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A Chinese national was talking about this 100 year plan to me just the other day. It's certainly no secret or just a theory. The Chinese Dream is all about "the

A Chinese national was talking about this 100 year plan to me just the other day. It's certainly no secret or just a theory. The Chinese Dream is all about "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation". This isn't explicitly about overtaking the US, it's more about China taking what it considers to be its rightful place in the world - and that certainly isn't second place. In my view, it's only rational that this would be their goal. China is definitely no friend of the US, nor an enemy (at this point), but definitely a genuine competitor. If the US does not recognize this and act accordingly, China will indeed replace it as the world superpower. If you're Chinese, this would be great news, if you're American it would be concerning. It's always going to be bad news for one of the parties due to the conflicting ideologies.

yodsanklai 8y ago
> If you're Chinese, this would be great news, if you're American it would be concerning. What if you're not American nor Chinese?
- axelrosen 8y ago
  Generally going to face a similar fate as Americans. With exception of a few sanctioned countries everyone can participate economically and legally in the US subject to the same laws.
- wybiral 8y ago
  Pick a side to bet on.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  If you're not American or Chinese... And America and China really do want to both be the lone superpower. (I'm just not convinced of this premise by the way, but let's assume it's true)... Then the rational thing for you to do is look back on the past, what? 70 or so years and ask yourself has it been good for you or bad for you? That should give you a pretty good idea of which nation you'd be best off with as the super-power. Then kick back, grab some popcorn, and hope that your guy wins. I mean, if you're not American or Chinese... it's easy.
  - xiphias2 8y ago
    I hope that my country (Hungary) will not be the battle ground for the 2 superpowers. It was for the last 1000 years.
    - setr 8y ago
      In that case you don’t care who wins — just that win quickly ;)
  - nbsd4life 8y ago
    the 'cold war' ended up being a bunch of proxy actual-wars in my area, and I don't think the thousands that died liked it very much.
bilbo0s 8y ago
>China will indeed replace it as the world superpower... Again, why would this be an issue? I mean, for us here in the USA? Why would we not want to be rid of the "privilege" of being the "super" power in what is clearly a multi-polar world?
- wybiral 8y ago
  China would need to come clean with a few of the skeletons behind its firewall before I would feel comfortable with them wielding that much power. I'm not saying that America is innocent (by any means), just that I would rather them hand the torch to a country that's more honest to their own people and operates more openly.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    >just that I would rather them hand the torch to a country that's more honest to their own people and operates more openly. So, China then? At least with party rule, what you get is what you see.
- pault 8y ago
  The US position as the top superpower is what allows it to print its way out of recessions without being crushed by inflation, since all those extra dollars get stashed away in foreign reserves. If the dollar loses that status, the chicken that is the federal debt will finally come home to roost. At least that's my understanding. If the US loses its edge, inflation will go up as growth slows, resulting in something like Japan's lost decade. Not to mention the preferential treatment it gets by having the biggest stick.
  - bilbo0s 8y ago
    I'd make two points here though: First, the vast majority of our debt is owed to ourselves, not to foreigners. Second, what makes our dollars so valuable, is not our status as a super-power, but our willingness to pay it back. Think of it this way, the big ticket items in the US government budget are the military, Medicare/SS, and debt service. Now we hear all the time talk about cuts to the military or medicare/ss. But no one even CONSIDERS talk about cutting debt service. THAT is what makes dollars so valuable. (It's also why the vast majority of them are eaten up by us and not foreigners.) So I'm not convinced at all that our dollars are valuable because we are a super-power. Russia was a super-power, and no one was stockpiling rubles. Likewise, Switzerland is not a super-power, but everyone should have some swiss francs.
sonnyblarney 8y ago
"f you're Chinese, this would be great news" Why? When China becomes uber powerful, will the state then stop controlling everyone's thoughts? Will they have basic rights then? Or will corruption go away? Will people still be looking to flee China when it's #1?
- jpe32 8y ago
  It's just a story. Some people like the story and rally around it. As our world gets more and more hyperconnected whatever delusions groups of people have of their favorite story being accepted as global narrative get tested very fast. And break down faster if there is no universal appeal. There are enough examples playing out around the world. All these nationalistic stories will keep breaking down. There are 5 billion more people in the world than the Americans and Chinese put together. They aren't going to blindly bend over to either an American or Chinese narrative. We like to live in this dream state that the most powerful countries matter. They dont. Ask the Taliban. The Indians and Russians and Europeans and South Americans and Africans don't give one shit about Make America great again or Make China great again. What will play out is a collapse of these narratives in spectacular fashion.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    Well, whether the give a shit or not, there are winners and losers. People didn't give a shit about the Roman Empire either.
  - sonnyblarney 8y ago
    "We like to live in this dream state that the most powerful countries matter. They dont. Ask the Taliban." You mean ask a bunch of people living in the stone age, who are getting killed en masse what they think of their power relative to others? I think you picked maybe the worst possible example: just because a group can live on rice in inhostile territory doesn't mean that the power ratio is negated. If the Americans wanted to actually destroy the Taliban it wouldn't be that hard, it would just come at a cost nobody wants to pay.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]

yodsanklai 8y ago

> If you're Chinese, this would be great news, if you're American it would be concerning. What if you're not American nor Chinese?

