[Westbrook]

It was Richard Nixon who invited China into the modern world.

I see they’ve accepted his invitation with great vigor.

The government is still authoritarian, but it’s difficult to crush people when they are wealthy.

That’s why our government wants to impoverish us. We will be easier to “manage”.

[Natural Born 54]

So true what you said. However, I’ll never be “easy to manage” and I’d guess you won’t either.

[nwrep]

On my many trips to China and back, it is becoming apparent to me that I am witnessing the slow regression of one society (the US) and the slow emergence of another (China).

Some of the most stark differences are in the manners and social protocols of public employees. The airport employees in Shanghai are trained to speak good English, and have excellent and courteous manners. Ditto for the immigration agents at the entry and exit, who always smile and say "Thank You." Then when I arrive in LAX or SFO (or JFK sometimes) it is readily apparent that I am returning to a third world country, the USA of 2010. Airport employees of various nationalities who do not speak good English, who are rude and brusque, and a general sense of disorganization and chaos that would have met a Westerner traveling to the Orient in the 1800s.

Clearly, the tables have turned. The Great Republic, once led by historic figures like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Reagan has now devolved into socialistic banana Republic headed by an Ethiopian eunuch. A once backward, Communist land is now the epicenter of Capitalism and dynamism, co-opting the creativity and ingenuity of the West.