Practical geopolitics - an update \ stacker news ~Politics_And

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2178 sats \ 26 comments \ @rebel_nomad 6 Oct Politics_And_Law

Whatever will happen the next weeks, months and years for those who survive at least we can't say its not damn interesting!

Complex choices

I'm totally OK here, but that is for now, and because of things like work permit and visa conditions I'll soon be on the move. And exactly when, where and for how long is up to geopolitics, really...

Nepal

I do want to go to Nepal for 2-6 months soon, or maybe even longer. I have a connection to Tibetan Buddhism that is the main driver for that, but its not the only factor, which are these:

Easy visa conditions. You simply pay 120 bucks at the airport for 90 days, then do another 90 day by popping out of the country for a few days, if need be via bus into India, which has similar options. Its even possible to combine India, Nepal and a few days in another country to get to 365 days, all legal, above board, and affordable
I also have a good lead for a visa agent as well as a few very good contacts, at least one of whom is now going down the route of a business with 9 months business visa, which at least in theory can be extended to full time stays if it turns into a profitable business. Lots of moving parts here, so I totally have to be there for an extended period even to assess the viability. Education visa could also be an option, both come with access to accounts which would be great to get more resilient.
Cost. Its possible to really stretch your funds in Nepal, especially if you're OK with living in very simple ways like me. Hell, I'm literally aiming for at least a few days in a cave up in the Himalayas if I can manage! I simply feel at home, happy and relaxed there, and the lack of modern things like processed food actually is a great help!
Currency collapse. Although I would of course never wish this on all the hard working Nepalese the currency has been sliding, propping it up has failed, and it might collapse. If this happens I might be useful holding Bitcoin, maybe all of a sudden starting a real business might become a very realistic option, creating jobs in an environment like that would be great. But of course it would have to pay my bills there too...
Nepal is a great country that has managed to have more than a dozen cultures unite in a pragmatic way. It is wedged between two major powers, so it has to stay neutral. Also it is very much dependent on tourism, so its highly unlikely that all foreigners will suddenly be expelled as in Vietnam a while ago...
If I get to spend a longer period there I'll combine that with doing as much video content as possible. Although I started and ran an agency that delivered video productions to other businesses I need more personal, hands on experience, mainly in the editing department. This on its own can lead to some tiny, or even medium revenue stream.

Now that we see the BRICS actually get ready to go online for real I'm looking for options outside of Nepal and India. This is partly in order to have a way to handle the end of air travel super worst case, and/or to have a way out of Asia if another scamdemic gets rolling.

Georgia and Armenia are in the Russian orbit. It seems to me that their governments are trying to fight this, there is for sure meddling from the US deep state, but so far these forces are not really winning.

Of course they might turn into war zones at relatively short notice, but when you spend a while each day following real news that should be manageable.

On a longer timescale I bet that both Georgia and Armenia will end up in the Russian/BRICS camp, and getting a foothold there would be a great strategic move.

I also have very easy access for 180 and even 365 days, taking off all pressure around visas. For Georgia setting up a company is both easy and a good solution anyway, so I'll get around to that if conditions allow.

A foothold in this region will probably also be a good way of "bridging" the collapsing West with the BRICS sphere, hopefully being able to get revenue going from both if needed.

Bulgaria is also more or less in the Russian camp culturally and spiritually, although formally that is of course not the case. Its within Schengen, which would give even a Rebel Nomad like me access to the fiat mines super worst case...

Medical freedom

Another very important thing for me is that at least Bulgaria allowed for a lot of medical freedom compared to many batshit insane, totalitarian states within the EU. The percentage of the population that didn't allow themselves to be poisoned is as high as 70%, maybe higher if the medical profession was on the side of the people, sanity and humanity rather than just following orders.

Would I be able to connect into the culture, get a job or start a company, and even thrive? Well, we'll know if and when I arrive there!

And such is the life of a Rebel Nomad, gotta go where you can thrive through WW3 and the coming, totalitarian reset... Or collapse, which might be easier to deal with ;-)

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168 sats \ 3 replies \ @Coyote_Cosmico 8 Oct

Thank you Rebel Nomad!

You really got my wheels spinning about Nepal now.

What are your favorite spots there?

Wasn't really on my radar before but I think I'll head to Pokhara early '25.

