The decline seems to be caused by deep and hard-to-solve problems (e.g. elite overproduction amplified by Chinese memetic warfare). Thus, the decline is likely to continue.
That Wikipedia article on the 50 Cent Party doesn’t give any indication that Chinese operatives are intent on producing Western decline. The example it gives are about pro-government Chinese propaganda.
Given their access to US security clearence exam data the Chinese could likely do a lot of harm if they wanted to but don’t.
What makes you think that they are a significant factor for Western decline?
The arguments in the post were written as an attempt to simulate an intelligent, rational, and well-informed critic of my beliefs. In this sense, the arguments are not entirely mine.
Personally, I’m not sure if there is Western decline. Perhaps it’s mostly limited to the US. Perhaps there is no decline even in the US. If there is a decline, I’m not sure if China is a significant factor.
As I understand, the Chinese memetic warfare is mostly defensive. It is mostly trying to counterattack critics of PRC, and promote a positive image of PRC policies. On the other hand, the Russian memetic warfare seems to be clearly offensive, with the ultimate goal of greatly weakening or even destroying the West.
Both engage in large-scale bot/troll operations in Western media. Some studies on the Chinese activities: Harvard, CIR / BBC, Bellingcat.
How significant is their influence?
The state-sponsored news channel Russia Today claims to reach 85 million people in the US.
Its Chinese counterpart is available in 30 million US households.
In total, that’s about a half of the US adult population.
The numbers could be considered as the lower estimates of how many Americans consume Chinese / Russian propaganda in any form.
On the other hand, it seems that both PRC and Russia failed to significantly influence the recent US elections, in spite of the traditionally very small margins (e.g. some 50k of strategically placed voices could change the result of presidential elections).
On the third hand, maybe they don’t care much who wins the elections, as there is hardly any real difference in the foreign policy between the two main parties. Russia seems to optimize for radicalization and discord, and not for the win of any of the parties. PRC’s seems to optimize for less war hawks, maybe for more socialism (not sure), and not much beyond that.
That Wikipedia article on the 50 Cent Party doesn’t give any indication that Chinese operatives are intent on producing Western decline. The example it gives are about pro-government Chinese propaganda.
Given their access to US security clearence exam data the Chinese could likely do a lot of harm if they wanted to but don’t.
What makes you think that they are a significant factor for Western decline?
The arguments in the post were written as an attempt to simulate an intelligent, rational, and well-informed critic of my beliefs. In this sense, the arguments are not entirely mine.
Personally, I’m not sure if there is Western decline. Perhaps it’s mostly limited to the US. Perhaps there is no decline even in the US. If there is a decline, I’m not sure if China is a significant factor.
As I understand, the Chinese memetic warfare is mostly defensive. It is mostly trying to counterattack critics of PRC, and promote a positive image of PRC policies. On the other hand, the Russian memetic warfare seems to be clearly offensive, with the ultimate goal of greatly weakening or even destroying the West.
Both engage in large-scale bot/troll operations in Western media. Some studies on the Chinese activities: Harvard, CIR / BBC, Bellingcat.
How significant is their influence?
The state-sponsored news channel Russia Today claims to reach 85 million people in the US.
Its Chinese counterpart is available in 30 million US households.
In total, that’s about a half of the US adult population.
The numbers could be considered as the lower estimates of how many Americans consume Chinese / Russian propaganda in any form.
On the other hand, it seems that both PRC and Russia failed to significantly influence the recent US elections, in spite of the traditionally very small margins (e.g. some 50k of strategically placed voices could change the result of presidential elections).
On the third hand, maybe they don’t care much who wins the elections, as there is hardly any real difference in the foreign policy between the two main parties. Russia seems to optimize for radicalization and discord, and not for the win of any of the parties. PRC’s seems to optimize for less war hawks, maybe for more socialism (not sure), and not much beyond that.