish in a global word

Ok, so enlighten us.

I'm really interested to know what we should be doing about it.

If you don't have an answer to that, then maybe tell us what we have to gain by worrying about it.

MrsJBaptiste · 13/10/2021 22:13

It is possible to worry about more than one thing at a time

Don't I know it. I'm awake every night worrying about work, my parents, my child's health issues. I have not got the headspace or the inclination to worry about this or other things I cannot do anything about.

TheGrumpyGoat · 13/10/2021 22:18

It as possible to worry about more than one thing at a time

Of course. Im worried that my 2 year old is severely speech delayed. Im worried about my 8 year old who has been displaying anxiety symptoms since school closures. I am worried about gas and electricity prices rising. I’m worried about the NI increase. I’m worried about general rises in the cost of living, while Covid has caused us as a household to lose 20% of our income. I’m worried about the chronic health issue I have just been diagnosed with. I’m worried about my mum who is severely depressed since my sibling died.
I don’t worry about things that I have no control over. I don’t have the headspace for it, and really, what’s the point?

BlueBlancmange · 14/10/2021 20:01

@Thewiseoneincognito

Yes OP it’s is worrying but there isn’t really anything we can do about it except wait and see what eventually happens. The fall out from such a conflict would have repercussions which reverberate around the world in ways unimaginable to us all.

I think it’s perhaps too geopolitically ambiguous for the general MNer to converse about right now but no doubt if said conflict does happen the effects to us all would quickly be discussed here.

@Thewiseoneincognito is there anything you don't doommonger about? I have a suspicion you might actually be the OP, first time posting and similar style...

RobertaFirmino · 14/10/2021 20:23

Am currently reading a book set in the 1930s. The Provincial Lady seems to be managing very well without microchips and I am sure I shall be able to cope too.

Original poster

CitrusStorm · 15/10/2021 07:11

BlueBlancmange

Nope, not me. I work alone

OP posts:

FluffyBooBoo · 15/10/2021 08:17

but no doubt if said conflict does happen the effects to us all would quickly be discussed here

Of course they would. Because it would be things that are actually happening.

People can choose to catastrophise if they wish, choose to worry about all sorts of things that might happened but they can't influence or change. And some people might want to discuss the endless possibilities of the potential consequences.

I just don't see the point. Why worry about what hasn't happened. That's enough stuff that has actually happened to be concerned with.

I, like many people that were born in the 70s, was bombarded with 'bad stuff could happen' propoganda. We saw films at school about what to do in the event of nuclear war. We heard about the cold war and the potential that had to ruin our lives. We studied world war two, and were told that if a world war happened again, that it would be catastrophic because it would involve nuclear weapons. None of this has yet happened. So maybe me and many of the people my age have had enough of worrying about the stuff that might or might not have a huge impact on our lives. We've been there, and none of it happened.

Peregrina · 15/10/2021 11:28

But in the 80s many people protested against nuclear weapons - as a result the then leaders of the USA and USSR took the protests on board and made some arms limitation treaties.

ThePoisonousMushroom · 15/10/2021 11:54

but no doubt if said conflict does happen the effects to us all would quickly be discussed here

Well yeah. Just like we always knew a global pandemic was a possibility but it didn’t get discussed on here until it actually happened.
Honestly I wish I had the time and headspace to worry about all the ‘shit which might happen’, but I don’t.

FluffyBooBoo · 15/10/2021 11:58

@Peregrina

But in the 80s many people protested against nuclear weapons - as a result the then leaders of the USA and USSR took the protests on board and made some arms limitation treaties.

Some people will protest. I've been on marches and done a limited amount of political activism myself. (Would most probably have done more if I had been in or even vaguely close to a city if I was younger). I may well do more as I am now in a place where there are political rallies etc.

But that's not the same as worrying about something that hasn't happened.

Making your voice heard is a proactive action that may or may not help to change things. Usually preceded by anger and a sense of injustice. Not worry. Not from what I've seen anyway.

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