Irony: In trying to win, the Chinese leaders are enforcing a death spiral. History judges with brutal honesty, and not on intentions. Play it through: - they

Irony: In trying to win, the Chinese leaders are enforcing a death spiral. History judges with brutal honesty, and not on intentions. Play it through: - they can't back down --> means they can't not lose half a trillion per year in current revenue --> means they don't get to spend that money on "Chinese advancement", but they might foolishly think they look "tough". I can think of five ways out of this where they win. If they are too stupid to do so, then they don't really deserve to be in power, do they. One of the big arguments for the authoritarian structure is that they get fewer pretty faces, and 3/4 the way up the chain of command they should get higher levels of actual capability.