Below is an important excerpt from yesterday's Early Look written by Gaming, Lodging, & Leisure analyst Todd Jordan.
|
“Well first of all, tell me, is there some society you know of that doesn't run on greed? You think Russia doesn't run on greed? You think China doesn't run on greed? What is greed?” |
Talk show host Phil Donahue was no match for Milton Friedman when he challenged the virtues of capitalism in favor of the more “humane” socialism.
Maybe Brezhnev or Mao could’ve defended the concept of government control over the means of production better than Phil, but China and Russia’s tilt toward capitalism in recent decades doesn’t change the fact that they are 2 sides of the same coin. They still are both run by authoritarians, and they share the same greed – the greed for power.
As an analyst covering the casino, hotel, and leisure industries, I have a professional interest in China. Macau is the largest casino market in the world and the Chinese comprise most of its customers. It’s personal too. My daughter has been studying Mandarin since a 4th grade trip with me to Asia. She is now pursing an International Business major with a minor in Chinese.
Also, my good friend and business partner, Michael Blum grew up in Hong Kong and struggles with the lost freedom in his home country. But I’m also a concerned citizen that is worried that our government doesn’t understand, or care about the long term (and maybe near term) threat from the Chinese government.
Democracies don’t go to war against each other. Authoritarianism starts wars. And it doesn’t matter if the brand of authoritarianism comes from the right or left. The politicians in our country use labels like right and left to prove their preferred flavor of leaning is the correct one.
Authoritarianism kills from both directions. Does communism kill? Well, there are millions of dead Soviet citizens, Chinese, and Uirghurs to suggest it does. But communism, the economic system, doesn’t kill necessarily. Rather, it kills because it leads to authoritarianism necessarily.
Russia is a pimple on the world’s economy, but Putin is showing he can be a very big catalyst on the stability of the world.
But imagine the risk posed by the world’s 2nd largest economy with the same authoritative greed for power. China’s leaders may have capitalized on our own greed with its green tentacles touching so much of our US society.
Their money is everywhere here.
Is that why so many people, including our leaders, fail to recognize the long-term threat from China? Hey pious NBA, I’m talking to you. Or is it because they carry a certain political label that aligns more closely to many US politicians? Maybe the fear of conflict makes us just look the other way.
China’s power and proximity could have been a destabilizing force in this conflict, but why pass up a free look? Its leaders espoused no greed for peace and now Taiwan is in even more of a precarious position. A war between China and Taiwan would have much bigger implications for world stability than the current conflict.
Taiwan’s per capita GDP is almost 3x that of China’s and it a major world player in a number of industries. I’m not downplaying the awful event in Ukraine. Not many Americans and especially me can even comprehend the terror that the entire Ukrainian citizenry is facing. But to the world, China is a much bigger threat. China is already very powerful – do you know how many countries recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation?
The answer is 15. How many recognize Ukraine? Exactly.
We need to get serious about our foreign policy. I’m not a foreign policy expert and I don’t have the answers. I am a concerned citizen and educated enough understand that we don’t have a serious foreign policy to deal with China and other authoritative countries.
Unfortunately, too many people in the US have been trained to simply see either Republicans or Democrats as the enemy.
Authoritarian governments are the real enemy.
Russia, the pimple, is showing the free world how destabilizing anti-freedom can be. We haven’t had a serious foreign policy in such a long time that our free way of life could be at risk.
The time is now to wake up. Our elected leaders need to put politics aside and focus on the real threats, and not exaggerated political issues designed to make the other side look bad.
It’s not Democrat vs Republican; it’s about freedom versus authoritarianism. I’m pretty sure where most of public stands.
