Actually, I think if current trends continue, I could imagine in 2030 a group of Chinese prisoners under guard working in a rice field. A passerby yells out, “What did they do?” A guard growls at one of the prisoners, “Wang, tell him what all of you did!” Wang sheepishly yells out, “We are the economic advisors who thought that American debt made for a good investment!” As the screen fades, the passerby has to be physically restrained by the guard from attacking Wang.
The Future?
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
And said: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job
There is nothing new under the sun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiBCRQL58_k&feature=youtu.be
While I agree with the underlying sentiment of the ad (the purchasing of American debt by the Chinese government helped enable Washington D.C. to essentially spend the nation into oblivion), I’m not too comfortable with the sinister and demonizing tone towards China (and future China).
I’m not into blaming the Chinese for problems we created for ourselves. I suppose you could make the argument: if the Chinese were really our friends, they would refuse to keep buying our debt…
Either way, I’m just not cool with the Chinese as scapegoat, nor am I ok with enacting policies that would begin a trade war…
“if the Chinese were really our friends, they would refuse to keep buying our debt…”
Our debt situation is a problem of our own making. Communist China is a rival power that will take advantage of our folly if they can, although I think Chinese purchasing of US debt may well have been an act of folly on their party.
To-MAY-to, To-MAH-to…
At some point they’ll realize the bills aren’t going to get paid. I’d rather take steps to ensure that our “rivalry” tends towards friendship rather than leaning towards inevitable conflict.
If it were me, I’d level with them while they were still significantly weaker than us militarily. This debt must be restructured, or it will not be repaid. That, and there must be major austerity measures at home… you can’t have one without the other…
“I’d rather take steps to ensure that our “rivalry” tends towards friendship rather than leaning towards inevitable conflict.”
Nations do not have friends, they have interests. The Chinese leadership views China as a rising power and the US as a declining power. The hostility against the US in that leadership sometimes rises to the surface.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060704762.html
I think war between the US and China in the near term is unlikely. Intense rivalry and fairly high levels of hostitlity? Almost certainly.