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I think people tend to gloss over the fact that China has a population of more than 1.4 billion people in a land area that's slightly smaller than the US, multi
by indubitable 9y ago
I think people tend to gloss over the fact that China has a population of more than 1.4 billion people in a land area that's slightly smaller than the US, multiple territories in outright revolt, ongoing territorial conflict, some cities that are approaching inhospitability due to environmental damage, and our increasingly aggressive nation is something less than friendly with them.
I think one thing causing the apparent increase in political discontent in the US is the increasing metaphorical distance between congress and the people. Now imagine if you increased our population by more than 400%, had Hawaii declaring independence, and various states trying to separate either to go completely independent or join Mexico or Canada. And now of imagine that a coalition of China, Russia, Iran and other unfriendly nations were constantly posturing towards an invasion of Mexico which would put them right at our doorstep while their motherland remains far out of reach.
I'm in no way defending China, but I think it's safe to say that the level of authoritarianism we would respond with if we hit even a fraction of the issues they're facing would be unlike anything the world has ever seen. Our current political systems and technologies, regardless of specific political ideology, do not scale well.
That said there is one macabre issue that benefits China. About 50 years ago Chinese were starving to death by the tens of millions. While perhaps controversial, I think contentedness paradoxically breeds discontent. Consider in the US that much of the political discontent is heavily centered at some of the most privileged areas in the nation. We can wax poetic about justice and the nuance of social interaction. People struggling to just get by have more immediate issues to deal with. China's successful industrialization of their nation is already producing an increasingly large contented class to whom the struggles China has had are as personally familiar to them as the lynchings or Cold War of US history are to us. That newfounded contented class is likely to spark discontent towards the very actions that provided their luxury - and China will have to manage that somehow.
- canoebuilder 9y ago>had Hawaii declaring independence, and various states trying to separate either to go completely independent or join Mexico or Canada. And now of imagine that a coalition of China, Russia, Iran and other unfriendly nations were constantly posturing towards an invasion of Mexico Can you map these metaphors to their counterparts in China?
- Synaesthesia 9y agoI believe it’s the western states which are in rebellion, which have significant Muslim populations. North Korea is being threatened with invasion and China is encircled by US allies and military bases.
- canoebuilder 9y agoThanks. If you or anyone knows, which territories are trying to join a neighboring country?
- yorwba 9y agoI wouldn't call the situation in Xinjiang or Tibet a rebellion. There are independence movements of some importance, but AFAIK the majority population in both regions are Han Chinese by now, who have much less reason for separatism. A comparable situation for the US might be native Hawaiians campaigning for independence, while the majority population just doesn't care. There are probably such groups already, they just haven't resorted to violence enough/encountered a strong enough reaction by the state to become notorious.
- fapjacks 9y agoYou are really overestimating the substance of the native Hawaiian independence movement. The vast vast majority of people living in Hawaii are not even native Hawaiian to begin with. And even most local Hawaiians don't want independence from the United States. It is really a tiny minority offshoot with some specific political grievances. Independence isn't even seriously floated by the majority of these independence folks. The whole idea is just a political and marketing tool except to a very small group of people.
- fapjacks 9y agoI'm telling you right now... Let there be no illusion that Hawaii would or could ever declare independence from the mainland. Hawaiians wanting independence are a tiny minority, and even they realize that the residents of Hawaii have basically a three-way choice: The United States, Russia, or China. Hawaii is far too liberal and American and really everyone underestimates how much American military force is there on those islands. It ain't going anywhere without a fight that almost no one else can win.