From: fedora@fea.st
On Wed, 7 Jan 2026 22:40:13 -0800, dart200
wrote:
>On 1/7/26 10:14 PM, Tara wrote:
>> dart200 wrote:
>>> On 1/7/26 8:41 PM, Tara wrote:
>>>> Tara wrote:
>>>>> dart200 wrote:
>>>>>> On 1/7/26 6:49 PM, Tara wrote:
>>>>>>> dart200 wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 1/7/26 6:27 PM, Tara wrote:
>>>>>>>>> dart200 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 1/7/26 11:24 AM, Dude wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> On 1/7/2026 10:55 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Wed, 7 Jan 2026 10:27:51 -0800, Dude
wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 1/6/2026 6:55 PM, dart200 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 1/6/26 6:53 PM, dart200 wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 1/6/26 10:21 AM, Julian wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It was the Viking, Eric the Red who, in AD 986, first saw
Greenland’s
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> potential. He wanted to colonise his newly-discovered island,
and in
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> a blatant piece of tenth-century spin-doctoring hit on a
wizard
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wheeze to encourage other Norse people to come to this bleak,
icy and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> remote corner of the unknown world:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ‘In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had
found,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> which he called Greenland, as he said people would be
attracted there
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> if it had a favourable name.‘
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> More than a thousand years later, US president Donald Trump is
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> proposing something similar.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ‘It’s a large real estate deal. Owning Greenland is vital for
US
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> security… and economic security… It’s an absolute necessity
and I
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> cannot assure you that we would not use military or economic
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> coercion.‘
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> That may sound outlandish. But Trump’s ambition isn’t new.
America
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> has controlled Greenland before: during the Second World War,
it
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> became a de facto US protectorate. The US has also previously
sought
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to buy Greenland; in 1946, it offered $100 million in gold
bullion;
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> around $7 billion in today’s money.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For now, Greenland belongs to Denmark. But Denmark’s
ownership of
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greenland is itself a piece of bare-faced colonialism, as a
glance at
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> their policy of forced assimilation in the 1940s and 50s
makes clear.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As a result, the Danes are much resented by most Greenlanders.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greenland has been moving towards independence almost as long
as it
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> has been a colony of Denmark. They were granted Home Rule in
1979.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This was expanded to full self-rule with the 2009
Self-Government Act
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> – legislation that also handed Greenland the right to declare
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> independence. Today, Denmark retains control only of defence,
foreign
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> affairs, and monetary policy. The 2023 Greenlandic
constitution
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> explicitly commits the island to independence; and in his
2025 New
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Year speech, Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Egede, called
for an
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> end to ‘the shackles of colonialism’ and a future shaped by
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greenlanders themselves.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The final umbilical cord linking Greenland to Denmark is the
annual
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> block grant of 3.9 billion kroner (roughly £410 million),
making up
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> about 19 per cent of Greenland’s GDP. But to put that in
perspective,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> it is less than the amount annually spent by the US on the
city of El
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Paso, Texas. And it is minuscule compared to the mineral
wealth
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greenland could one day command in partnership with a
deep-pocketed
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ally, of whom there are at least three: America, China and
Russia.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> China, in particular, has shown intense interest. At one
point,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Beijing proposed a $2.5 billion (£1.8 billion) investment in a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greenlandic mine (more than the island’s entire GDP), which
would
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> have brought in 5,000 Chinese workers. Then they proposed
massive
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> infrastructure investments, including a deep-sea port and two
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> international airports. These would require capital which
would leave
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greenland beholden for all time. Denmark and the US,
unsurprisingly,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> blocked these plans.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So why are the great powers so keen to own Greenland? Natural
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> resources are a big reason why. The great powers’ unashamed
lust for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greenland’s rare earths is but one element of a global race to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> control the production of the strategic minerals which are
essential
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> components of batteries, phones, electric vehicles and all
modern
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> computing devices. It’s about silicon, germanium, phosphorus,
boron,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> indium phosphide, gallium, graphite, uranium, copper,
lithium, cobalt
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and nickel, among others. He who controls their production
holds the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> key to the digital globe.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Odd as it may sound, it’s also about Taiwan. Taiwan
manufactures over
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 60 per cent of the world’s semiconductors and more than 90
per cent
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> of its most advanced chips. If China were ever to carry out
its
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> threat to invade Taiwan (which some observers think may be
imminent,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> perhaps encouraged by Donald Trump’s daring raid on
Venezuela), it
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> would gain near-total control of the global microchip supply.
Do we
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> really want to be dependent on China for every phone,
computer and
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> electric vehicle produced in the West?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The US needs to develop chip-making capabilities comparable to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Taiwan’s. To achieve this it needs reliable sources for the
50 or so
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> critical minerals required. And Greenland holds concentrated
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> quantities of 30 of them, amounting to a considerable chunk
of the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> world’s total rare earth reserves. But the reality is that
with a
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> population of just 57,000 – many of them Inuit fishermen and
hunters
[continued in next message]
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
