XPost: sci.military.naval, soc.history.medieval, alt.economics

There is an old Portuguese colonial city in China called Macau. You may
have heard of it.

Macau was leased by the Portuguese in the 1550s. They paid rent to the
Chinese government and used the area to store trade goods and dock their
Asian fleet. Many people came from places like Japan, Indonesia, and of
course Portugal. They created a unique community. But then a wave of
European imperialism swept the globe in the 1870s and 1880s. In this
context Portugal seized Macau, following the example set by the British
in Hong Kong. But it remained Chinese territory legally.

Macau was spared the ravages of WWII, the Chinese Civil war, and Mao’s famines and Cultural Revolution. It was a backwater of Portugal. A
community developed.

But as the Hong Kong handover date loomed the Chinese took a renewed
interest in Macau. After all it was theirs. Legally and historically.
Many in Macau were weary of this, especially after there was some unpleasantness in Beijing in 1989.


But many more were excited at the opportunities leaving a European
backwater to join a modern Asia mega power would bring. However, at the
end of the day the Macanese had no choice. They were going to be part of
China whether they wanted it or not.

At this point they had two choices

armed resistance.
make lemonade out of lemons.
They wisely chose option 2.

Macanese and Portuguese officials negotiated a treaty whereby Macau got
to keep many of its colonial era laws, including public healthcare, a
mandated publicly funded university, and legalised gambling. The
government in Beijing would also pick up a lot of funding that was then
being given by Lisbon.

Then the Macanese did this:

They cashed in on their history and legalised gambling. Meanwhile the
mainland government subsidised its healthcare and education, and built
Macau a fairly decent regional airport. Today Macau is a leader in
medical tourism and a top destination for students in Asia. They also
have access to the Hong Kong stock exchange and can use the HK dollar
freely, making it an attractive place for investors. It is also one of
the top tourist destinations in Asia.

Oh and those casinos? They brought in the equivalent of $28 billion USD,
which is down from pre-covid levels. The overwhelming majority of it
from mainland China.

https://www.reuters.com/business/macau-2024-casino-revenues-top-official-estimate-below-pre-pandemic-levels-2025-01-01/#:~:text=Gaming%20revenue%20last%20year%20reached,billion%20patacas%20logged%20in%202019.
They did that with some, but by no means overwhelming, support from
Lisbon and then Beijing and Hong Kong.

How about our noble resistance in Gaza?

Well Gaza has been given more revenue than Macau by UNRWA for just
existing. A LOT more. Idiot Iberian socialists will champion them no
matter what they do too, so it isn’t likely to ever stop. They have had schools, infrastructure, and hospitals all built and paid for by others.
They have been given every opportunity to succeed.

They choose to fight. Nothing less than driving the infidel out will do.
Never mind any legality or morality. Resistance is always noble.

They will dig up pipes and hide in hospitals to destroy the Israelis.

They will not stop until a nuclear armed Israel, and everyone in it is
dead. Never mind the millions that will die and the holy places that
will be irradiated for the next 10,000 years by such a course. Death is
all that matters.

They could have the Gaza resort and hotel. They could have a world class banking sector tied to Israel or Dubai. They could be a hub for medical
tourism akin to the UAE. They could have idiot Israelis and yuppie
Europeans going to Gaza every week to blow the equivalent of $28 billion
a year in Gazan casinos. They could have top universities. They could
have a major airport to act as a hub and destination similar to what
Dubai and Hong Kong do.

Instead they have hate.

Whenever you start to feel any admiration for Hamas and the Palestinian
Arabs remember one thing.

They could have this for their children:


Instead they willingly choose this:


All while following people who spend the billions given to them to live
like this:


I can only assume that they do not care about their children.

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