So everyone is quaking in their boots about the rise of China and “state capitalism” as an alternative to the free market? Before you go dropping $1,500 on those heirloom seed capsules and clinging to your rifles and Bibles, take this into account:
No I can’t embed the graph… but it’s notable to see just a few things:
- Japan and China are virtually tied. Is Japan an economic threat to American security?
- Most European nations of any size are relatively close to China in terms of GDP. In fact, if not for the last five decades and the current economic slump, it would appear as if China has merely arrived — not that they are about to compete with the United States.
- Most of the BRIC countries are in competition with Canada and Mexico. Again, are Canada and Mexico really threats to the economic security of the United States?
Now before a certain someone comes on here and drop kicks me in public (you know who you are), there’s no question that the People’s Republic of China is the single greatest threat to world peace we know today. China is an enabler of terrorism, a sponsor of rouge states, and still — to its very core — a Communist country.
All that having been said, that China is on the brink of eclipsing the United States as the pre-eminent world power is false in the extreme. We are literally light years ahead of other nations, and our capacity to grow remains unlimited.
Given the strictures and the political problems of the PRC, and given the openness and relative political stability of the United States, it’s not difficult to place your bets on Western Civilization for many decades to come.