Americans do not get China, as we head to oblivion

I remember hearing recently - I might have been in China when I heard this - that China recommended that the United States engage in more social spending and less defense spending in order to more reliably pay its debts.  Say what you want about the flaws of the Chinese system, they're right on the money here.

In Kaifeng, Henan province, they've opened a "historical theme park" based on a scroll created in the Song dynasty (roughly our Middle Ages - a high point of Chinese civilization).  This is clearly a country that wishes to tie its past to its present (wait til I show you what the Confucius temple/home looks like).  It is clearly a country identifying itself as the leading force in the world.  While I was in China, there was wall-to-wall "coverage" of  the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.  The Chinese governmental system is best described as hopelessly complex, and not without its own problems.  I read the Wikipedia entry on it, and still don't understand all the details of it.  But one thing is for certain: it seems to have been attempted to create a structure that doesn't simply put an oligarchy based on wealth in a privileged position in the country.

And the USA?  Well, our system is more or less deliberately designed to favor the wealthy and powerful.

And we are currently debating whether we shall be impoverished by benign warlords or by vicious, psychopathic warlords.

I'm not saying this because there's these pictures I took either - this "theme" seemed to be apparent everywhere I went in China.  I'll probably be repeating it a lot.