Vietnam – a curious American darling!
The US needs to temper its dreams of a love affair with Vietnam helping its geopolitical contest with China.
Biden meets Xi today!
Today, China’s Xi is scheduled to meet with President Biden in San Francisco (Biden to meet Xi on Wednesday in San Francisco Bay area, US says).
What can we expect from this meeting?
Nothing substantial, other than it is nice for them to talk face-to-face.
Specifically, three perspectives:
- Trust.
- Competition.
- It is the system, stupid!
Let me briefly elaborate on each …
9/11/2001 Attack vs. Pearl Harbor Attack
Here is a recent news story: Bibi blasts ceasefire: Israeli PM Asks if U.S. Would Have Ceasefire After Pearl Harbor, 9/11.
What an absurd comparison!
More profoundly, is the analogy between the 9/11 attack and the Pearl Harbor attack, as is often done in America, even valid?
Yes and no!
America in two wars
Currently, there are two major wars ongoing: Ukraine and Gaza. America is heavily behind both.
Why is it?
Money – Almost everything American is about money!
America between Israel and Palestine?
The news of the week has been Israel is at war with Hamas. Here’s what to know. So, let me add my two cents …
As a Chinese-American, I have no personal stake in this conflict, but I am deeply concerned about America, especially its one-sidedness for Israel, against not only Palestine but also the global south (Injustice Against Palestinians Cannot Continue)!
America: It is democracy, stupid!
In a previous post, I called out “America: It is the political system, stupid!” What, then, is America’s political system?
Democracy!
In other words, “it is democracy, stupid!”
America: It is the political system, stupid!
America is deeply in trouble (A quarter of Americans open to taking up arms against government, poll says), with no easy way out.
Why is that?
Simply put, it is the political system, stupid!
Worker strikes in America
This post was triggered by these two recent news stories:
- Autoworkers strike expands significantly against GM and Stellantis.
- WGA and the studios reach tentative deal to end writers’ strike.
Although there are some serious differences between the two strikes, I will leave them alone. Instead, I will simply state that I am all for the striking workers for two main reasons:
- The wage gap between the workers and the CEOs in America is simply unacceptable (Wage gap between CEOs and US workers jumped to 670-to-1 last year).
- For the workers, striking is now the only way to fight back before a revolution.
Toward an ideal form of government?
China’s dramatic comeback over the past four decades has upended almost everything in the West, where prosperity was largely built on colonialism and imperialism over the past 500 years.
In this post, I will ask and answer two critical questions:
- What is an ideal form of government?
- How to get there from here?
Aging leaders: the USA vs. the USSR
I have been trying to write on this subject for a while (The uproar over Diane Feinstein, explained). This recent news story has finally got me going: Nancy Pelosi Says She’ll Seek Reelection In 2024.
Simply put, in terms of aging leaders, the USA today remarkably resembles the USSR in the 1980s. Hear me out …