Back to the premise of the article, however, the first thing to note is that, as is usually the case, the policies of the liberal elite, starting with Richard Nixon, have failed us miserably. Who knows what Nixon promised the ChiComs when he "opened" China, but whatever it was, it was not good. The British, under pressure from China, and no doubt the United States as well, gave up Hong Kong, a colony of Great Britain, to the Chinese. Now the Chinese want to exercise their tyranny over Hong Kong, and the people of that tiny outpost are resisting. Well, good for them! We the American Citizens need to stand with them in spirit.
Maitra writes:
China is a threat, but far bigger threats are the woke corporatists who would sell their mother for the market. Footballers and female soccer players can take a knee against the American flag, but they’re silent and self-censorious about any atrocity in Hong Kong.
Apple can silently delete the Taiwan flag emoji to appease its overlords in Beijing. Google can refuse to work with the Pentagon, while helping Beijing implement the strongest secretive surveillance state. Hollywood actors can stop working in the Southern states because local abortion laws hurt their feelings, but they have no problem prostituting themselves for the vast Chinese market despite actual concentration camps in Xinjiang. This is the logical extreme of the free-market dogma, which is a dogma because it has forgotten that sometimes the market should be subservient to national interest.
As Epictetus once wrote, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” The seeds of destruction are often within, and the loss of a way of life is often felt when it is lost. One should keep that wisdom in mind as a former Cold War rival returns to form in the Far East.The usual suspects flew into a rage when Trump recently "ordered" U. S. companies to bring back the manufacturing base they had outsourced to China. Of course every adult knows that Trump can't actually do that. But it is wise for President Trump to suggest that they do in fact bring back their manufacturing base. Why? Because when we do have to face off against China, it might be embarrassing to have to ask the Chinese to send us the spare parts we need to continue fighting the war. That is what Germany and Japan found out in WWII. If you don't make it yourself, you are vulnerable. Japan didn't have oil at home. Germany had coal, but no oil either.
Kurt Schlichter has a post over at Townhall.com which raises similar points, in his own inimical style, entitled China + Liberal Elite: Get A Room.
The NBA can’t disrespect Americans enough for knowing which bathroom to use, or having guns, or not being sufficiently woke, but let the Chinese communists get fussy because some dude dunks the reds over oppression in Hong Kong – you know, supporting freedom – and the billionaire ballers can’t gimp it up fast enough for Mao’s heirs. We haven’t seen such pathetic, eager submission to the forces of evil since the last time some Bulwark scribbler got a chance to be on a CNN panel about Trump with Ana Navarro and a cross-dressing furry.Of course, you realize don't you, that the NBA is a business corporation just like Google, who is helping the Chinese perpetrate their vast tyrannical state, or Apple, or the company that sewed the shirt on your back. Oh, and let us not forget Smithfield Pork. I do love bacon, but I won't buy Smithfield.
This latest craven capitulation to foreign potentates by our loser leaders just reaffirms what those of us who are conservawoke know – that our elitists are not for us. They are for themselves, and that means they are for their overseas paymasters. They are for China, not only for that sweet, sweet commie cash, but because the Chinese Communist Party’s stranglehold on the Chinese people provides them with a template for doing the same thing to us. Think of it – a country without accountability or restraint upon the anointed few. Wait a minute, that sounds like Washington, D.C. today – at least if you’re a Democrat.
It’s almost a cliché about how New York Times hacks gush over how lucky the Chinese rulers are not to have to worry about things like the consent of the governed. It sure is easy to do the things you and your pals want done – but the people don’t want done – when the people don’t get a say. That’s our elite’s not-so-secret fantasy – to be able to impose whatever nonsense they desire upon us without us being able to object. Whether it’s converting us at straw-point to their weird climate religion, wiping out our history and culture, or simply covering up the corruption of its own – like Hairplug One’s yayo-yiffing, zipper-dropping son – the total control exercised by its efficient rulers makes China their role model.Indeed, one thinks it may be possible that the Democrats may be doing the bidding of China, of course for their own selfish ends, but also to make room for tyrannies around the world, such as Turkey, and of course China, to act out. To the rest of the world, the current impeachment bruhaha makes Trump look weak. He is not, but what do the Dems care about our own security? Not much.
