Peter Zeihan's observations (available on YouTube) on the problems China faces per demographics, energy and economic disaster are worth the time it takes to check them out.
My God these are dark times. They all use the exact same playbook that has never worked for any kind of meaningful time and is so transparent. Yet, over and over again, we have these megalomaniacal tyrants who think they can take over the world. And unfortunately not holding Putin to account for war crimes against humanity is emboldening other terrible leaders such as Xi.
Having one of the biggest land-wise countries on earth an authoritarian one as rigid as China - that's a much worse virus than Covid that they are literally spreading. Our Republican party has certainly caught this virus in a big way. Holding their May 2022 CPAC in Hungary with strongman leader Orban speaking - how much LOUDER do they want to get about fascism being their absolute goal?
I fear that Chinese society is everyone's future. Not exactly the same in every country, of course — they'll all be authoritarian with social monitoring and no privacy, but some will be straight dictatorships, some will be corporatist states, some will clothe their government in the trappings of democracy....
I feel like the world I know is speeding toward a cliff, and no one knows how to stop it.
Bo, thank you so much for pointing us to the work of the geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan especially with regards to the problems China faces including demography and energy. Peter Zeihan says “Instead of cheaper better faster we are rapidly transiting into a world that is pricier, worse and slower – and he says our present world is essentially breaking apart.”
Zeihan says that globalization created a world where we could go anywhere at anytime and interface with any entity to buy goods to ship to any market without needing a military escort which was NOT the case before WWII when the world was “Imperial.” And then Zeihan continues to say that the U.S. created globalization and patrolled the oceans so we could continue with our global security policies and build and strengthen Alliances that were needed for the “Cold War” world! But over time the “Cold War” eventually ended and that was 30 years ago and Zeihan is emphasizing that during the last seven U.S. Presidential elections, the candidate who was less interested in globalization was the winning candidate including the last shift from Trump to Biden! Interesting and I will explore this more.
I am presently reading the work of Economic Journalist Rana Foroohar involving “De-Globalization” in her new book that has recently come out entitled “Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World” (Oct 2022). In her book she focuses on globalization as we know it which she also says it is over and where she says the U.S. should be focusing on investing in our own manufacturing in the short run which will ultimately bring back more secure supply chains and manufacturing employment in the U.S. in the long run.
Rana Foroohar says that the 5 Rules for the Post-Global World That Business Leaders Must Know are the following:
Having spent some time in Taiwan, I saw how different the people are there, compared with China. I spoke with several people about the cultural differences. All had a sense of being Taiwanese and most felt that Taiwan should be independent. They have their own flag, their own currency and their own leader. They like their capitalist democracy. Taiwan has never been controlled by communist China and yet Xi feels it is his territory. Xi seems to be in the imperialism mode and seems to be slipping deeper into the strongman dictatorship role. I suspect Xi has some type of mental disorder where he is overwhelmed by his grandiose self image.
**The U.S. Federal Budget Deficit fell to $1.4 trillion for fiscal year 2022 (just ended Sept 30)!!!
**This was the largest one-year drop in U.S. History and a plunge of “HALF” from a year earlier!!!!
**The U.S. Budget Deficit will shrink by another $250 billion over the next decade given Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices now!!!!
**Outlays for Fiscal year 2022 (just ended Sept 30) fell by a record $550 billion (or 8%) from last year!!!
[The Republicans voted against the deficit reduction and our democracy! What??]
Go BLUE!!!
Go BLUE!!!
Go Democracy!!!
“Walt Whitman is considered the greatest poet of American democracy. A faith in the inherent dignity and nobility of the common man is the very root and basis of democracy. In his view all men and women are equal and all professions are equally honorable.”
I think the rise in authoritaianism we are currently expieriencing is due to technology advancements and the uses of Havana Syndrome type weapons. They can do a lot more than inflict concussions.
Peter Zeihan's observations (available on YouTube) on the problems China faces per demographics, energy and economic disaster are worth the time it takes to check them out.
My God these are dark times. They all use the exact same playbook that has never worked for any kind of meaningful time and is so transparent. Yet, over and over again, we have these megalomaniacal tyrants who think they can take over the world. And unfortunately not holding Putin to account for war crimes against humanity is emboldening other terrible leaders such as Xi.
