Posted on 04/12/2005 9:00:58 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Will the 21st century be another "American Century" or will it be the first "Asian Century"? A peaceful - for now - struggle has been joined.
For the past few weeks Americans have been focused on news from the Vatican. And for the past few years the bulk of "foreign news" has concerned the Middle East. But in the Far East three huge fuses are burning.
First, the prime minister of China, Wen Jiabao, traveled to India and declared that the two countries would be the "two pagodas" of economic might in the coming hundred years - the "Asian Century," Wen predicted.
The likely next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has been a vocal proponent of "regime change." So what might the North Koreans do in response? Japan's Kyodo news service says a top North Korean official declared that his country could strike America not only directly, but also indirectly: "The United States should consider the danger that we could transfer nuclear weapons to terrorists."
So what can the United States do against such threats? Not much, it seems. The only country with influence on North Korea seems to be China, and yet the Chinese say that they can't help - even as Beijing protects North Korea against American military pre-emption.
Thus the three wheels: First, China gets closer to India, as the two nations seek a New Asian Order. Second, China grows more hostile to the United States and Japan. Third, China bolsters nuke-crazy North Korea.
Those are three fuses burning across the Pacific, whether we like it or not - whether we know it or not.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
And.....let's do something about it.
WE'RE DOOMED.
Hey, I got an idea. Let's ignore deeper and older economic, political and military ties between the U.S. and China and the U.S. and India, as well as the similar rhetoric that passes between them all.
But as soon as India and China form anything similar and pass similar rhetoric between each other, let's all freak out and stuff.
"And since, if present trends continue, both India and China might have economies larger than ours in the 21st century, there's plenty of reason to pay attention to this nascent techno-military alliance."
Yes, and it "present trends continue" I'll be alive in 400 years. If, on the other hand, one looks more realistically at likely average growth rates for India, China and the U.S. over the next 50 to 95 years, well, you don't come up with the same figures.
At least this yahoo gave an email address. How I love writing these guys.
I've been losing more and more respect for Pinkerton's opinion pieces lately. He mouths the MSM intellectual's typical views about China's actions, but completely misses the most important thing about the Asian situation. That is, the anticipated ascension of a long dormant Japanese military.
He seems to be caught up in the same swirl as many western journalists (I suppose that's the best name for him now, despite his past) caught in China. Hyperbole, doom-and-gloom, dire warnings, an inability to see the forest for the carefully constructed trees, and a strange belief that today's "trends" can be assumed to be tomorrow's normalcy. (They would never assume the same of the U.S. economically, of course.)
And now he has lumped India alongside China as a potentially larger economy. It's just mind-boggling how these memes take root and flourish.
....and if we can persuade that ascending Japanese military to "take care of business" with the little midget up there in N. Korea, that would work out just fine for us.
Char :)
I've got a great idea. Genius even.
Let's work our butts off to convert the Middle East dictatorships into democracies and then do what we can to see that the same liberty and freedom spreads to every other nook and cranny of the world.
It won't be easy and there will be naysayers, but it will happen.
[it's none of our business what kind of governments the people of other countries maintain.]
Baloney.
If the entire Middle east is a conglomeration of theocratic dictatorships then that has a HUGELY negative effect on the well being and security of the rest of the world.
If even a few key countries within this region can be converted into democracies (as is now happening) then that benefits everyone who lives in that region and makes it more likely that other countries will follow their example and join the democratic movement.
Learn how to use paragraphs to your advantage.
You can't judge China per capita. You have to judge it in total. They now have the six largest economy in the world, having zoomed by Italy. They are the second (or third) largest buyer of U.S. debt, up there with England and Japan. And, the amount of stuff they export to the U.S. is an amount larger than many nation's economies.
2. Our borders are open, allowing enemies and leeches to take advantage of our political correctness and social safety net.
3. Our dollar value has declined more than 1/3 over the last 5 years.
4. GM's stock has fallen so much, I hear it is considered a junk bond. (Michael Savage show, Tuesday) I even hear rumors of Toyota wanting to buy GM!!!
5. Our politicians are corrupt, and our judges are out of control. There is no more true representation in our sytem of government.
6. India is taking our jobs. They have better foundations in real education, (don't worry, we still lead the world in sex education, dead white male bashing and tolerance) and speak better English than most Americans under 40.
7. China is stealing our technology, putting their stamp on it, and getting rich off of our hard work and innovation to fund their growing war machine. The average American is happy to buy this crap, and companies like Wal Mart are more than happy to sell it to us.
8. Liberalism is spreading like a disease, and infecting the body politic of this country like a cancer. A simple discussion of this condition, let alone removal of this cancer at some point will end up killing the patient, and I fear we are reaching the terminal stage soon, if not already.
Yes, it will be the Asian century. The real question is: How will we deal with it?
I say nay, nay, nay.
> India is taking our jobs.
And our motels. I find it incredible just about any motel in America you walk into you will meet an Indian behind the counter. A coincidence? I doubt it.
Then there is China - Wall to wall Wallmart.
Don't forget Dunkin Donuts!!! I go in to a nearby DD, and ask for a extra large black coffee.
Their response is "Cream and Sugar?" I say, "No, just black." I get a large with cream and sugar.
I give it back, and ask (again) for an EXTRA large with nothing.
They ask me "Something Else?" And I thought to myself, "Yeah, you guys ARE something else! Just try getting the first order right, and we can talk about 'something else' after that, OK?"
I pay for my extra large black coffee, get in my car, drive off, and after the first sip, realize they put sugar in my coffee. I can't win. They can't understand English. The ones that can are taking our jobs back in Bangalore.
So I learn their language. It is the Gujrati dialect. I picked it up, and use it at the two Dunkin Donuts stores that actually have great people who actually listen to you because they understand english.
So one day, I go to a totally new, "foreign" Dunkin Donuts, (it is, no lie, one of 4 in a 3 square mile period!) tell them what I want, in their language, and they STILL screw it up!!!
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