Don’t you think it’s a little bratty of the U.S. media to constantly be reporting about all the mistakes the Chinese are making, have made, or are likely to make in the future? I wonder how Americans would have felt if a more economically and technologically advanced world superpower was hovering over our shoulders, scrutinizing every move we made during the Industrial Revolution? Would it have made us better? Or just angry?
Well I, for one, am supporting the Chinese right now. They’ve made amazing technological, structural and economic advances in the past 30 years. As a humanitarian, of course I understand that some of these advances have come with a steep human cost, but what country has not advanced in such a way? And how can we possibly be the moral police of the world when we are the cause of so much of its current strife? Rather than judge before the games even begin, why not give China a clean slate on which to write their future?
I hope the 2008 Olympic Games shine the spotlight on China in a way that make tourists visit in droves. China needs a steady influx of money in order to fix some of the infrastructure and energy/pollution problems our media seems so eager to judge, and new tourism would be a great boon for the fledgling superpower.
Some are probably worried that China becoming a world superpower will usurp our 50 year claim to that title, but I think not. They will provide us with challenge. And no period of American history has been so productive and innovative as when we’ve faced a challenge. Remember Sputnik? (Well I don’t, but I know the history.) The U.S. needs a challenger if we’re to continue innovating and advancing, because frankly, right now, we’re stagnant.
So while all eyes are on China for the next few weeks, I wish them the best in their endeavor to reinvent themselves. I hope they succeed.
Chunks of Life 