Poll of the Day > Serious question about China taking over the US as a "world leader"

(+) Yeah! (+)

I hear sometimes from relatives or the internet or whatever that some people want the government to socialize things and this is bad because itll make us poor, or lead to communism, or raise taxes to unsustainable levels, or increase crime, or increase inflation, etc.

Putting aside whether any of that is true or not, a lot of the times Ill hear from the same people that all of this will mean the US falls in global importance and China takes over. I have two questions about this that Im not sure I understand.

The first is why China being more important than the US is necessary a bad thing. Or what that would even imply. Does that mean we all learn Mandarin for international business meetings? What am I missing here?

Second, these same folks will often say that China is bad because its a communist country or a dictatorship or something. Im not saying its the best place on earth or anything, but if China is communist and in a position to take over the US as a major international actor, why would the US becoming more socialized affect anything? Seems to me if this style of government would make the US fall, it cant also make China rise up, right?

I dont hear these opinions super often, so Im not saying its a widely held political belief or anything, but Im sure youve all heard similar. Im just trying to understand.
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Theyre drastically oversimplifying things

Chinas entire economy is very volatile and built on a house of cards in many ways. For the time being at least they actually rely on the west even more than we do on them.
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So if they were in charge then then world economy would also be volatile? Would the US becoming more communist (whatever that means) really make it more plausible that the world economy relies on China?

Also if anyone has good news articles or knows of any reputable journals on this kind of subject, please link. I dont have a deep understanding of international political economies, and what I know had more to do with US/EU than any other countries.
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China has some overly problematic tendencies which would make it a worrisome influencer... but really the same could be said of the US, especially considering that our influence was used to incite and inflame the Arab Spring which has had disastrous short-term (and probably long-term) consequences for the region. However, the idea that China will usurp the US as a world leader is, to some extent, an almost hyperbolic embellishment. We're more likely to increasingly lose our status to another Western nation.
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the chinese government heavily controls the economy (and more) with central planning but it's still very much capitalism. in china, government is pretty repressive and authoritarian when it comes to individual liberties, but I'm pretty sure the quality of life is actually okay on average since everything is so cheap.
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You're being pessimistic. Learn to speak Russian instead.
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acesxhigh posted...

the chinese government heavily controls the economy (and more) with central planning but it's still very much capitalism.

The system China has isn't close to what the West envisions as capitalism.

https://www.ft.com/content/29ee1750-a42a-11e7-9e4f-7f5e6a7c98a2

That's overlooking the protectionist system which limits foreign companies' ability to operate in or sell to China. The government essentially blocks their entire internet from the outside world (#GoldenShieldProject), ensuring that Chinese websites providing similar services are able to thrive. And while socialist nations like Canada restrict how much foreign material can be broadcast within the country, China goes many steps further and restricts the number of foreign films allowed in the country while, at the same time, imposing rules for the content itself. This ensures that Chinese films are able to thrive thanks to reduced competition.

And, of course, the country has very little respect for intellectual copyrights and the government has been complicit in cyber attacks against US businesses to help Chinese companies steal corporate secrets. Even within the past few months there was a major breach

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/us/politics/china-hack-navy-contractor-.html

As for Chinese foreign policy, the *only* presidential candidate to really take a stand early on against China's illegal annexation of the South China Sea was Jim Webb... and he quickly dropped out in favor of the absolute joke Bernie Sanders (a guy in politics almost all of his life and yet bombs basic foreign policy questions) and the not-so-inevitable Hillary Clinton (oh, and the forgettable Martin O'Malley). Sufficed to say, increased Chinese influence probably wouldn't be a good thing for China's neighbors. (Of course, if we hadn't neutered Japan's defense forces, its influence might have helped keep China in check.)
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In what? Child labor?

Zeus posted...

The system China has isn't close to what the West envisions as capitalism.

well we call it state capitalism. but there are lots of private companies in china, yes they are intertwined with the state in a way but it's not entirely dissimilar to america's iron triangle, military-industrial complex, etc. you can tell because obama bailed out the bankers, duh. capitalism?

Zeus posted...

And while socialist nations like Canada

socialist as in mostly dominated by large private companies and pro-neoliberal policies sure
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acesxhigh posted...

Zeus posted...

The system China has isn't close to what the West envisions as capitalism.

well we call it state capitalism. but there are lots of private companies in china, yes they are intertwined with the state in a way but it's not entirely dissimilar to america's iron triangle, military-industrial complex, etc. you can tell because obama bailed out the bankers, duh. capitalism?

Those situations aren't even close to being the same, especially because the banks are federally insured and -- I should mention -- China (among others) has completely state-run banks. And while military contractors have close ties with governments in most countries (*because* the government is their biggest customer), it goes far, far, far beyond military contractors with China. That's not counting that China routinely subsidizes its own businesses in pretty significant ways to undercut foreign companies.

acesxhigh posted...

Zeus posted...

And while socialist nations like Canada

socialist as in mostly dominated by large private companies and pro-neoliberal policies sure

Socialist as in heavy government control, government-run industries, government restrictions on the amount of foreign content allowed on Canadian radio+tv, extremely generous social safety nets, and so on.
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I hear sometimes from relatives or the internet or whatever that some people want the government to socialize things and this is bad because itll make us poor, or lead to communism

lol topic list
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