The rise of China is a controversial issue in the United States, often played upon by American politicians for their own political gains. What is often ignored in all the China fear-mongering, however, is the lessons that the relatively young government of the United States could learn from the resilience of the over 2000 year old Chinese civilization.
What is it exactly that makes America so strong? A popular answer to this question is that America's system of democratic republicanism is inherently so legitimate that it is inevitable that it will lead to a great and powerful nation. A number of factors, however, have allowed America to grow and develop in a way almost completely protected from the woes that plague the rest of the world.
America is protected on both sides by two large oceans. Its closest neighbors are the relatively weak states of Canada and Mexico, both of whose economies depend on continued trade with the United States. There are very few natural barriers to population growth in the continental United States. Most of the country is vast, fertile plains and river valleys; by far the most inhabitable region of North America.
Culturally, America is dominated by a single language and ethnic group. There is little resistance from the lower classes of society because of the incentive of democracy and the promise of the American dream.
China, on the other hand, is surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides. It borders Russia to the north (once the powerful Soviet Union), India to the southwest, the steppes of Mongolia to the west, and most importantly the most powerful Asian empire in history, Japan, by only a small strait to the east. For all of its long history, China has been troubled by ethnic strife and intense regional conflict.
Surprisingly though, China has not only endured for all of these centuries but thrived. Of all civilizations that existed in ancient times (Egypt, Rome, Babylon), China is the only one that remains in modernity. All of this is because of one simple fact: China is one of the most dynamic civilizations in the world. Repeatedly, the Chinese have demonstrated that when a regime does not work to create an ideal society for them, it is overthrown and replaced. Chinese civilizations is undergoing constant renewal and adaptation to the needs of its current situation.
In 1915, Chinese rebels overthrew the corrupt Qing Dynasty. Four decades later, they replaced the Kuomintang government with the Communist Party. And when the doctrine of Mao no longer suited the needs of the people, Deng Xiaopeng instituted a large number of reforms that moved China towards a more capitalistic society. Now, China is set to come back from nearly a century of underperformance to retake its position as one of the most powerful countries in the world.
America is a relatively young nation but is already seeing signs of decline relative to other nations. If America is to survive movements like Occupy Wall Street and the overextension of its military through almost 4 wars in the last decade, it needs to learn to be dynamic and listen to the will of its people. Democracy will only be considered legitimate in the United States as long as it continues to produce results for the majority of the population instead of simply supporting the wellbeing of the very most elite. If the American government does not learn to be dynamic in response to the needs of its citizens, it may very well follow the path of the Qing Dynasty and be written off as merely a footnote in the long record of human history.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Who's missing at Occupy Wall Street?
The protests occurring in the Wall Street financial district have received a surprising amount of media coverage and have undoubtabley left a mark on the political and social psyche of the United States with their outcry against what they see as the excess of the richest one percent of America. The question that is not on the mind of most Americans, however, is who is missing from these protests.
The images brought to mind of those suffering from the financial collapses of the last few years are mostly blue-collar and middle class American workers who saw their savings and mortgages go up in smoke. This view, however, ignores the hundreds of millions around the world who have lost multiple times what middle class America has had to give up at the hands of wall street greed.
The global financial institutions of the world have, since their inception, failed to meet the needs of developing countries who have just begun to be exposed to the raging wave of globalization. Many of these institutions ( the IMF, WTO, and World Bank being the most prominent) are made up of the same people now sitting in Wall Street offices. These men and women have ripped open emerging markets through removal of tariffs, destroyed the livelihood of millions through unfair trade of artificially cheap subsidized foreign imports, and destroyed infrastructure through a series of preconditioned loans that halt development of roads and schools in favor of industrial production.
Only the nascent super-economies of East Asia have been able to escape the cycle through their aggressive refusal of Western interference in internal affairs. The rest of the world, however, has fallen into a sort of pseudo-imperialism in which the richest elements of Western society are profiting exponentially off the unimaginable poverty of millions. Given it's history of colonial exploitation and the continuing way in which foreign interests are manipulating internal affairs, the chaos in Africa should not come as a surprise so much as a cautionary tale against the dangers of extreme excess in advanced industrial nations.
