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A friend of mine asked me the other day, where are we going economically, socially and politically?
In reply I will concern myself with the political question first.
Of the two most pressing political issues of the day — Ukraine and China — it is China the one that is largest.
China’s economic power has been impressive and has bolstered its political ambitions. In their enthusiasm, they have come to believe they have discovered the best way to govern human beings, so why not spread it around.
Their expansionism, however, has echoes of the same expansionism that became the norm for the Russian communist party 60 years ago. Along with the same kind of baggage.
Coercion. Censorship. Surveillance of citizens in the guise of helping the downtrodden.
As before, it is most attractive to autocrats everywhere.
Presently, there is roughly one communist party member for every 14 citizens in China.
There are no free elections in the country. If their current leader, Xi Jinping says he wants to extend his reign for another term, the party cadres make sure it happens.
Has China accomplished much?
Yes. Far more than the Soviet economy ever did. But a system without political freedoms is not a sustainable system.
China has prospered under the communist party because it first opened to the West.
Starting in the 1970s, it was the influx of western investment attracted by the abundance of cheap Chinese labor that acted as the…