168 sats \ 2 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 9 Oct

Great, this is the main reason I'm doing these trial balloon texts here!

I've only seen Kathmandu, really... And beyond that I'm aiming for the wilderness, hopefully away from trekkers as well as modern civilization haha...

By far my favourite spot in Kathmandu itself is Boudhanath, that feels like home really, even for the 29 years that I was absent from it ;-)

One of the things I really like is that people are not yet glued to screens, nor have they been eating loads of processed food, so although things can be rough people are real

When I'm back, hopefully soon, I'll check out Thamel and other areas again. Might want to check out some meetups and nomad groups and such as well, but actually I'd prefer not to be depending on that scene at all.

If I can keep doing what I'm doing now with a realistic goal of covering my daily needs earning Bitcoin and whatever can be converted into it that would totally be on top of my wish list! So for me the standard digital nomad scene is something I won't depend on, unless I find some real Rebel Nomads there of course :-)

Will keep you posted, and if there are any specific things I can check out for you I'd be happy to try at least!

133 sats \ 1 reply \ @Coyote_Cosmico 9 Oct

Awesome thanks, seems like it made quite an impression on you there.

I've been reading really good things about the place since I read your post. I'm sold, heading there in Jan probably to stay several months at least.

Maybe we can meet up. I don't know if I'm as much of a rebel nomad as you, but you can teach me your ways haha

134 sats \ 0 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 9 Oct

Would totally be up for that!

Back in the nineties all the real masters were very approachable, and that generation had lived in the literally medieval, high civilization that Tibet was...

Its not the same now, but the core of these things is still out there! Its just harder to find, if it is of interest of course...

Staying for months is sooo doable, and cheap too! I can point you to some groups on FB later on for accommodation if you need that :-)

30 sats \ 7 replies \ @stack_harder 6 Oct

im in bulgaria and i can tell you that, generally, older people lean towards the russian sphere and younger tend to lean to the eu spehere.

but threre's also younger people that love russia and hate the us and eu politics

you always get this tho, people that hate us imperialism then unironically end up sucking on russian imperialism.

however, on a daily basis, you wont notice politics, you can live your life and never get into it, enjoy the pace of life and lack of culture wars and gun and knife crime

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Thanks for your reply!

Who knows, I might even end up in Bulgaria myself! Especially if the jobs market for IT and related fields is good, maybe even including part time remote?

Or I might end up setting up a company, come to think of it I have a few connections from the open source world that would be in Bulgaria or close...

In principle I'm all for distributing as much power as possible, but in the real world one might have to go for some compromises of course.

Would you have any comments around medical freedom & sanity there too perhaps? For me this part is by far the most important :-)

20 sats \ 5 replies \ @stack_harder 6 Oct

while i'm not a tech person, or programmer, one thing bulgaria is actually decent for is IT stuff, a lot of the bigger tech firms hire in bulgaira. now to be fair, this is mostly concentrated in the capital and if you have been on a western IT salery, you might not be up for up, that being said, the cost of living is much lower

as for medical freedoms and sanity, pretty great. during covid we had a ton of people from Europe float over here that didn't want to get vaxxed and whatnot. school was closed for one week for the kids.

Bulgarians are naturally the government sceptics in many things. there's no woke stuff going on, no migration crisis. you can live your life and go with the flow.

a lot of people buy cheap houses in villages to be as self sustainable as possible.

two good things, if you are from the EU, you can get 5 year residence permit here within 2 weeks , you just need a few thousand euros in the bank. another good thing is tax is only like 10%.

32 sats \ 4 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Thanks for confirming these important things I kinda figured out reading old news! ;-)

A super cheap house that I can fix up in a village is a very real possibility, I've even seen some that have a well, that would be great!

I'd be OK with any salary that protect what Bitcoin I have now, and would be happy living on next to nothing if it can also bridge me into some new career. 2020 wrecked most things...

Now, lets see how the rest of this bull market pans out, that is what decides these things for me :-)

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @stack_harder 6 Oct

well i wish you the best. there are some youtube channels of brists that are renovating proper old houses, from bournmouth to Bulgaria is one. it's quite interesting , even for me who's been here a decade lol

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Thanks! My only worry would be getting the legal stuff right, as long as I'd be able to do what I want I can easily rebuild most stuff, and hopefully in cheap, traditional ways :-)

All I'd want is a tiny house that is as simple as possible!