The missing faces amongst the protesters on Wall Street are the impoverished Sri Lankan factory workers, the poor and repressed of Eastern Europe, and the children dying of AIDS in Uganda. In order to understand the revolutionary fervor that has swept the world thirty years after the process of globalization started accelerating, we need to understand the impact that the one percent have had not only on our own countr, but in every corner of the globe.
The images brought to mind of those suffering from the financial collapses of the last few years are mostly blue-collar and middle class American workers who saw their savings and mortgages go up in smoke. This view, however, ignores the hundreds of millions around the world who have lost multiple times what middle class America has had to give up at the hands of wall street greed.
The global financial institutions of the world have, since their inception, failed to meet the needs of developing countries who have just begun to be exposed to the raging wave of globalization. Many of these institutions ( the IMF, WTO, and World Bank being the most prominent) are made up of the same people now sitting in Wall Street offices. These men and women have ripped open emerging markets through removal of tariffs, destroyed the livelihood of millions through unfair trade of artificially cheap subsidized foreign imports, and destroyed infrastructure through a series of preconditioned loans that halt development of roads and schools in favor of industrial production.
Only the nascent super-economies of East Asia have been able to escape the cycle through their aggressive refusal of Western interference in internal affairs. The rest of the world, however, has fallen into a sort of pseudo-imperialism in which the richest elements of Western society are profiting exponentially off the unimaginable poverty of millions. Given it's history of colonial exploitation and the continuing way in which foreign interests are manipulating internal affairs, the chaos in Africa should not come as a surprise so much as a cautionary tale against the dangers of extreme excess in advanced industrial nations.
The missing faces amongst the protesters on Wall Street are the impoverished Sri Lankan factory workers, the poor and repressed of Eastern Europe, and the children dying of AIDS in Uganda. In order to understand the revolutionary fervor that has swept the world thirty years after the process of globalization started accelerating, we need to understand the impact that the one percent have had not only on our own countr, but in every corner of the globe.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Pixelated Revolution
From a historical perspective, the Arab Spring draws many parallels with the wave of republicanism that swept Europe in the late 18th century. The flames that started last year in Tunisia have quickly engulfed a region notorious for its autocratic legacy and history of disunity and repression.
No where has this hysterical wave of democratization been more evident that in the North African country of Libya. While Tunisia is about to hold its first democratic election this month, Libya's bloody revolution has ended in the public execution of Col. Muammar Qaddafi and the repudiation of a decade long dictatorship.
The most striking part of the final coda of the Libyan revolution is the way in which the video footage depicting the violent death of the former dictator found its way onto the public domain of the internet within mere hours. The graphic footage depicts the leader being led through the streets of his hometown by his hair while being subjected to ridicule and taunt.
In contrast to the refusal to allow the pictures of bin Laden's body in the media, the video of Muammar Qaddafi's execution has been viewed by millions around the world. The Arab Spring was begun, organized, and executed by the brilliant use of media and social networking. It is only fitting that its most violent episode should be broadcast for all the world to see.
Is it that we are living in a world were it will be impossible to control the images and sounds that citizens view? Has technology become the seed that gives birth to democratic revolution around the world? This trend will pose serious challenges in the future for authoritarian regimes in China and North Korea. The flames that have engulfed the Arab world may well spread to the entire world.
No where has this hysterical wave of democratization been more evident that in the North African country of Libya. While Tunisia is about to hold its first democratic election this month, Libya's bloody revolution has ended in the public execution of Col. Muammar Qaddafi and the repudiation of a decade long dictatorship.
The most striking part of the final coda of the Libyan revolution is the way in which the video footage depicting the violent death of the former dictator found its way onto the public domain of the internet within mere hours. The graphic footage depicts the leader being led through the streets of his hometown by his hair while being subjected to ridicule and taunt.
In contrast to the refusal to allow the pictures of bin Laden's body in the media, the video of Muammar Qaddafi's execution has been viewed by millions around the world. The Arab Spring was begun, organized, and executed by the brilliant use of media and social networking. It is only fitting that its most violent episode should be broadcast for all the world to see.
Is it that we are living in a world were it will be impossible to control the images and sounds that citizens view? Has technology become the seed that gives birth to democratic revolution around the world? This trend will pose serious challenges in the future for authoritarian regimes in China and North Korea. The flames that have engulfed the Arab world may well spread to the entire world.
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