Two main takeaways:

1. Never underestimate developing countries' governments' willingness to absolutely bend their people over to extract tax revenue (and then their corrupt representatives extract bribes on top of it)

2. Django's gratitude and positivity in the face of all of it is an inspiration. I suspect I and most everyone I know would be in tears and would have given up in exasperation halfway through his quest. We are so spoiled in the West.

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komali2 a few seconds ago | parent | next [-]

> We are so spoiled in the West.

We are the beneficiaries of the imperialism that leads to places like Uganda being dragged into a global marketplace to then be exploited.

Django's gratitude isn't noble, it's sad. Look at the quality of life difference between him and the average Brit whose nation held his as a protectorate until the 60s - the only industrialize tolerated for nearly a century being cotton and coffee cash crop export infrastructure.

It's still commodity dependent this day, and imbalanced power structures established by the colonial government means that there's a prize of total national power for anyone who can take over the government, leading to near endless conflict.

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mr_00ff00 28 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In regard to number 1, it really is such a hard problem to get money and aid to those that need it. Autocrats and every person with power along the way is happy to pocket it.

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gaius_baltar 23 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> 1. Never underestimate developing countries' governments' willingness to absolutely bend their people over to extract tax revenue (and then their corrupt representatives extract bribes on top of it)

As a Brazilian with a love for electronics and DIY, I feel this pain every day.

	▲	MAustriaGA 19 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
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	▲	MArgentinaGA 21 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
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MArgentinaGA 23 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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aaron695 36 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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yamillove 43 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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foxygen an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Yeah, because surely 1 only happens in "developing countries" /s

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oceanhaiyang 32 minutes ago | parent [-]

What does this reddit-esque whataboutism add..?

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MArgentinaGA 29 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Truth?

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ajsnigrutin 17 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

EU just implemented a new customs tax law that will be coming to member states on july 1st.

Until now, items below 150eur (bought by private citizens) were not a subject to customs, and some time ago not even for VAT if below 22eur. From july 1st, it's becoming painful, in slovenia for example, 3eur per TARIC code + customs fee + vat.

So, for example you go on alixpress, you buy a silicone phone case for 1eur, a screen protector/foil for 1eur, a phone "sock" for 1eur and a stylus for 1 eur (+whatever shipping, often free).

A few years ago, you'd pay 4eur and get the package. Then they implemented IOSS, so aliexpress has to report the 4eur order to EU, and they charge you 22% VAT on that, so you'd pay 4.88eur directly to aliexpress and they'd pay the tax. Ok, a bit more expensive but doable, unless you want to go outside of eu and order the stuff there and just bring it in with you.

And now? Since they're 4 different items, that's 4 TARIC codes, and that's 3eur per each separate item, so that makes 4eur for items themselves, 4x3eur for customs (16eur together), then you pay VAT on the full price (including customs!), that makes it 19.52eur + whatever the post office decides to charge for "processing" (used to be ~4-5euros, but usually avoided by aliexpress shippers).

So, instead of 4euros, you'll pay 20-25euros for the same thing, the government taking 20 euros of tax on 4euros of items (even less total worth, aliexpress + chinese shipping has to earn their share too).

I mean sure, they want you to buy locally from dropshippers, but it's still cheaper than that, or from amazon, which will probably be the biggest winner here, and it's not even a european company.

	▲	nekzn 6 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Good thing the EU is a democracy and we can repeal this bs! Because we can, right? Right, guys?