But that won't happen ever, anywhere, before I see how the whole WHO planetary power grab works out... Need to give that a few years to pan out.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @stack_harder 6 Oct

when you live in the village, they are super lax on regulations, people just build whatever they want and legalise it if they get caught, which they don't usually because nobody pays attention lol there are some rules though like if you build an extra building, it doesn't count as a building as long as it doesn't have a toilet lol

if it ever got crazy here like in the UK or Germany or something, i'd have to start looking at some other place too that is bitcoin friendly and safe for the family

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Hehe, cool!

If someone willing to fix up an old house is also welcome then its even better, I'd have no problem trying to help out old people a bit and so on too, if a stranger is welcome...

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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 7 Oct

This is useful in this context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxUuxhKM_rM

0 sats \ 10 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 6 Oct

BRICS is effectively shorthand for under Chinese control. Russia is today only still a viable economy and capable of invading Ukraine because of the support from China. www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/russia-and-china-unveil-a-pact-against-america-and-the-west

0 sats \ 9 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Do you really believe anything published by the New Yorker???

Besides all the other delusions and agendas the perspective these mental midgets might have is for sure 100% captured by fiat, GPD "thinking"...

China is also totally tied up with the US, be it exports or bonds. Russia has built up something that is very resilient, and that translates into staying power & influence long term in the post petrodollar world.

Yeah it will be tough for everyone, but at least the last shreds of respect publications like this will be gone forever!

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 6 Oct

'What are their economic ties?

Although trade between the countries has increased over the past two decades—reaching an all-time high of $240 billion in 2023—their economic relationship is lopsided. Russia depends far more on China than vice versa, which has generated concerns in Moscow. For example, while China has become Russia’s number-one trade partner, Russia was only China’s sixth-largest trade partner as of 2023. Russia also relies on Chinese companies and banks for critical investment in its energy and telecommunications infrastructure. Russia Is More Dependent on China Than Vice Versa Goods trade in 2022 Two pie charts showing that trade with China is 26% of Russia’s total trade, and trade with Russia is 3% of China’s total trade

Trade with China is 26% of Russia’s total trade

Trade with Russia is 3% of China’s total trade

Russia’s

total trade:

China’s

total trade:

$681B

$5.89T Source: Observatory of Economic Complexity.

In 2022, the United States, Japan, and the European Union, moved to ban imports of Russian oil in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. But China remained a key buyer—imports from Russia rose 49 percent to $76.4 billion that year, deepening Russia’s reliance on trade with China. As of October 2023, China’s trade surplus with Russia was $2.42 billion, with $8.68 billion worth of imports to Russia and $11.1 billion worth of exports. China-Russia trade is already heavily dominated by energy, partly because China has enormous energy needs, and Russia has an abundance of oil and natural gas, creating what experts call complementary economies. Indeed, more than half of Russia’s exports to China in 2020 were energy-related. And in June 2023, China’s crude imports from Russia marked the largest volume ever imported from any country in any month. But some experts predict that China’s increased use of electric vehicles and renewable energy will decrease its reliance on Russian natural resources in the future.

Before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Putin and Xi agreed to boost annual trade by almost 50 percent in 2024, and Beijing plans to invest $1 billion to build the “Power of Siberia 2,” a second, cross-border gas pipeline. (Today, most of Russia’s pipelines flow to Europe. Only one goes to China.) However, the project has been consistently delayed by China despite Russian officials—including Putin—insisting that the pipeline is almost completed. As of early 2024, the pipeline is still in the negotiation phase.

In an effort to reduce their dependence on Western banking systems, China and Russia have started to move away from using U.S. dollars for trade, a process known as de-dollarization. Russia has increasingly used euros for its foreign trade, though, with China, it has more frequently used the renminbi or the ruble. However, China has not yet joined Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) financial transfer system, which was created as an alternative to the U.S.-led Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT). Although it is not clear whether Russia is formally part of the BRI, Putin has attended every Belt and Road forum since its inaugural meeting in 2017. At the 2023 BRI summit, Putin was the guest of honor and used the platform to encourage international investment in Russia’s Northern Sea Route, a 3,480-mile (5,600-kilometer) shipping route connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through the Arctic.'

source- https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-russia-relationship-xi-putin-taiwan-ukraine

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

So?

