What America could learn from China

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.

Debt, Downgrade and Democracy

The stock market plunge of the last week belays the supposed compromise reached on the US debt ceiling but also highlights the instability of trust in US political and economic institutions. While a AA+ rating does not equate the the complete junking of US bonds, the real hit is in the value of confidence in American leadership.

Stark differences in government leadership were proven in the handling of two crises that occurred on opposite ends of the globe. The derailing of a high speed train in eastern China in late July was met head on by the government with a complete blackout of negative media coverage and swift retribution of lower level government transportation officers. The party itself, however, lost very little face; engaging in a relentlessly executed propaganda campaign to silence all dissent before it even had a chance to occur.

Enter the US Congress, where the media circled the party leaders like vultures to a carcass. The drama over the debt ceiling was played out like a family dinner with the parents on the brink of divorce. Several times, Boehner and Obama actually got up and left the discussion in attempts to up the ante in a dangerous poker game where the stakes were the American economy.

At the end of the game, who won the pot? The general consensus is that the American people were not the winners of this contest of political brinkmanship, and the consensus is right if unemployment figures and market values are any indicator. The compromise reached by Congress has nearly nothing to say about unemployment rates or entitlement spending, and the general lack of transparency in the deal will make it hard to scrutinize.

China and the US, the two lions in a room full of hyenas; the question is: which one gets the gazelle? Is China's system of authoritarianism, focus on manufacturing, and artificial manipulation of its currency the way to go? Or will America's freedom of press, democratic tradition, and capitalist leanings keep it at the top? Both systems are working the way they were intended, one with rigorous public debate, one with central planning and control of information. Only time will tell whether the American or Chinese dream will become the reality of the future.