

Is China the New America? - ccarpenterg
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4778&print=1

======
patrickg-zill
No, for a number of reasons.

One reason for American dominance after WWII was that so much of Europe's
manufacturing capability was destroyed by war. America has (about) the same
manufacturing base as 2 years ago.

Another is that the strength of American industry was fed by the migration of
farmers' sons and daughters into the cities. While American farmers may have
been cash-poor, they had a lot of practical skills that were passed on to the
kids that went to the city, such as fixing farm implements (requires
mechanical aptitude).

Finally there is the question of the relative amount of freedom - not having
been to China, I don't know the "full story" but it seems that America still
has the edge.

~~~
erlanger
> it seems that America still has the edge.

Please don't mince words about freedom in China, a brutally repressive state:
It doesn't deserve it.

* You can't leave your village without a pass

* You can't have more than one kid

* No freedom of expression

* Oh, and that ongoing massacre in Tibet

~~~
cglee
* I've never heard of the village pass restriction.

* You can have more than one kid - you have to pay a fine though. Also, the restriction doesn't apply to ethnic minorities or farmers.

* You cannot organize dissenting political views. You can express yourself creatively, artistically, etc all you want. Check out Beijing's 798 district: <http://www.798space.com> (one of my favorite places).

* It's not an "ongoing massacre". It may be oppression, racism, discrimination, segregation, confining a people to internment or a reservation - but to describe it as an active massacre is inaccurate.

~~~
erlanger
* Read about it. I will post some sources here ASAP.

* Is that any less perverse?

* The right to organize with other dissenters is critical in the fight for freedom.

\- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/24/AR2009032400742.html)

\- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032000175.html)

\- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032000175.html)

\- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/17/AR2009031700017.html)

\- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031003725.html)

Those are from the past month in the Post alone.

* Do you mean to say that scores of Tibetan protesters were _not_ beaten and/or shot dead in the months leading up to the Olympics? Because that's news to me.

~~~
cglee
I don't want to play this game. All I'm trying to say is it doesn't seem like
you understand China well, and should reserve criticism until you have some
basic understanding of her problems.

~~~
jhancock
agreed..I'm not interested in saying much more either. If this were any other
forum, I wouldn't bother replying to erlanger's statements.

------
zcrar70
No - the extent of America's financial dominance in the 20th century was not
the result of a single event (the Great Depression), but of three; WW1 (in
which Britain lost its position of financial dominance), the Great Depression
(in which the USA cemented theirs), and WW2 (in which all other industrialised
countries were either defeated or depleted to a much greater extent than the
US was).

As a result, there wasn't really any country in the position to challenge the
USA at the end of WW2; China is not at all in the same position now.

This being said, the crisis may have helped China along in its aim to becoming
a global superpower; they have reserves that no-one else has, and so far
they've been using them to buy strategic resources (mainly primary materials)
as well as lending to the USA. It's a nice position for them to be in,
although they probably would have preferred finishing their transition away
from manufacturing before being thrust into it.

------
noss
This forum ought to focus more on what new business opportunities arise from a
larger/richer Chinese middle class, than be afraid of losing old business
ideas.

~~~
jacktang
The Chinese are used to the "The Wolf is Coming" March :)

~~~
khafra
I googled for "'The Wolf is coming' March" and your comment was the top
result. Could you explain the reference?

------
sbaronnet
Is America the New USSR? :)

~~~
gasull
Dmitry Orlov thinks so. Google him.

Post-Soviet Lessons for a Post-American Century
[http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/060105_soviet_less...](http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/060105_soviet_lessons.shtml)

If hyperinflation takes place then it will be possible, but we aren't there
(yet).

<http://www.shadowstats.com/article/hyperinflation>

------
known
"A country is not made of land; a country is made of its people." --unknown

------
bianco
It is the wrong question:

There are lots of possible candidates for it, but communism ruined it all in
China.

Anyway, left are:

1) Africa (don't underestimate it, it could grow much faster than any other
country, iff it only could free itself from all those nasty colonialism
consequences...)

2) Europe, united with all of its parts (and I mean especially the eastern
ones)

3) Middle East + India; may seem strange (to some of you), but there you can
find the top of the top of human-brewn Culture -- no other region on earth can
beat this.

America, you have to "die" (read: take the last place on earth for some
decade), because it was _you_ trashing whole world in this financial disaster.
This is not popular, so you people will not agree -- the same as children
never agree when it comes to take some bitter medicine...

~~~
cglee
My grandmother (who's Chinese) used to always say "Communism! What Communism!
Just take a look outside, you can clearly tell who's rich and who's not!"

China may be Communist by name, but it's capitalist by heart.

~~~
sbaronnet
obviously...

