More scary stuff

Another article I read last week but saved until I had time to write about.

China is the last great communist nation still clinging to the old socialist ways. Well, other than Cuba, I guess. And nothing against the Chinese (every one of them I've met has been an absolutely friendly and upstanding individual) in general, it's kind of scary what this article talks about.

It's kind of frightening to think that this sleeper country, who for centuries has been laying dormant in the background, suddenly emerges as this burgeoning global power with more money in their bank than the US Government owes in debt. I was kind of shocked to find out that the US actually owes 25% of their overall debt to the Chinese government.

But what was most disturbing about this article is China's snatch-and-grab approach towards resources in the past few years, and how the only option left to the Western countries is to try and block them from making purchases via political measures as a last-chance, last-ditch act of desperation to keep the balance of power from shifting from Western society to Eastern.

Are we all going to be speaking Chinese in the next half a century? I wonder if I should start prepping now.

An interesting read. My wife and I are actually planning on taking a 3-4 week backpacking trek to China next September. I'll say this...I love the country, love the people, love the landscape...but communism scares me. It's a great principle, but human nature keeps it from really working, and if you look at the VAST majority of people who have lived under communist rule...they live in absolute poverty, while only those associated with the Party actually are allowed to advance and reap the benefits. It's just not a fair system.

On the other hand, as we've seen with America and Britain, an unchecked Capitalist society can swing too far in the opposite direction, leading to companies and fiascoes like AIG.

In any case...enjoy.