China Town

Paresh Nath (UAE)

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal
--Matthew 6:19

I don't know if I'm unhappy
because I'm not free,
or if I'm not free because I'm unhappy
--Breathless (1960)

Son of a bitch!
Goddamn Florsheim shoe!
--Chinatown (1974)
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As Ranger stares into his bowl of WonTon soup, his mind floats to China's role in the U.S. trade deficit (doesn't everyone's?)

The U.S.-China relationship seems to mimic that of the Dutch settlers to the native inhabitants of Manhattan, from whom they "bought" the island for $24 worth of trinkets and beads. We buy trinkets, toys and non-essential beads which we don't need and can ill-afford, committing the next generations to pre-existing debt based upon the accumulation of those meaningless trinkets.

While we pile up tchotchkes, here is what China is doing: Pursuing a strategy that will gain them trade and new resources from Africa and other emergent markets. They are filling voids that U.S. policy is creating.

While the U.S. bogs itself down in ideological wars posing as counterinsurgency, the Chinese are growing, expanding and beating the U.S. to the ground in formerly colonial areas.

These simple observations lead one to speculate that the Communist system of China has produced greater thinkers and leaders than have the vaunted systems of democratic nations. The Chinese are not wrapped up in a ball over al-Qaeda and terrorism and fighting non-growth-making wars. Our leaders are bush league in comparison, when considering the welfare of the nation.

China's leaders are not distracted by distractions. They are rolling down the 8-lane highway to modernity, high-speed, while we are locked into securing alleyways in sand box nations. China is overflowing with optimism, of a sort it is hard to find in the U.S. today.

So, are second-class minds running our country, or are we all second-class thinkers? We base our national existence on concepts of terrorism that are unverifiable and contrary to logic and reason. Contrast this with the reality-based leadership of China which deals in reality benefiting their society.

China is moving forward, while we march in place. We are witnessing the death of optimism, which is the wellspring of capitalism.