If you can't post something credible on this forum, it would help everyone if you avoided humiliation by keeping your mouth shut.
I studied Japanese for three years and can read and write Chinese characters (I am sure you are unaware that Japanese uses a subset of Chinese characters). The first character used to spell China means "Center". The Japanese kun reading is naka. The on (Chinese) reading is Chung or Chu.
The second character means nation. The Japanese kun reading is kuni. The on reading is koku or kuo.
The half educated like you translate it as Middle Kingdom when the true meaning is "Center of the World". These same characters are used in Chinese and Japanese.
Child, before the brief historical interlude of the round eyed sea peoples, China was a quarter of this planet's GNP. It has the brains, the bulk, the numbers, the resource base, the technological base to be the dominant superpower of this planet. Germany, the USSR, Japan, Britain... each of them lacked one of the above. China has it all.
You're so pathetic. Is that the best that you can do?
First, as far as posting "something credible on this forum," let's start with reviewing your record.
In post #87 you said:
"...things are worse than they have been since the Great Depression."
As I pointed out, you were simply parroting Al Gore's line. The New York Time's lib columnist Bob Herbert reports that at Al Gore's recent speech, Gore said:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/abs_news_body.asp?section=Opinion&oid=30486 "Instead of creating jobs, for example, we are losing millions of jobs -- net losses for three years in a row,' said Gore. 'That hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.'"
Yeah, you're so credible. I bet Gore stole that from you because you're so bright.
Now you tell me I should listen to you because you say you know Japanese? Ooooh, I'm so impressed. Just for fun, try to regain some shred of credibility and post a source that backs up your assertion. Otherwise you're just blathering on.
Note: I believe the characters might actually be interpreted centuries later to mean 'center nation,' but you're missing the point. You say:
"The half educated like you translate it as Middle Kingdom..."
I don't care what the current Chinese want frightened children like you to believe it means. Since you're obviously so slow, I'll try to make it simple:
It might be translated to mean "Middle Kingdom," it might mean "Center Nation," it might mean "Center of the World." Actually reading the history suggests that it might have meant "middle province," "middle of the field," middle of nowhere," "center of the glade," "center of local trade," "center firepit," etc. All that studying, but no comprehension.
A bunch of primitive people named their region "Qin," the British mispronounced it as "China," and now you're telling me this has some mystical significance?
No, let me get this right. You're actually trying to argue that because hundreds of years ago "...China was a quarter of this planet's GNP" that I should fear their economic power today. Guess what? I'm not exactly afraid of the Egyptians, the Greeks or the French taking over the world because centuries ago they had dominant cultures.
You say China "has the brains..." Yeah, then why are there so many Chinese Americans in the US? Why do they need to steal our military and economic ideas? Because they're so smart?
You're like Malthus -- you see a bunch of people different than you and you get all scared and use that fear and insecurity to make all sorts of laughable predictions.
China has a lot of things, but most importantly China has problems. Huge ones. You blithely boast that China has the "...bulk, the numbers, the resource base, the technological base to be the dominant superpower of this planet." But you fail to consider the problems China is having, and is going to continue to have, as long as it practices their brand of oligarchich (sp?) socialism.
I know you like to quote Gore, so you probably believe the lib dem line about the 'gap between the rich and the poor.' China has it worse.
Try using the history links I have kindly provided you with to educate yourself. At one time, the Qin had some prolonged periods of peace, but they have also had some incredibly violent periods of revolution.
Now, I know you and Gore lack any faith in the US and want us to adopt the economic policies of third rate tyrants and oligarchs, but I am afraid I'll have to disagree.
There is a dominant superpower on the planet, and its the US. You might want to whine that:
"When you examine what happens when three million jobs leave this country, a rational person would obviously see that it means a lot of people who had homes three years ago don't today. Or did you think that 3 million jobs could vanish without manifesting themselves in hard socioeconomic consequences (homelessness, crime, alcoholism, drug abuse)?"
But that's all it is, whining.
Note: Please cut the condescending, paternalistic attitude. Adults find that attitude annoying.
In response to Tdadams in post #292 you said:
"You talk like a foolish, boastful child."
[Snip]
"Adult maturity comes when you realize that bad things happen in life without your having 'done something to deserve it'.
Please ignore that last bit at the end of post #309. I was thinking about poking fun at your childish attitude, thought better of it, but forgot to delete it.