There was a similar story about the ascendancy of Japan over the west in the 1980's, but demographics eventually slowed Japan's growth. There were simply not enough young people to keep the economy growing and take care of the growing elderly population. A similar thing is happening with China as many young people chose to not have children or only have a single child. So far in human history this trend towards fewer children in advanced societies is irreversible. The successful parts of the "west" have counterbalanced this trend by attracting and integrating young immigrants (both educated and working class). Unless China becomes a more attractive place for immigrants it is probably nearing its peak potential.
China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
121–130 of 349 posts
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can subscribe to the The Economist (digital edition) for $189/year. This is actually cheaper than most (Bloomberg is $419, FT is $372). Edit: I'm just sharing information on the cost of subscription. If you look at my comment history, you'll see I've done this for others, OUT OF PURE CURIOSITY. I've also commented about how it would be unreasonable to maintain subscriptions to multiple news websites given these c…
Thing is, i read maybe 10-20 different news sites, not to mention the plethora of other sites with curated and written content. No normal person can afford to maintain that number of subscriptions. I wonder what a fair price for a article that gets 20-30k views would be, not to mention 2-300k. The price per view should be so low that some kind of crypto payment could work. A browser plugin with a crypto solution that…
I feel like the time is ripe for a "streaming service" for online newspapers.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#123Why did the US let its infrastructure get to such a bad state? And why are there so many dilapidated neighborhoods and literally crumbling schools? The US is filthy rich, couldn't they have fixed these things decades ago? Just spend hundreds of billions investing in neighborhoods that have historically been intentionally left to rot? Is it just disdain for the people who live in the crumbling areas? Serious question.…
Because in America the poor are merely temporarily embarrassed millionaires, millionaires-to-be, etc. It’s less disdain than sheer ignorance.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#124Why did the US let its infrastructure get to such a bad state? And why are there so many dilapidated neighborhoods and literally crumbling schools? The US is filthy rich, couldn't they have fixed these things decades ago? Just spend hundreds of billions investing in neighborhoods that have historically been intentionally left to rot? Is it just disdain for the people who live in the crumbling areas? Serious question.…
Globalization combined with a strong dollar(due to our reserve currency status, which gives us power over other countries but at a cost) led to the export of millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs and businesses, causing a decline in manufacturing, mostly in rural areas.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is factually untrue. By pretty much every imaginable metric China has improved for nearly everyone (in China) for the past 50 years. Is this also true in the USA? I don't think China is superior to the USA, but to say China is in a "irreversible decline" is ridiculous. https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/celt/eng/jmgx/jjxs/t124869.htm https://www.visualcapitalist.com/china-economic-growth-histo... https://www.cfr.org/ti…
It is factually true. Chinese have access to poisoned shitty water that everyone has to boil first and that's not only because of that chi bullshit. Meanwhile I have access to delicious spring water from Alps. China has achieved only superficial changes that will bite them in the ass in the future.
>Chinese have access to poisoned shitty water
And the so-called top dog of the west have cities where people for years had to get bottled water because the whole city were poisoned and whole states are drying out. Not everyone in the west are as lucky as those of us with clean water. Definitely not the US.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#126They are probably not wrong. When you look at the infighting within the US that is front page news every day...the decline is in full swing. People care less about how to actually improve the country than they do about trying to hold entire professions accountable for the actions of a few (not just cops)...then we are focused on the wrong things. Spending hundreds of days protesting something instead of putting that…
Did you entirely forget about the 60s? Domestic unrest and geopolitical power aren't that tightly connected. People have been saying the West is "in decline" for decades and it's almost always by people looking at chance in society as being some kind of negative force. The "social change misinterpreted as cultural decline" is basically a meme at this point.
Hitler believed that America was in such moral decline that the country would be unable to unify and run any kind of large-scale war effort in Europe. The Nazis had a particular derision for jazz music, viewing it as a way for "undesirables" to corrupt and destroy society. Again, internal division and cultural change had little bearing on America's ability to move vast amounts of equipment and manpower to Europe when the country decided to.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#127The west is in decline because progressive values don't promote strength. They focus on class and are inherently divisive. Ironically, they only blossom in strong societies. The decline will allow other societies with a more conservative philosophy to take over and it will be their turn in a few centuries to succumb to the same tragedy. The baizuo tragedy.
> because progressive values don't promote strength.
Venice in the 1400s,
London in the 1685-1700
Paris 1875-1914
vienna 1890-1914
London in the 1960s
All of these cities flourished because they were progressive.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#128I hope the world can exist with a strong China and a strong US. Why are they mutual exclusive? We both have our strengths and weaknesses.
Political proselytism. Certain advocates for democracy believe that democracy and autocracy cannot coexist in the same world and autocracies must be toppled wherever they appear.
Honestly I'm seeing parallels with the christian crusades. Remember that religion and politics were historically one and the same.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#129That's ridiculous.China is the one in irreversible decline. Most people in the West get to enjoy freedom and access to utilities money cant buy in China. 1) For once most people in the west have access to safe and good tap water.Chinese urban dwellers dont. 2) Most people in the west live in places with significantly better air quality than chinese. 3) Most people in the west get to enjoy freedoms chinese cant even t…
1. Well, maybe in Europe. tap water in the US isn't especially good. 2. Air quality is improving fast. 3. The the right to unaffordable health care? 4) Obviously you have never lived in China. Sorry to break the news to you. Yes, China is attracting young people from all over the world too.
1. At least it's drinkable and not poisoned like in China.
2. No it is not. Have not you seen the dystopian reality of Beijing from last month?
3. Chinese healthcare is hazard on its own.
4. I have. China is not attracting anyone on a comparable level like the EU or the US. Also you dont get to stay and work in China even if you married someone from there.
Re: China is betting that the West is in irreversible decline
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can subscribe to the The Economist (digital edition) for $189/year. This is actually cheaper than most (Bloomberg is $419, FT is $372). Edit: I'm just sharing information on the cost of subscription. If you look at my comment history, you'll see I've done this for others, OUT OF PURE CURIOSITY. I've also commented about how it would be unreasonable to maintain subscriptions to multiple news websites given these c…
Also check your local library. Many have electronic subscriptions now.
This is great advice. I use the Libby app on iOS to borrow books/magazines from my local library to read on my Kindle.