I urge you, gentle readers, to keep a weather eye out for China. Of course, go and read both articles, and anything else you can get your hands on concerning China and our current trade war. The corporations doing business in China have shown themselves to be quite willing to sell the Chinese the rope with which to hang us.
I am not in favor of boycotts, but at the same time, why should you spend your hard earned money supporting companies that do not support your principles. But it is difficult to extract oneself from the tangled web of economical ties we have gotten ourselves into. Do your best.
IMO, the Chinese economics are culturally misaligned with ours. It is not too surprising to read that their bottom end workers (yes, as Lincoln claimed, labor, not capital, drives economies) are practically slaves, working much longer hours for a pittance. Back a half century when I was in Army officer training, I had a TAC advisor, a major who had fought with Stillwell in China. He taught a class on oriental labor and noted from experience that a few thousand coolies could build an airfield for
ReplyDeletethe Flying Tigers in one day, while our combat engineers waited for bulldozers to be flown over the hump. IMO, our technology has been superior and they steal us blind copying it. But now, they are coming equal in
tech progress: pump $$ into it..while here scientists have the last few years been desecrated as stupid. That is pure political
BS (and a reason why only 6% of scientists vote GOP). But that is just a sour grapes aside. Have you noticed that there is a Chinese aristocracy of hugely wealthy? Don't you think they have adapted the harsher aspects of capitalism, eg minimizing labor costs, robotizing production where possible,
cornering material sources, etc. IMO, Mao was
just another Chiang Kai-Shek, just a bit better at fooling the mass of people who just want to live normal productive lives.
But they have a huge population, they work hard and the cultural/economic differences
will continue to impact world trade. As usual, I run on too long, but found your article very interesting, if out of my field.
Welcome back, BB Idaho. Good comments. And, why yes, I had noticed that China has a wealth aristocracy. While the idea behind communism is that everybody will be equally prosperous when "from everyone according to his abilities; to everyone according to his needs" becomes reality. But along the way, those leading the charge always seem to need more that everyone else. Why is that?
ReplyDeleteHmmm.
Could it be because Communism is really just a nice explanation the avant-guarde give to quiet the "masses" while they exploit them for wealth and power?
Take care, BB
Wade
Thanks, Wade. 'Take care' indeed: I've spent the last few days buying a used pickup truck. The world of used car salesmen seems to require one to take care! In judging the various 'isms' from feudalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, capitalism, laissez
ReplyDeletefaire, free market and their various combinations from an economic POV, we note
all sorts of successes and failures. For example the US rose to world economic leadership by capitalism. WWII Russia brought
the Wehrmacht to its knees and any number of
countries toyed with some sort of combination..like modern Europe and China fairly successfully: Africa dreadfully not so. I think we often confuse economic systems with political ones, for any of these
can be or try to be run by freely elected governments or totalitarian governments. In the case of Russia/China, the totalitarians
have introduced a type of capitalism out of economic necessity. Earlier, communists took advantage of economic conditions to rise to totalitarianan power. In the 1930s, Hitler eliminated socialist and communists before
focusing on the Jews..and rose to totalitarian power. It seems some current European nations have melded economic socialism in a democratic approach (eg. the
people there like it and are successful). We note that these smaller countries, like Switzerland, Sweden, etc are naturally hard working and educated and tend to be on the same page in what they want. Here, we have been a melting pot - more advantages and disadvantages, but our attention to economic
and social problems has kept most of us happy. We are reminded of Churchill, who held his nose and delivered one of the first social security plans early in the century.
So IMO we need to keep these 'isms' in mind
when we sort through economics systems and political systems. My latest pet peeve in that area is the cost of healthcare. How come
ours is by far the most costly, while other
places are as or more healthy. How come big pharmaceutical companies buy new potential drugs from academia and manufacture most in
India? How come they claim they spend so much on research, when most all of those reported costs go to TV advertising (Oh, look
the purple pill) and how come so many people
go bankrupt trying to stay alive? How does OUR economic/political system deal with the problem? Hey, thanks for the rant space, Wade!