Council on Foreign Relations is, if possible, even more delusional, ideology driven and also totally complicit in all of the fiat fuckery that has come close to whacking us all!

Remember that all of this is not even real

Anyway, Bitcoin will fix even this, eventually!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 8 Oct

Woooosh. Point is Russian economy is a dwarf compared to China. Russia is now entirely reliant upon Chinas ongoing support in terms of supply of manufactured goods and purchase of Russian oil and gas. Russia is Chinas bitch, thanks to small man war criminal murderer and loser Putin.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 6 Oct

https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/CASI/documents/Translations/2022-02-04%20China%20Russia%20joint%20statement%20International%20Relations%20Entering%20a%20New%20Era.pdf

The agreement between Russia and China in its word for word form.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Why do you think this globalism riddled, non binding and old agreement is even relevant?

If the UN even survives in its current form the problem for an individual will be to what degree any nation forces their madness through, how early their population wakes up to the global power grab, and definitely to what degrees their bureaucracy even believes in all the commie BS!

And if it does not, well then those that are resilient, flexible and sane will do very well.

How each nation treats Bitcoin, temporary residents, freedom minded individuals on a practical basis is also key, for me as an individual, but also how the economies themselves will do into a future where fiat delusions inevitably will have lost their ability to shift reality around.

China is not prepared for any of that, especially the CCP!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 8 Oct

China is providing Russia with support- buying their oil and gas ( at a discounted price) and supplying manufactured goods to support the ongoing viability of the Russian economy. Russia is providing China with improved military technology and invading Ukraine in a challenge to US power. I agree the UN is largely irrelevant and not sure why you mention it. China is now enjoying monetary and trade hegemony and dependency over N.Korea, Iran and Russia. If the Saudis move to Chinas alternative trade system to avoid the risk of US/SWIFT sanctions then US global hegemony is all but over and China is the global superpower. They will take Taiwan with no resistance and the US will continue its decline just as the UK did after WW2. Russia will simply remain a pawn and tributary dependent upon China.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 6 Oct

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/21/chinas-xi-says-ties-with-russia-entering-new-era

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Solomonsatoshi 6 Oct

What if anything in the article describing the pact signed between Russia and China do you not believe? Did you even read it??? It is historical fact! Russia would not be a functioning economy today without Chinas full and ongoing support- China now buys most of Russia oil, and China enables payment for that oil and purchase of Chinese manufactured goods and other goods. China can do this because China is now essential to global trade and trade payments. Although USA still holds its legacy control over SWIFT, China was post GFC invited to become a member of the IMFs exclusive board of reserve currency issuers. China was what largely enabled the recovery from the GFC and USA now needs China for its fiat hegemony to remain viable. Russia is Chinas poodle patsy- supplying discounted oil and gas and attacking Ukraine with Chinas nod and wink approval. Russia is doing the dirty work and doing for a discount price for China.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Short answer: nothing.

Aljazeera might be a tad more dependable, but its still only describing reality in fiat terms, Keynsian delusions, and probably with heavy manipulation on behalf of the Gulf deep states on top of that.

Do a thought experiment, please: imagine that ALL borders closed down to never open for a year, what countries would be left standing?

That is my point, and actually how I think the Russians are thinking. Resiliency is what counts, my home country had all of that but literally threw it away after ~1990, while Russia rebuilt with that in mind all along...

Of course you might be right about some of these things, but I'll make up my own mind on that later on if I choose to get closer to, or even into the Russian sphere.

Bulgaria would be a "light" version of such a move, Armenia or Georgia more direct, especially if I end up doing this move in a few years, when they inevitably will have been drawn in again.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 6 Oct

When I was in Nepal, a long time ago, I found the traveling on a shoestring books from Lonely Planet a great resource. It gives you tips on where to go and what to see whilst stretching your resources to the limits. I also used them in India, Pakistan and throughout Southeast Asia.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @rebel_nomad OP 6 Oct

Sure, saved our asses after getting assaulted by bus robbers in India in 94!

And of course it was me bringing a copy that solved that problem, not our somewhat native tour leader haha...

These days Facebook is where it is at, good thing that I have several accounts spread across different VMs on QubesOS super worst case, if that lizard demon bans me I'll still have access!

Got one offer of a simple room at ~120 bucks a month already, around double of that is common and easy.

Complex choices

Georgia, Armenia and Bulgaria