Some of the most stark differences are in the manners and social protocols of public employees. The airport employees in Shanghai are trained to speak good English, and have excellent and courteous manners. Ditto for the immigration agents at the entry and exit, who always smile and say "Thank You." Then when I arrive in LAX or SFO (or JFK sometimes) it is readily apparent that I am returning to a third world country, the USA of 2010. Airport employees of various nationalities who do not speak good English, who are rude and brusque, and a general sense of disorganization and chaos that would have met a Westerner traveling to the Orient in the 1800s.
Clearly, the tables have turned. The Great Republic, once led by historic figures like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Reagan has now devolved into socialistic banana Republic headed by an Ethiopian eunuch. A once backward, Communist land is now the epicenter of Capitalism and dynamism, co-opting the creativity and ingenuity of the West.
I noticed that, too. They've caught up, and this is the time - right now - when due to our economic malaise they have started to pass us.
Can’t argue with what you say. But, the tables can be turned back again when the direction of the country is once again in the hands of Americans.
(”Ethiopian eunuch”? LOL)
Well...we don’t have organ harvesting trucks that travel around to various prisons execute the condemned and then harvest the bodies. People also don’t have their Bible confiscated nor are they imprisoned for possessing it.