by Michael Skinner

Created on: June 28, 2009   Last Updated: July 17, 2011

Winning!

Neither we nor Charlie Sheen are fooling anyone.  Given the financial hole we have put ourselves in; the world may one day no longer be pegged to the dollar. Rather the world may be pegged to the Yuan-China's currency. China has clearly arrived. The trashing of the dollar began under Bush and continues under Obama. Obama is trying to inflate the US out of debt and it is unlikely he will succeed. Would you want to be paid in worthless paper?

Can you spare dime?

A communist nation has exploited capitalism to improve the lives of its citizens and the economy of the nation. China has become a net exporter of goods and money. The United States owes China so much money it's not funny. If the Chinese ever decide to call the note due, we are looking at a depression.

When I think of the cold war I think of the now defunct Soviet Union. To my mind, the last time China was a major enemy was when it was on the side of North Korea during the Korean War.

China did render aid and assistance to the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam war but I think of the Vietnam warm in terms of the effect it had on US internal politics. In the international geopolitical struggle, the Soviet Union was our greatest foe. And we defeated them.

Backdoor Methods

China played a smarter game than the Soviet Union during the cold war era. China has been around for thousands of years and may be around for a thousand more. One of the philosophies espoused by the Chinese at the time was the notion that you could "touch the tiger's bottom." It was a way of way of confronting the west but it was not necessarily direct confrontation. There would definitely be some brinkmanship but it was more an expression of the will and courage of the Chinese people. China could afford to worry less about what the outside word thought and to be more concerned with it's internal development.

Follow the Money

If you think carefully about it, it becomes clear that adopting Capitalistic methods was a matter of self preservation for China. It is true that in many countries for much of the time, ordinary people don't give a rat's behind about politics and especially don't particularly care about politics as it is played in the national capital. For China, this lack of concern that inevitably creeps in at the local level, thousands of miles from Beijing is always a major concern. It is one reason why they see the succession of far flung provinces as threat to their control even when it might be easier to

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