Xiisadaddy

I have to write a paper on the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Sui dynasties. I'll also need to talk about social structures, and culture during those periods. I worry that a lot of sources I'll find will be very scewed through a western lens and was hoping somebody might know where I can find some maybe made by actual Chinese people. Do any universities in China have english translation libraries I could look through online? I figure people here might know about some good places to look.

Edit: Also I can't use Chinese language sources because the professor can't read chinese. Which is why I need official english translations.

So we are in dagerous times now especially for leftists, and i wanted to make a post with some informaton for everyone. This will include a few videos to watch where a lawyer explains some stuff about how to interact with police safely. What some of the tactics they use are, and how to counter them.

The lies they'll tell you and what to say back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoKsuZGI9G4

Traffic stops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2-IuA_kZMQ

Loophole in the right to remain silent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaRnsgFfZUI

What to do when cops knock on the door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKycv8txbuA

Watching these could end up saving you from going to prison on some bullshit charge they made up so I think it's important everyone watches them. Especially considering how the US government is cracking down on dissent in general lately. This stuff may not stop them from arresting you on some bullshit, but doing it all should make it much easier for a lawyer to get you out afterwards.

The world has known for awhile that things were shifting toward drone warfare, but China just showed off, Air recon/strike craft and VTOLs, Naval surface and subsurface drones, Ground light forces(robo dogs), and heavy forces(mini drone tanks).

They could effectively wage a war without losing a single soldier. Combined with their industrial capacity, and the defensive capability they showed off (Directed energy anti missile systems for example). Its now clear that China would defeat the US in a conventional war. Many of the things shown off in Chinas parade are technologies still in the prototyping phase in the US. The tech gap is closed. Or honestly in Chinas favor at this point.

They had for example drones integrated into their heavy tank forces. With launch platforms on top, and likely piloted from inside. So their tanks can now get a birds eye view of their surroundings at all times. This philosophy is likely an example of how theyll operate in general. With large armored ships, and vehicles acting as mobile control platforms for their vast drone forces. Its the modern equivalent of the air craft carrier. Drone warefare taken to its logical conclusion.

Our comrades in the PLA arent fucking around.

I want to be wrong about this, but I've been watching things, and this is where i see the path theyre on going.

America has various "problems" i quote it because these are problems of Empire. Fabricated things, or things that wouldnt be an issue were they not an empire.

The one's I'll be addressing are as follows:

1. A lack of cheap domestic labor.
2. Supply chains reliant on political enemies.
3. A lack of cheap natural resources.
4. an overextended military

The US elites are struggling to fix these "problems", and I think I know their plan to do so.

Recently the US deployed troops to the caribbean. This was seen by latin american leaders as a very dangerous and provacative move. I think it's preperations for an invasion of Venezuela.

Why invade Venezuela? Well they have a lot of oil, are close to the US, and their oil is mostly on the coast. So i think the US wants to occupy the oil infrastucture, and then bomb the rest of the country to keep it in chaos while they extract the oil. Not a full occupation. Just a targetted one to get resources. The strategy for doing this is something they've perfected over the years. This solves their cheap oil problem. They can flood the market with this oil, and plunge energy prices. Something they've been asking OPEC+ to do, but they've refused.

US Oil companies go along with it because they get free oil to sell. It's free money the bill is footed by the US govt.

This though will just be the first step of the plan. The United states has been flying recon drones over Mexico, and authorized it's military to take action "against the cartels" there too.

They've been doing this for months.

This implies they are creating a map of the country. Especially the northern parts. Which they'd be able to use for any operations there.

I think they are planning an occupation of the northern parts of Mexico. They will surge across the border Blitz style, and use political pressure to get the Mexican govt to capitulate, or just claim it's cartel controlled, and destroy it themselves.

The goal of this will be twofold. Create a highly militarized buffer zone between the US, and latin america. This means that as climate change worsens, and their military operations in latin america get more extreme they don't have a european style refugee crisis. This buffer zone also works as one giant concentration camp. They deport anyone they want into it, and since it isn't US soil legally they can do anything they want. They'll use this to create their cheap labor pool. Companies can build factories here, and have plenty of cheap labor. Essentially slave labor. They will likely start programs for migrants to "work for residency". Where they will be told if they spend 10 years working in the buffer zone they'll be allowed into the US proper. This will rarely actually happen of course.

Now they're in a position where they can move industry back near the US, and without losing their cheap labor. They can scale down military actions in the middle east because they have access to Venezuelan oil, and they can focus fully on maintaining control of the America's and the Pacific. While using Europe as a buffer against Russia, and a captive market for US weapons.

So to go back to their "problems"

1. A lack of cheap domestic labor. Slave labor in northern mexico. "Solved."
2. Supply chains reliant on political enemies. Northern Mexico as new industrial hub. "Solved."
3. A lack of cheap natural resources. Extract resources for free from occupied regions. "Solved."
4. an overextended military Get's to focus on China, and on a very nearby war which makes supply lines easier while delegating many duties to the EU, and abandoning the middle east. Likely delegating it to Israel. "Solved."

