America has already fallen and the Chinese Communist Party has already won. You just don't know it yet.
What is the United States? I guess you could argue that it consists of military bases and the like. But if you ask the ask the average American, the United States is its people: guys living in the suburbs, inner cities and rural areas. If you want to see who is "winning", then gauge the welfare of all those people with those of China. If you do that, then you'll find that the Chinese Communitst Party won long ago.
Now I'd much rather be an American citizen than a Chinese citizen for the very fact that I love my freedom: I'd rather be free and go to a cruddy job making cruddy money living a cruddy existence, then have a good job making good money with a fantastic life but without the right to go where I please and own the means to my own safety. (2nd Amendment, anyone?)
That said, I can't help but compare and contrast the lives of those living in Beijing, Datong, Shanghai with that of Southern California and believe that the quality of life is better in SoCal. In fact, I would argue that the quality of life is extremely better in all those Chinese cities (well, Datong would be considered a town by the Chinese, but a city by Americans) than it is in Southern California, unless you're part of the ultra rich. If you compare those places with south Texas (probably the worst ghetto area I've been in), it's no contest.
One of the crown jewels of the United States are its suburbs. The house of the average American homeowner would get the envy of many in CDMX and China. But, then, you got to consider the crime, the long drives to anywhere (part of the reason why we have so much obesity, lack of public transport of good city planning), and you have to wonder if the suburbs are all that grand in the first place. Add in the high costs of owning a suburban nowadays and, again, you have an argument that your underlying premise is off: the United States has already lost.
This isn't to say the American people can't regain their greatness.
How do you think the demographic change of America will factor into the question of whether or not the USA will be a superpower in 2121? If in that time, Whites only account for a sixth of the population, could America hold on as the dominant superpower? Or are the advantages that the USA holds which you alluded to in the article strong enough to keep the "train" running?
1. The demographic transformation of America is real and is the most important issue we are not allowed to discuss in plain language. With that being said, I think the triumphalist left and doomer right have it wrong. The future of America is a lot of white people who have an Asian or Hispanic grandparent (Eric Garcetti, Keanu Reeves being examples). I’ll have to run numbers on this, but my gut guess is that in 2100, 33% of the population is white, 33% nonwhite, and 33% “off-white”
2. That being said — I think the USA would still putter along. There are plenty of examples of rich, sprawling, multi-ethnic empires with an entrenched elite. USA 2121 could resemble the government from starship troopers where the proposition at the core of the country is militarism.
The big question is whether American governance will continue to decline and screw it up.
America has already fallen and the Chinese Communist Party has already won. You just don't know it yet.
What is the United States? I guess you could argue that it consists of military bases and the like. But if you ask the ask the average American, the United States is its people: guys living in the suburbs, inner cities and rural areas. If you want to see who is "winning", then gauge the welfare of all those people with those of China. If you do that, then you'll find that the Chinese Communitst Party won long ago.
Now I'd much rather be an American citizen than a Chinese citizen for the very fact that I love my freedom: I'd rather be free and go to a cruddy job making cruddy money living a cruddy existence, then have a good job making good money with a fantastic life but without the right to go where I please and own the means to my own safety. (2nd Amendment, anyone?)
That said, I can't help but compare and contrast the lives of those living in Beijing, Datong, Shanghai with that of Southern California and believe that the quality of life is better in SoCal. In fact, I would argue that the quality of life is extremely better in all those Chinese cities (well, Datong would be considered a town by the Chinese, but a city by Americans) than it is in Southern California, unless you're part of the ultra rich. If you compare those places with south Texas (probably the worst ghetto area I've been in), it's no contest.
One of the crown jewels of the United States are its suburbs. The house of the average American homeowner would get the envy of many in CDMX and China. But, then, you got to consider the crime, the long drives to anywhere (part of the reason why we have so much obesity, lack of public transport of good city planning), and you have to wonder if the suburbs are all that grand in the first place. Add in the high costs of owning a suburban nowadays and, again, you have an argument that your underlying premise is off: the United States has already lost.
This isn't to say the American people can't regain their greatness.
How do you think the demographic change of America will factor into the question of whether or not the USA will be a superpower in 2121? If in that time, Whites only account for a sixth of the population, could America hold on as the dominant superpower? Or are the advantages that the USA holds which you alluded to in the article strong enough to keep the "train" running?
1. The demographic transformation of America is real and is the most important issue we are not allowed to discuss in plain language. With that being said, I think the triumphalist left and doomer right have it wrong. The future of America is a lot of white people who have an Asian or Hispanic grandparent (Eric Garcetti, Keanu Reeves being examples). I’ll have to run numbers on this, but my gut guess is that in 2100, 33% of the population is white, 33% nonwhite, and 33% “off-white”
2. That being said — I think the USA would still putter along. There are plenty of examples of rich, sprawling, multi-ethnic empires with an entrenched elite. USA 2121 could resemble the government from starship troopers where the proposition at the core of the country is militarism.