When It Comes to China, Let’s Be Careful What We Wish For

It’s true that China represents a threat to American hegemony on the planet.  Personally,  I expect all this to happen by entirely peaceful means, but the U.S. would be ill-advised to ignore China’s military buildup.

In any case, here’s what life was like here when the picture was taken, i.e., before our global economy in which all eyes are on China.  One hundred years ago, American:

Life expectancy was 53.6 years (vs. 79.1 today).

Real (adjusted for inflation) gross domestic product was 0.8 trillion (vs. $25.5 trillion today).

Then consider illiteracy rates, indoor plumbing, and all the other miracles that come with a booming world economy.

I know this is not a popular viewpoint, but I believe that the majority of the tension between the U.S. and China would dissipate the moment the United States drops its claim to leading the world financially and militarily, by forcibly excluding other large countries.