Having one of the biggest land-wise countries on earth an authoritarian one as rigid as China - that's a much worse virus than Covid that they are literally spreading. Our Republican party has certainly caught this virus in a big way. Holding their May 2022 CPAC in Hungary with strongman leader Orban speaking - how much LOUDER do they want to get about fascism being their absolute goal?
I fear that Chinese society is everyone's future. Not exactly the same in every country, of course — they'll all be authoritarian with social monitoring and no privacy, but some will be straight dictatorships, some will be corporatist states, some will clothe their government in the trappings of democracy....
I feel like the world I know is speeding toward a cliff, and no one knows how to stop it.
De-Globalization and China
Bo, thank you so much for pointing us to the work of the geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan especially with regards to the problems China faces including demography and energy. Peter Zeihan says “Instead of cheaper better faster we are rapidly transiting into a world that is pricier, worse and slower – and he says our present world is essentially breaking apart.”
Zeihan says that globalization created a world where we could go anywhere at anytime and interface with any entity to buy goods to ship to any market without needing a military escort which was NOT the case before WWII when the world was “Imperial.” And then Zeihan continues to say that the U.S. created globalization and patrolled the oceans so we could continue with our global security policies and build and strengthen Alliances that were needed for the “Cold War” world! But over time the “Cold War” eventually ended and that was 30 years ago and Zeihan is emphasizing that during the last seven U.S. Presidential elections, the candidate who was less interested in globalization was the winning candidate including the last shift from Trump to Biden! Interesting and I will explore this more.
I am presently reading the work of Economic Journalist Rana Foroohar involving “De-Globalization” in her new book that has recently come out entitled “Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World” (Oct 2022). In her book she focuses on globalization as we know it which she also says it is over and where she says the U.S. should be focusing on investing in our own manufacturing in the short run which will ultimately bring back more secure supply chains and manufacturing employment in the U.S. in the long run.
Rana Foroohar says that the 5 Rules for the Post-Global World That Business Leaders Must Know are the following:
1. Globalization isn’t ending wholesale, it’s transforming.
2. De-globalization comes with challenges but also great opportunities.
3. There is no getting around the fact that a de-globalizing world will also be a more inflationary one, at least in the short-term.
4. Technology could help buffer the inflationary impact of a de-globalizing world.
5. Labor will have more power relative to capital.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-rules-post-global-world-business-leaders-must-know-rana-foroohar?trk=public_post
I will be exploring all of this further in the days to come. Thanks, Bo!
The cartoon really visually shows the threading of this internationally. The oblique brotherhood of despots, meglo-maniacs. A virus.
Having spent some time in Taiwan, I saw how different the people are there, compared with China. I spoke with several people about the cultural differences. All had a sense of being Taiwanese and most felt that Taiwan should be independent. They have their own flag, their own currency and their own leader. They like their capitalist democracy. Taiwan has never been controlled by communist China and yet Xi feels it is his territory. Xi seems to be in the imperialism mode and seems to be slipping deeper into the strongman dictatorship role. I suspect Xi has some type of mental disorder where he is overwhelmed by his grandiose self image.
A Win for America and our Democracy!!!!!
**The U.S. Federal Budget Deficit fell to $1.4 trillion for fiscal year 2022 (just ended Sept 30)!!!
**This was the largest one-year drop in U.S. History and a plunge of “HALF” from a year earlier!!!!
**The U.S. Budget Deficit will shrink by another $250 billion over the next decade given Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices now!!!!
**Outlays for Fiscal year 2022 (just ended Sept 30) fell by a record $550 billion (or 8%) from last year!!!
[The Republicans voted against the deficit reduction and our democracy! What??]
Go BLUE!!!
Go BLUE!!!
Go Democracy!!!
“Walt Whitman is considered the greatest poet of American democracy. A faith in the inherent dignity and nobility of the common man is the very root and basis of democracy. In his view all men and women are equal and all professions are equally honorable.”
I think the rise in authoritaianism we are currently expieriencing is due to technology advancements and the uses of Havana Syndrome type weapons. They can do a lot more than inflict concussions.