axelrosen 8y ago
Generally going to face a similar fate as Americans. With exception of a few sanctioned countries everyone can participate economically and legally in the US subject to the same laws.
wybiral 8y ago
Pick a side to bet on.
bilbo0s 8y ago
If you're not American or Chinese... And America and China really do want to both be the lone superpower. (I'm just not convinced of this premise by the way, but let's assume it's true)... Then the rational thing for you to do is look back on the past, what? 70 or so years and ask yourself has it been good for you or bad for you? That should give you a pretty good idea of which nation you'd be best off with as the super-power. Then kick back, grab some popcorn, and hope that your guy wins. I mean, if you're not American or Chinese... it's easy.
- xiphias2 8y ago
  I hope that my country (Hungary) will not be the battle ground for the 2 superpowers. It was for the last 1000 years.
  - setr 8y ago
    In that case you don’t care who wins — just that win quickly ;)
- nbsd4life 8y ago
  the 'cold war' ended up being a bunch of proxy actual-wars in my area, and I don't think the thousands that died liked it very much.

bilbo0s 8y ago

>China will indeed replace it as the world superpower... Again, why would this be an issue? I mean, for us here in the USA? Why would we not want to be rid of the "privilege" of being the "super" power in what is clearly a multi-polar world?

wybiral 8y ago
China would need to come clean with a few of the skeletons behind its firewall before I would feel comfortable with them wielding that much power. I'm not saying that America is innocent (by any means), just that I would rather them hand the torch to a country that's more honest to their own people and operates more openly.
- coldtea 8y ago
  >just that I would rather them hand the torch to a country that's more honest to their own people and operates more openly. So, China then? At least with party rule, what you get is what you see.
pault 8y ago
The US position as the top superpower is what allows it to print its way out of recessions without being crushed by inflation, since all those extra dollars get stashed away in foreign reserves. If the dollar loses that status, the chicken that is the federal debt will finally come home to roost. At least that's my understanding. If the US loses its edge, inflation will go up as growth slows, resulting in something like Japan's lost decade. Not to mention the preferential treatment it gets by having the biggest stick.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  I'd make two points here though: First, the vast majority of our debt is owed to ourselves, not to foreigners. Second, what makes our dollars so valuable, is not our status as a super-power, but our willingness to pay it back. Think of it this way, the big ticket items in the US government budget are the military, Medicare/SS, and debt service. Now we hear all the time talk about cuts to the military or medicare/ss. But no one even CONSIDERS talk about cutting debt service. THAT is what makes dollars so valuable. (It's also why the vast majority of them are eaten up by us and not foreigners.) So I'm not convinced at all that our dollars are valuable because we are a super-power. Russia was a super-power, and no one was stockpiling rubles. Likewise, Switzerland is not a super-power, but everyone should have some swiss francs.

sonnyblarney 8y ago

"f you're Chinese, this would be great news" Why? When China becomes uber powerful, will the state then stop controlling everyone's thoughts? Will they have basic rights then? Or will corruption go away? Will people still be looking to flee China when it's #1?

jpe32 8y ago
It's just a story. Some people like the story and rally around it. As our world gets more and more hyperconnected whatever delusions groups of people have of their favorite story being accepted as global narrative get tested very fast. And break down faster if there is no universal appeal. There are enough examples playing out around the world. All these nationalistic stories will keep breaking down. There are 5 billion more people in the world than the Americans and Chinese put together. They aren't going to blindly bend over to either an American or Chinese narrative. We like to live in this dream state that the most powerful countries matter. They dont. Ask the Taliban. The Indians and Russians and Europeans and South Americans and Africans don't give one shit about Make America great again or Make China great again. What will play out is a collapse of these narratives in spectacular fashion.
- coldtea 8y ago
  Well, whether the give a shit or not, there are winners and losers. People didn't give a shit about the Roman Empire either.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  "We like to live in this dream state that the most powerful countries matter. They dont. Ask the Taliban." You mean ask a bunch of people living in the stone age, who are getting killed en masse what they think of their power relative to others? I think you picked maybe the worst possible example: just because a group can live on rice in inhostile territory doesn't mean that the power ratio is negated. If the Americans wanted to actually destroy the Taliban it wouldn't be that hard, it would just come at a cost nobody wants to pay.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]