It was 1949 and China had succumbed to Communism, that Utopian sibling of Socialism and extreme left ideology that promises to provide endless welfare to eager recipients, but always fails to do so simply because a human behavioral imbalance develops. But it sounds good! With a changed geopolitical landscape, courtesy of World War II, Americans were concerned that Soviet and Chinese influence would spread, and, as the old saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. On that note, Richard Nixon visited China in 1972, and better relations was the generic and obvious reason given, but a case can be made that there was more to the plan than met the eye!

Needless to say, there’s always a need to look back and elevate one’s ancestors when the present is nothing more than a masked, long standing failure, and according to china.org.cn,

China is an East Asian country with a large territory, a huge population and an ancient history. With written records dating back 4,000 years, it is recognized as one of the four great ancient civilizations of the world, together with ancient Egypt, Babylon and India. Moreover, it is the only ancient civilization that has continued to this very day.

If one was to read all the pages at the website above, one would leave with the impression that China was the center of the Universe, and its intellectual prowess was such that the rest of the world was at their mercy. Hmm… so how does one explain China’s lack of achievements as recently as 30 years ago? Keep in mind that references to history are often a quest for self-aggrandizement, especially when the speaker has very little to brag about in the present, and, at times, history is nothing more than an artistic license to distort the facts. History also illustrates that humanity learns very little from the past and has a tendency to repeat its mistakes.

Spike Milligan once joked that “chopsticks are one of the reasons the Chinese never invented custard,”or, nicely translated, they cannot think outside the box. Harsh, without a doubt, but that’s the point around here! At a recent party, I met and engaged a rocket scientist — literally — and after a fabulous and lengthy conversation about geopolitical issues, I asked him what were China’s accomplishments over thousands of years, especially before the “Great Western Outsourcing.” His response was rather amusing because the only thing that stood out to him was “a pile of rocks that they call a great wall.”

Yet it appears that over the last decade there’s an expanding, misinformed and highly misplaced expectation that China will take over the world. Understandably, most people simply repeat what they hear, especially in a society where laziness has replaced critical thinking and is often rewarded with “likes.” But it’s absolutely pointless to try convincing the believers that they are misguided. Just seat back, enjoy the view, and observe the gurus seeking cover as their theories crumble right before their eyes.

So let’s move 20 years forward from Nixon’s visit, and 1992, give or take, was the point in time when the “Great Western Outsourcing” was initiated, also known in smart circles as the irresistible “Trojan Economic Horse.” No, Bill Clinton never saw that one coming, for he was extremely occupied and his time was being sucked by other affairs. On the flip side, cheap labor has always been appealing to myopic, quarterly-driven capitalists, and we shall pinpoint at a later date why capitalism has stupidly shot itself on both feet and will pay dearly for their choices. In addition, labor savings are not always passed to the consumer and create their own economic issues, while enriching a few circus performers at the expense of the starstruck. Think Nike!

Want proof of the “Great Western Outsourcing?” We must look at U.S. imports of goods from China on a monthly basis, courtesy of FRED, and quickly realize that the value of imports from China to the good U.S. of A. increased an astonishing 2,000% over the last two decades. But many still point to China’s economic ascent as if it was mostly organic and due to Chinese ingenuity. Needless to say, one must always let them believe whatever makes them happy, because the painful reality is that everything will fall in place and the poor schmucks will have nowhere to hide.

Moving forward another 20 years brings us to 2012, and the Chinese economic boom of the last two decades created two major self-defeating problems: domestic political instability, largely masked by the constant government lies about economic growth among other things, and an irreversible health issue which will not be resolved by importing Canadian mountain air. In addition, and unbeknownst to Chinese and Western scientists for that matter, the one child policy reduced the country’s aggregate IQ (fascinating stuff to say the least) which will take generations to restore. So here we are, 44 years later and in the pollution phase as documented by Bloomberg, resulting from greed and sheer stupidity for not learning from history and the West’s past mistakes. Smart, very smart, indeed!

Looking 20 years forward to 2032, one can only assume that China will contribute to a much needed reduction in the Earth’s population, further undergoing a painful adjustment to economic overcapacity, and India will be in the same club, with New Delhi now the most polluted city in the word. I know, it would be far more appealing to talk about peace, curing disease, reducing poverty, and a goose of golden eggs in every home, but that domain is crowded, and if one hasn’t noticed, that is not how the Earth functions. Humanity’s ongoing script is filled with irony because for every pro there’s a con and vice-versa, and there will always be that developing world that will never develop because there is no such thing as equality only because it’s not in the planet’s interest. The master ecosystem will see to that!

It would be a stretch to assume that Nixon had foreseen this sequence of events, and had meticulously crafted a Machiavellian plan for the Chinese to pollute themselves out of existence. But those that thrive on blaming everyone but themselves for all the ills of the world can now add another scapegoat and conspiracy theory to their arsenal of stupid ideas as the demise of a great civilization is afoot. Disagreeing or vehemently protesting will not change a thing, although everyone is welcome to do so.

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