We Liked Them Better When They Starved People
Back when China used to export grain in order to demonstrate the economic viability of communism — all while their people starved to death (20 million is a low estimate) — they were heralded by the "intellectual elite" as the Truly Enlightened.
Now they’re producing and supplying inexpensive goods to the entire world, feeding their people, and ushering in economic freedoms and low taxation that’s making it — in practical terms — an economic model to the world. Now, millions of their people each year are attaining middle-class lifestyles and several hundred thousand millionaires roam freely seeking new and greater entrepreneurial opportunities.
Now they produce real economic growth in the double digits every year, as compared to the West’s pitiful 2-3%.
Now, at long last, our intellectuals finally hate China. Read it. That way, when you start hating China yourself for the good it began to undertake to do a couple of decades ago, and continues and increases to this day, you’ll know where the idea came from.
Heretofore, my support of China has been measured. They did a lot of evil for a long time and you don’t just forget about something like that overnight. But when they begin to do good and continue, and even increase, it’s to be acknowledged. I’m aware of no other path to redemption. So if the things highlighted in that article continue in the way they are, which they will, a day will come when rational people of moral fortitude might have to look around and assess which of the various world’s regimes constitute the worst evil.
I hate to consider it, but I see a future where Americans and Europeans sneer at China — not for the evil it perpetuated recently, but for its virtues today. Watch for it, because its coming to a neighborhood, union meeting, TV, and an election near you.
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Free The Animal is an eclectic writing project about everything since November 2003. 23 years, 5,500 posts, 5 million words.
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it's hard to get away from them.
Are you drunk?
I don't know what the above comment
"it's hard to get away from them"
is supposed to mean, but I do know that China's future has a high probablity of being
a nightmare. Not from all the "pollution", but rather because pollution policy which is shaping up to become world-wide. One can also blame previous policies and efforts to subdue man. If that wasn't true, there would be no Kyoto Protocol and Japan wouldn't be known for it's "fuel efficient" vehicles that is the legacy of green thinking and "the answer" to countering terrorism in the "energy crisis".
Environmentalism caused all these things and no other nation in the world has pushed for greater "greenery" than Japan, esp Kyoto.
Incidentaly, the relations between Japan and China are about as friendly as Israel and Iran. Historically, Japan has not been friendly to trade and wealth generation, as this "threatened" their way of life. Xenophobic, ie. At every key point, Kyoto has been there… They adopted and spread Nachiren buddism and championed the rise of Samurai "ethics". They deeply influenced Japan to adopt a more aggresive sense of nationalism just before WWII. And now, they are THE push for "a greener" less capitalistic world.
The first two is what lead to Japan being nuked in WWII. The last will be Japan's way of extracting "revenge" on China, through an Iran it helped make possible.
China is of course shaping up to be the next industrial capital of the world. They're also located in a triangle of nations that have, or are developing, nuclear capability. Iran, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Mostly short-range, if not entirely so, but given China's location and rising potential one can see that long-range missles is not a nessecity. Hoever those nations would react once Iran started, can only be guessed.
Not that this very possible nuclear war will destroy the world, but millions of lives can be lost in the immediate sense and millions more can follow in the aftermath of attempting to cripple world industry. They might even succeed in halting it for a number of months (maybe years, who knows?). But it will lend "credibility" to the environemental cause, that man is "evil and greedy to no end and would rather kill all life than forgo a humble existence".
The chapters on how to control human activity and production for the future are bing written now. China, in short, will be the modern day Jesus to explode the new religion of tomorrow. I can see it now…
"China became capitalists to erase our lives of sin and when they died, it took all sin and pollution with them but left us with radiation to remind us that mankind is possessed of original sin!"
Sounds about right for this backwards "civilization" we live in.
Wheather I'm just paranoid or "prophetic" will be proven over the course of the next couple elections. I hope my doomsayer predictions earn me many names like "silly, stupid, low-self-esteem would-be cult leader etc" than to be proven right.
Personally I'm not making any bets on either outcome, just pointing out the likely possibilities in hopes that more people will wake up and realize what this "energy crisis, live green, trade sukcs" mentality is really all about. I'm getting quite tired of all this "energy this, energy that…" Energy is quite a boring subject, it's everywhere and be generated in any number of ways. Coal and oil just happen to provide other useful stuff aside from wattage. The powers that be would have all with lights on, but no one home. Perfect atmosphere (pun intended) for totalitarian control… and utter stupidity!
Kyle Bennet: If you're refering to me, no, I'm not. I don't even drink. ;)
I have said what I said to a small number of people. Get the same response every time. Just testing the waters here and this will be my last comment on the subject. Btw, to the owner of this blog: I like it. And I also apologize ahead of time if posting long comments is something you'd rather I didn't do. But this'll be last one.
Now, don't get me wrong… I think it's wonderful China is doing so great these days. They deserve it. And their getting it.
And that's where I get leary. I don't think this growth rate was anything short of intentional. Politics can affect these kinds of things, play "god" so to speak. Whatever happened to Mexico? Exactly. Not close enough to Iran and the other developing nuclear nations. Mexico comes to the US, not the other way around as was hoped for with NAFTA.
But China? IF (and I give this a high probability of happening) something like I described were to happen, China could clean house on that side of the world. All the better the industry was in their hands, I suppose, to supply that massive army they have. Turn THAT on Iran, and the war on terror would be finto without their lack of overseas experience in military matters becoming an issue. And I would otherwise look forward to this.
However, there's the problem with the Kyoto treaty and it's looking like the left will have the office here in the US in 08. Kyoto I consider another word for "the same limited warfare the US must engage in". Dominate industry with a green policy (which is why of course we're at where we're at now)and you got yourself a limited war. Maybe they will be stupid and ratify it, maybe not. I think they will, for reasons too long to write here. But the US is the critical nation for that policy's make-or-break and many people want the troops out of Iraq. The right will never let this happen, so… whatdaya know, the left and it's green tendencies will be the answer.
China is not currently (to my knowledge) a part of the treaty but I have heard talk of making them so "in the future". They really don't have to be, though, in order for great harm to result,as one nuke in a key area could have profound impact. So, Kyoto passes into UN legislation, or at least the intent of it. It's as good as done. China hobbled or unleashed has whatever percent of world industry it has, and Iran decides to start pt II of WWIII. It would be like what we have now, only short-range nuclear capability between those nations I mentioned in the other comment. Industry would be grid-locked, or black-holed I should say, by environmental policy in what could very likely turn out to be an intense war in east Asia. Strange such a thing would happen because of "treaty" drawn up by a town historicaly noted for it's extreme dislike of China (which came out of the blue during the 1200's for Roman Catholic reasons, I suspect, but I digress…)
If there were only some way to make China less of a target by greens and Iran, but that's the thing… can you not see the lose/lose situation being set up here? Where else in the world can such a growth rate as China be found? That wouldn't happen, if at all, until after the fact. Well, it won't likely end the world but it will make for one rough ride and a number of people are going to die for no good reason. Not that I or anyone can do anything about that now. Just saying, because there are people that would go to such extremes in order to be in charge and "care a lot about our well-being". History is rife with them.