What we're up against..
I just came back from China and boy was that an eye opening experience. This was my second trip to mainland China. I had gone there four years ago before the Beijing Olympics, but this time I was absolutely stunned. The first time I went there I was expecting a dark depressing country with people clad in dark Mao jackets with bicycles and rickshaws.. But instead I saw a vibrant country, industrialized, full of color and full of life. The people were so eager to please and eager to learn. In Beijing, I saw no less than 100 cranes in a 6 block radius. The city was encircled by six 8 lane highways and the glamour of the buildings would stand up against a New York building any day of the week. Shanghai was even more beautiful. Full of life and people and anything your heart could desire. Just four years later, Shanghai is even more transformed. You can see wealth and opulance everywhere you go. Shops and restaurants with every possible food, drink and merchandise. Mercedes Benz, Cadillacs and Bentleys.. And this, in a communist country. And I noticed that while the people are still far nicer and service oriented than in the States, they were no longer as eager to please. There is new confidence about the people today. They are growing at a rapid pace and they have tasted capitalism. China has money. China holds our debts and China wants to be a world leader. They are not shy about saying it either.
I thought to myself that I must bring my kids to China to see what they are up against. What the US is up against. Sitting around listening to iPods and thinking they're entitled is not going to get them anywhere. I admire the Chinese for lifting themselves up to this point. They have a long way to go yet, but they will do it. I see it in their eyes and in every move they make. They are determined to be an economic powerhouse. They have, and are, adopting many of the laws that pushed America to the top, yet we are eroding the very foundations of our system. I worry that the we Americans are living in a bubble. The world is a big place... We have been generous with our technology, our money and our system. We have taught the world how to compete and some countries have learned very well... now we will have to face the very thing that we created. This is a good thing. Competition is always good. But we can't be complacent and we can't be irresponsible with our treasures.. our children and our innovations.
I thought to myself that I must bring my kids to China to see what they are up against. What the US is up against. Sitting around listening to iPods and thinking they're entitled is not going to get them anywhere. I admire the Chinese for lifting themselves up to this point. They have a long way to go yet, but they will do it. I see it in their eyes and in every move they make. They are determined to be an economic powerhouse. They have, and are, adopting many of the laws that pushed America to the top, yet we are eroding the very foundations of our system. I worry that the we Americans are living in a bubble. The world is a big place... We have been generous with our technology, our money and our system. We have taught the world how to compete and some countries have learned very well... now we will have to face the very thing that we created. This is a good thing. Competition is always good. But we can't be complacent and we can't be irresponsible with our treasures.. our children and our innovations.