Yes, China is perhaps Planet Earth's most capable society. It has also had some really major up and down periods in its thousands of years long history and there is no reason for that to change. Western world has no equal in history. USA has lasted only as long as some of China's shorter lived dynasties. What will next 200-400 years bring? Want to place your bets with or against history?
Folks used to joke that "Optimists learn Russian, pessimists learn Chinese". I learned Russian at home. I could also have learned Shanghai Chinese, but did not. My childern know neither language or my other home language (Swedish), only American English. How is your Chinese, especially Mandarin? Can you even read street signs and maps in mainland Chinese? How about newspapers? Can you order a meal in a resturant in Beijing?
My cultural and ethnic roots are deep in three countries, plus in USA. The world looks lots different to folks like me than to anglo-only, English-only Americans.
There is only one planet that is known to support life as we know it, and other potential planets are very, very far away. We once had the ability to destroy this planet, just a button push or three away. We once badly messed up nearly all societies on Planet Earth, with WW2. Competition in a truely "global marketplace" seems promising by comparison. "Sovereign Nation" is a concept in rapid evolution, if not obsolence, it can no longer be a synonym for "isolation" and "self sufficiency".
Niklas
