China and America Aren’t Just in a Trade War. It’s a Fight for the 21st Century.

4 comments

1. Writing in *The Free Press,* [Matt Pottinger](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/matt-pottinger) and Liza Tobin write that Wednesday’s announcement of 125% tariffs on China’s exports to the US amounts to a global “great divorce” between the US and Chinese economies, with “the rest of the world up for grabs as part of the settlement.” They write that while Trump has the upper hand on trade, the US could still lose the competition overall based on China’s technological advances and a possible invasion of Taiwan. That’s because if the People’s Republic of China seizes Taiwan, its supplies of high-end semiconductors will fall into China’s hands. The authors also urge the US not to alienate its allies such as Japan, Australia, the UK, and EU with continued tariffs. 

2. China owns the 21st century. It’s a numbers game.

   “What has happened is that in the last 20 years, America has changed from a producer to a consumer
   And all consumers know that when the producer names the tune, the consumer has got to dance”

   That was written by Gil Scott Heron in 1981. Prophetic.

3. I don’t know if you’ve seen literally any US news in the past 6 months or so but right now the US is trying to burn down every single relationship and operate like a country completely alone on earth.

   That formula almost by definition means the US won’t be a leader for the next century. There’s still a big factor around the US military but absent a full on global conflict that just doesn’t matter like it used to

4. Missing from all this is one factor, which historically indicates the decline of empires: stupidity, an important index.
   If you choose champions to represent you then let them be champions, not mediocre.
   If you choose fools you will only have chaos, and here you have a team of idiots.

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