Review my Daily iblog containing posts of my observations, notes, and opinion on a range of topics from International Affairs, to faith and spirituality.
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I recall having a heated discussion with my peers about 18 year ago regarding the forthcoming rise of China. Of course China was blooming and started to play a role in manufacturing goods but it was no where near what it turned out to be in recent years.
None of my business associates shared my vision around the integral role that China will play in defining the layout of the economics of scale around the globe. After all China had became the greatest manufacturing conglomerate of consumer goods for the world, and the largest provider of habitual consumerism for the American public.
Today economists view China as becoming a global power, and a definite player in international politics an monetary gravitational pull, as it muscles out throughout its military parade displays, and investments purchasing ventures. Some analysts even go to the extent of predicting that China will become the next superpower.
However my stance on the issue differs from this overview. It is this exact power of scale production that will create a downfall in China's international status. A recent example of the downside of mass production is in the sacrificial ratio of quality to safety in its products. Consumer reports around the globe are overwhelmed with recalls over tainted goods.
Recent economic woes around the world further my view on the matter. With the USA, Canada, England, Europe, Japan and Australia suffering from economic inflations, China has no where to go but in the same directions. After All North America Accounts by itself to a major piece of foreign trade for China. In other word if Consumers around these developed countries to jolt back with there spending power, they will definitely Affect adversely on the Economic growth China. China' s well being is tied hand to hand with the recovery of all the other countries other wise there is no place to grow.
People forget that the only reason China had become a world player in economic powers is because it relies on the consumption power of people around the world. So it is a Catch 24 situation, it is of its best interest to keep its investments alive around the world because that will only mean constant flow to its growth. If these investments are worth much less then there face value than that would mean loss of world positioning.
Another issue haunting China is it's One Child Policy, this policy is causing a shift in the demographics. Soon enough China will have a shortage in workers to replace its existing aging population. This policy is also causing a shift in the sex of infants born. A worrisome sign is the practice of abortion whenever a girl is born. Chinese couples are opting to have male kids instead of female kids. That will also contribute to the diminishing numbers of reproduction. The reasons couples are opting to have a male kid is socioeconomic.
Finally the geographic size and the existing population of China makes it impossible to provide an adequate infrastructure similar to other leading developed countries. It is going to be extremely hard to provide transportation systems, medical care and education at the same level of other developed countries.
For the reasons above I see that China has maneuver through complex realities to remain as affluent in this world as it is now.
The very definition of democracy resides in the hands of the people who decide what it is and how to interpret it. We cannot impose a foreign inspired definition of democracy in cultural settings that are different then ours. The Definition of democracy is not he same across the globe. An example of how promoting a democracy backed by a foreign government can back fire is the recent winning of Hamas in the Palestinian elections. If the people choose there leaders that is a democracy.
That is not to say that the new unfolded democracy is the best available solution the public was aware of. In other words in order to promote democracy the people have to be educated on the choices available and the results of there selection. In the case of iraq promoting a democracy had killed more people in six years than all the combined 35 years under the dictatorship of Saddam Husein. These results can let you wonder if promoting democracy is the right thing to do in some countries around the world. Specially when that new democracy is tailored after foreign backed democracies. We need to devise new definitions and concepts of democracies that work differently around the world.