It is a horrific, and evil plan so i think it's exactly what they intend to do. From the perspective of a souless blood sucking American leech it puts them in a much better position. The EU can't do anything to protest since theyd be reliant on US weapons. Israel would love to be let loose on the middle east. Major potential enemies are kept busy. Russia has to stay on alert against a newly militarized EU, China has to worry about a growing US presence in the pacific, and Iran is busy fighting Israel. There's nobody in the Americas who can stop them. Brazil is the only one who might be able to do something, but theyre far enough away, and would likely be paid off in cheap oil so they arent likely to do anything. Then domestically the AmeriKKKans will be eating up the anti-immigrant, and "anti-Cartel military operation" line. Plus they'll be seeing lower gas prices, and new imported treats from the slave labor zone. So they'll be content.

I hope I'm wrong, and if anyone disagrees i would love to hear why. I really do see this as atleast what they will attempt. Will they succeed? I hope not.

School started up the other day, and one of my professors put up a discussion post to introduce yourself, and confirm you've read the syllabus. Then in the syllabus they hid a requirement for the discussion post under like 3 pages of fine print. I caught it, but everyone else i see posting is going to have their first grade in this class be an F because they didnt read the syllabus as if it were a contract for your soul.

Like i get it you want people to read your syllabus, but you don't need to be an asshole about it. They didnt even say in the post to make sure you read it carefully or anything. Just "Say in your post you understand the syllabus."

I love how they can't see me but i can see them. OG post is here https://lemmygrad.ml/post/8823025

I havent been on that website at all, but i was linked to a subreddit(another site i havent used in a long time), called "BlueskySkeets" or something and at first i was like what does that mean. Then i realized it must be like Tweets+sky? Is that actually what they're called? That just sounds so ridiculous lol.

I have seen a lot of stuff about how payment processors have been going after any mature content in video games. It seems to me like the ruling classes are doing this on purpose to get the "anti-woke" gamer crowd, and the TERF crowd to go to war against eachother. Which will inevitably pull more people into these groups, and radicalize both even more. While allowing them to silently censor other things, like leftist, and queer content, at the same time without most people noticing.

I'm already seeing the "gamer" types online throwing fits because "The feminists are trying to take titas out of my video game"

Because yes somehow some random non-profit that complained can force payment processors to stop processing certain payments. Like how do they not realize theyre being played.

Along with the piracy crackdowns, and crackdowns on VPN use in some countries this seems like an effort to start reigning in the internet in general, and using this culture war as a cover for doing so. If your not already on Linux, and running DNScrypt/DNS-over-HTTPS through a DNS provider that's less likely to go along with censorship you should consider doing so. And have the TOR browser downloaded pre-emptively just in case.

I'm going to add some links to news articles i think are all connected to this effort to control online traffic.

Italy poisoning DNS https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/italian-court-orders-google-to-block-iptv-pirate-sites-at-dns-level/

Youtube requiring ID https://leveluptalk.com/news/youtube-id-verification-us-2025/

Spotify requiring ID https://www.the-independent.com/tech/spotify-age-checks-verification-b2798937.html

UK Online "Safety" act https://www.politico.com/newsletters/digital-future-daily/2025/07/29/the-uks-new-tech-law-triggers-upheaval-00481803

US Online "Safety" act https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-slams-senate-passage-of-kids-online-safety-act-urges-house-to-protect-free-speech

Payment processors flexing their muscles https://www.theverge.com/games/715299/itchio-games-delisting-payment-processor-paypal

Italian Youtuber facing criminal charges for reviewing retro game console that had ROMs on it https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/handheld-gaming/retro-reviewer-could-face-up-to-three-years-in-jail-over-copyright-italian-authorities-investigate-creator-for-advertising-anbernic-handheld-game-consoles

To me all of these point to a concerted effort to control the internet, and what content is available on it. They'll start out on the easy PR ones like Piracy, and "Kids Safety", and then move on to political speech pretty quickly.

For millennia there has been a give and take between Offense, and Defense in military technologies. Different technologies being developed changed whether it was easier to defend yourself or to attack others.

When the Persians ran up against Spartan Shield walls they found this asymmetry in cost to be their limiting factor. The Spartans might not have been able to advance, but with their technique and terrain advantage they could defend against the Persians for a much lower cost than the attackers suffered.

This continues to ebb and flow.

A Knights armor kept them safe. Until crossbows made sure it didn’t.

High stone walls kept cities safe from all, but the most determined attackers until Mehmed cracked the walls of Constantinople with his cannons. A new era was born again.

The Naval cannons of Europe allowed them to attack other regions with impunity. Expanding their colonial empires far and wide.

Trench warfare brought the Artillery, and guns of WW1 to heel, and had the war grind to a halt. Paying for every inch in blood.

The Plane in WW2 allowed attacks on enemy positions far behind their lines. Trenches became less effective.

