Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹

Interest in politics. Support oppressed people, anti-war. Sinophile from my year in China. CIC/Princeton/Hult; Heliconia, Tranquillity Credit Union, CARICOM

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

https://t.co/aQ6khkrTRT

Website launched!!!

A movement is only as strong as the people behind it.
Today, we launch a space for ideas, reform, service, and rebuilding.

The future of the PNM belongs to all of us.
Explore. Engage. Contribute.

PNM: The Movement

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

@haiti_boiii I think you played commendably. I was impressed by how well the team played.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

@_moussa_ibrahim Totally agree. Every year, together with the Caribbean, we should decide on a few things we want. We did this in the past. And we don't need everyone; we know there are always afew sellouts. Let's get a majority and start on it.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

@JeanJacquesDes7 It definitely happened. The referee and linesman were banned for life. We remember it but no one harbors any ill will towards Haiti because if it. We're fully behind our CARICOM brothers in this World Cup. Best of luck

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

This is extraordinarily rare.

In fact, according to a key figure in the German business community (who is a dear friend of mine), it's unprecedented.

An op-ed, two pages, centerpiece, in Germany’s most important economic newspaper (the Handelsblatt) that begs the German establishment to stop looking at China via the prism of propaganda. And it's by their Shanghai bureau chief - not some outside contributor.

The title is "The China debate cannot continue like this!" and the article makes the case that it's suicidal, from a German and European standpoint, to keep reducing China to false caricatures rather than facts.

In effect it's rubbish in, rubbish out: if you tell people lies about China - whichever direction they go (anti or pro) - then obviously the policies that come out will be rubbish, designed for a mirage of a country that exists only in people's imagination.

Needless to say, this is absolutely music to my ears because it's literally the main point I've been making in my advocacy around China for now almost 10 years. Some are finally seeing the light...

I also believe, as I argued in my article "Are Western media turning China-friendly?" last year (https://t.co/Xg1hoSRtNy) that this type of coverage was bound to happen, and there will be more and more of it.

Why? For a very simple structural reason: China is now too powerful to coerce. The West, and Europe in particular, just don't have the leverage anymore. Which means that if you tell China to do something and they don't want to, they just won't do it. Period.

In this situation, incapable of coercing, your only remaining choice is... convincing. And what do you need if you want to convince someone? Well, you need to understand them: understand how they think, how they behave, what drives them, what they actually want.

In other words: the moment coercion stops being an option, not only does propaganda stop being useful, it begins to be actively harmful as genuine understand becomes a strategic necessity. Reality is finally becoming profitable again.

Which means, if you're a journalist reading this and you're peddling some of your usual lies, describing China as some sort of cartoonish dictatorial dystopia that's simultaneously on the verge of collapse yet a "threat" to the whole world (in short, if you write on China for The Economist or the FT), be on notice: the real threat to your country isn't China. It's you.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

@China_TVv Yes. I did my MBA there in 2013/14. I would love to go back and see how things have changed. I'd love to take some governance classes on how they eliminated poverty and how the CPC rewards performance. And show my family!

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

*The Movement* is only as strong as the people behind it.
Today, we launch a space for ideas, reform, service, and rebuilding.
The future of the Party belongs to all of us.
Explore. Engage. Contribute.

https://t.co/qgQmTai3jM

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

@AmmarKazmi @freedomrideblog I think many people are in disbelief. I'm still hoping this was a smart play to avoid the fate of Cuba while retaining some of the gains of the revolution. But as time goes by, it seems less and less likely that it was a plan.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

This concludes our infographics for now. *Please share, discuss, and critique our suggestions.* Sincere thanks to those who have argued for the various ideas to get us to this point.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

Our last infographic is due tomorrow. We will be launching the website tomorrow. It's not much but it'll be a repository of our policies and ideas.
Our focus will be on quick wins to get momentum for our reforms. We thank you for your support and continued involvement.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

As PNM runs our 5K today, we appreciate the value of fair races. PNM's Internal Elections should be like this. Instead every time, we have lawyer letters going back and forth. Let's explore ways to make our elections better together.

PNM: The Movement A space for conversation.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

@jeniece_s @alphonsojerome_ This is a good counter example. Game set match.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

Day 6 of our daily conversations on ideas, vision, and renewal for the PNM.

If you have ideas, passion, or simply want to be part of positive discussions about the future of the party, join us.

💬 PNM: The Movement
A space for conversation, connection, and constructive ideas.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

https://t.co/40eBnjmDiR

Day 5 of our daily release of PNM Reform ideas. Have an idea? Come join us. Want to help improve the PNM? Come join us.

PNM: The Movement

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

We support our soldiers. If you are willing to throw away talent like this for a rookie mistake, then no one will volunteer in politics. She did it with the full knowledge of her superiors, which means they condoned or told her to.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

We need to be receptive to TnT's best and brightest.

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

We continue the daily release for the next few days. Have you encountered these issues? Which ones would you change?

[Eric Hopkins II🇹🇹 @EricHopkinsII]

Exactly. So many of those colonial names should have been changed ages ago!

[Dan Martineau. @dandandanitup]

@stxve You know, I don’t actually have a problem with them recognising this. But is them doing it.