Morning - I will not be checking in until late evening. Aspects of modern China will be today's subject.
Pepe Esobar article from last November Xi’s road map to the Chinese Dream lays out the near future.
Good Morning - I plan on continuing to write on Chinese culture for a few threads. The culture has lasted for several thousand years and has been extensively documented by its citizens. Looking back can teach us, life can be rich and complex without modern conveniences. We just need to have the knowledge of the methods and tools to live a different life style. Suspending judgement on if China is/was a better society than Western provides multiple case studies on development of human civilizations, agriculture and politics.
A modern animation of Along the River During the Qingming Festival painting from the Song Dynasty originally created by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145 AD) shows a rich urban culture based on trade and small businesses. Multiple versions have been painted in the following centuries showing everyday people and activities,
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxff-4GktOI]
Trump is a godsend for all of our foreign rivals who want to see an end to American hegemony.
When even our lapdog Japan speaks up, you know things are getting out of hand.
It's not like you couldn't see this one coming.
Last week, right before Trump imposed new economic sanctions on Iran, Reuters posted this headline:
Iran oil sanctions could advance China's 'petro-yuan'
If you thought Europe was onboard with Washington's efforts to isolate Russia, think again.
The Global Times is a news daily that caters to China’s ruling Communist Party. The paper announces cultural and social events and tracks of China's achievements in its space program, and in the sciences, education, technology, and business. China's unique form of communism is one that likes to plan ahead, driven by an ever-evolving social vision. Their goals can be very long and ambitious, like stabilizing the size of the population (the one-child program), in order to lift tens of millions out of poverty and into a sustainable consumer class. The Party's goals can also be shorter and more targeted, such as the current anti-corruption sweep and systems-reform that will be designed to avert recurrence, similar to the New Deal era banking regulations that did the same.
The century-long global hegemony of the U.S. dollar may have ended today.
That's not an overstatement.
Techno fetishism has reached ridiculous levels, with product rollouts from megacorps like Apple resembling Paris Haute Couture fashion shows - most of the apps and features "on the runway" are for the fetishists.
Last week the Trump Administration announced that it was boosting the Marine Corps Expeditionary Units in East Asia to counter Chinese aggression.
Two pieces of news came out today that could have dramatic effects on how far you can stretch your paycheck.
First of all is the news out of Canada.
