Thousands of Chinese rioted in a dispute sparked by a lopsided roadside brawl, set fire to cars and wounded six police officers in an outburst likely to worry communist leaders in Beijing desperate to cling on to power.
It is clear that China has massive problems. They have a population of about 1.2 billion with about 1 billion living below our definition of poverty level. They all probably have access to TV and must have rising expectations that are unlikely to be met in the near future.
If China blows up, it will make what happened in Watts, Crown Heights, and Detroit look like street parties.
It is not in our self interest to see that happen.
From the little that I have read, it seems like the leadership in China are clearly aware of this potential. Transcripts (or hearsay) conversations that took place at the top levels of chinese leadership during the Tiananmen Square riots reveal the fear of the leadership of being put into house arrest if they made crucial mistakes.
I do not think the current leadership are made up of reckless gamblers. They have far too much to worry about at home than to go on any adventures overseas.
For us, in the United States, we should stay out of China's way. Let them fix their own domestic problems. It will take them a long time to get that fixed.
In the meantime, we can get our financial house in order and make our society more competitive in the future. That is where the competition will be. That will be the struggle for the future. If we can do that, there is no way China or any one else can compete with us.
But, if we squander our wealth in places where we do not belong, we will not be able to compete further down the road.
It is a law of physics or whatever, if you squander your wealth, you are likely to fail. |
