Me too. It was 30 years ago when Jimmy Carter was crowing the death knell of America...
Do you remember when Sony was going to buy just about all of Manhattan? What happened to that? Do you remember when Mexico sold cheap painted maracas and coarse hand-woven woolen blankets?
They still do.
There are many on FR that, ironically, perpetuate the 'conventional wisdom' of the hate-America-first media.
On Iraq, the media lie. On China, though, the media put forth the truth? Please.
There are a few of us on FR that have actually worked in and araound and against Chinese companies...me personally in the semiconductor business. Of course, I'm no NY Times journalist with a journalism degree, but I can tell you my experiences.
Germany and Japan have detailed/cautious engineering cultures. Mexico and China have sloppy, short-term manufacturing cultures.
For what it's worth, I personally was just as concerned as anyone about where my job would end up, so I went across the ocean to find out.
After seeing it for years close-up, I came back much less worried, and much better suited to compete in the world knowing my enemy.
Don't get me wrong, I do indeed think China will stab us in the back at each and every opportunity. But I also learned that it's nothing personal--they do it to each other daily. Chinese (and Taiwanese) are Chinese first, communists or capitalists or Mings or Nationalists later. The Chinaman in the street is proud of his thousands of years of heritage, and if the government/dynasty needs to be overthrown, then it will. This is why the Taiwan reunification issue looks so wierd to us. Americans see it as a border dispute between two nations. They see it as a dinner argument among family. Does that make sense to you?
In the end, they think that they are culturally superior to everyone else on the planet, and the Bible may have said something about pride and falls. You yourself prove the rule that Americans are naturally proud, yet cautious about being so.
I heard a terribly leftist Russian journalist on CSPAN this weekend. Most of the callers were liberal America haters. But I caught one of his responses, "You Americans have an uncanny ability for self-criticism, but Putin assasinating Litveneko(sp?) was not America's fault!" Americans compete because we always assume there there must be a better way. This is our culture. This is not true in China.
Well, anyway, I could go through all the technical reasons in my field why they are not going to take over the world. But I hope to encourage you to take some time to really find out more about those billions that eat with sticks. Here is a completely one-sided look at how entry into the WTO could possibly be the final straw for Communist China (not Chinamen). It is a good read for anyone who thinks that China is naturally suited to be #1.
Thanks for letting me vent.