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Greed will be with us always, as will the lust for power. There will always be criminals. However, greed and the lust for power are frequently channeled into productive enterprises and lawful ambitions, and if most are occupied with going about their business, it will be difficult to mobilize masses of people to engage in warfare. The Americanization of the world is the particular, although unnecessary, agent of modernization. That is one of the reason for hostility to the States: not are armaments, but the success of our cultural products in penetrating the four corners of the earth. However, a common culture of some sort is necessary to bring people closer together, and so historically the States plays the role of Rome, and English of Latin. The favored destination of foreign exchange students is still the States, so that increasingly the educated elites in various countries, including China, are becoming Americanized in an even deeper sense. Eventually, I think we may have both the geo- political and cultural conditions to hope for a true Pax Americana. As for China, I think that it will prove to be almost as ungovernable as the Soviet Union, and will itself experience political devolution as it continues its economic growth. Already, Shanghai tends to behave somewhat independently... |