Carrier strike groups, and ICBMs allowed the US to project power globally with little repercussions.

Now though things are changing again. Missile defense systems are getting better. Drone swarms can take down ships with little cost. The most advanced fighter jets are shot down. We are rapidly approaching an Era where defense will once again be easier than offense.

So what does an era like that look like? Well historically Empires borders stabilize. The ones that don’t focus on their internal issues, and were too reliant on constant expansion to prop up their economies collapse in on themselves. Breaking up into smaller regions.

Great power wars also tend to happen in these periods. Not during defensive periods specifically, but during the transition. When one period becomes another. The paradigm shift causes instability, and allows for wars that were previously unthinkable to become reality.

You might think that in a defensive paradigm there are less wars. That’s not the case. It just means that wars when they do happen are costlier for both sides because they last longer.

You can see echoes of this happening. When the US invaded Iraq they used Shock, and Awe, or Blitzkrieg tactics. Quick domination of the enemy. It worked.

They tried to use those same tactics on Iran recently. Iran is still standing. Israel, and the US backed down after realizing their old tactics for a quick victory don’t work anymore.

That doesn’t mean they won’t be back. It just means they’ll have to plan differently. The next time they attack they’ll come prepared for a prolonged conflict.

I think when we are all trying to guess at what will happen next we should keep this ongoing shift in mind. Because it could be a big factor in how the next decade plays out.

Recently Hangzhou, Zhejiang based Unitree announced a humanoid robot that costs just 39,999 yuan, or 5,900 USD.

It is capable of doing complex movements like hand stands, cartwheels, punching, lying down prone, and standing up again on its own. It weighs 25 Kilos, and is about as tall as a smaller sized human.

I think this is an area we should be paying very special attention to. AI is getting all the hype, but it's unlikely to have a big effect on the outcome of a war. Being able to mass produce soldiers though? That's a game changer.

These robots would work in any terrain a human can once water proofed, and could be remotely piloted by human soldiers. Retrofitting them with weapons systems would be simple, and they could have armor plating added on so they could just stand under heavy fire and be fine. You'd need higher caliber rounds to take them out. (Exactly the things that the US is floundering to secure metals to make since China controls so much of the rare earth industry).

I don't think it's hyperbole to say that these could be the equivalent of the invention of the musket. If WW3 happens sometime in the next decade i expect the world to be shocked as it becomes clear war will never be the same again. It's like a countdown has begun where everyday we get closer to the moment one of these is first used in a peer conflict, and an arms race begins. One China already seems to be winning before it even starts.

I think we as Marxists should all know the basics of how to keep people fed in an emergency.

I'm not saying everyone has to be an avid gardener. Most people don't have access to enough land for that anyway. But if enough people have some very basic gardening experience it could save lives if we ever have to fully rely on mutual aid to feed people. Plus you get a nice treat out of it, and it can be cheap. No need to buy stuff. Honestly it's better if you dont. I've grown beans by just throwing old dried grocery store beans into some dirt outside before for example.

Even if you fail you learn what not to do. One of the things that all AES states have had serious issues with is food production. Cuba, DPRK, Laos still have issues with it today. It’s been a major weapon in the past for the capitalist global powers to use against AES states. Actively sabotaging their food production, or blocking imports. Having some skills in that area can be extremely important.

You can even use it as a way to engage in active decolonization. A lot of areas had european farming practices forced onto them, but had indigenous practices which were more effective for their climates, and more sustainable. A good example is the 3 sisters method in North America.

You grow corn stalks, let them mature a bit, then put vining beans around them to grow up the stalks. Then plant squash around the base to shade the ground and retain moisture. It's a highly effective method and doesnt take much land to do it.

You could even take what you grow and if you have too much donate it to people who need food.

Also if you can't garden due to not having space a good alternative is foraging. Learn what plants are edible in your area. A lot of weeds are entirely edible. I like wood sorrel it looks like little clovers and is super sour like lemon. grows pretty much everywhere. You'd be surprised how much food grows even in cities in little abandoned lots. I've had plenty of days where the only reason i had vegetables to eat was because i knew what to forage for lol. They can be a great way to round out your diet when surviving off staples like rice and beans.

If you learn how to forage some basic leafy greens, do basic first aid, and some basic gardening skills you reduce your reliance on capitalism so much for very little effort. I highly recommend it.

Like here's a dirt cheap option. Plastic grocery bag hung from the lock mechanism on a window(probably double bag it), filled a bit with dirt from outside. Put a dried bean in it from the store, and eat the rest. In a few months, if you take care of it, you'll have fresh green beans. 0$ spent that wouldn’t otherwise be spent.

I like to think about it like this. If tomorrow a loaf of bread cost 25$ all of a sudden could I survive? Could I help other people survive? One of the biggest weapons the ruling class wields against us is the fact they control the food. If we want to fight against them we are going to have to take back control over that first. Before even beginning a revolution. Otherwise they’ll just starve us out. The first step to doing that is probably you trying to grow a plant in your window and failing.