It's All About China
President Biden announces a “bold” infrastructure plan, costing $1.8 trillion. Republicans say no.
A pattern is developing in which the president announces a major initiative, in this case it happened on July 14, 2020, during the presidential campaign. Biden called for $7 trillion dollars during the next decade. About $4 trillion of that ephemeral plan would have come from tax increases on corporations, investments and high earners, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Nine months later, the announced cost was down to $1.8 trillion, and still the Republicans said no. After “horse-trading” with the Senate, how much will be left? A trillion, 500 billion, nothing?
Regardless, it won’t be enough. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), by 2030, China will pass the US in its Gross Domestic Product, and by 2050, China, at $70 trillion, will nearly double the US., with a GDP of only $38 trillion. In fact, India will be pushing ahead of the US by then.
This means the US cannot outgrow China with an infrastructure build-out. China already has a shiny new infrastructure, and is pulling away. The US has two options: war with China, with a doubtful outcome, or becoming a good neighbor to the new behemoth.
Becoming a good neighbor, Joe, means not making disparaging remarks about its leader. It means ceasing to act like a gang member driving through another gang’s territory, such as the South China Sea. It means not trying to stir up trouble in a Chinese city, Hong Kong. And it means not allowing the secret service to spread lies about China’s fight against terrorism in Xinjiang province. As we’ve learned, all countries could treat their populations better, including US allies, and most of all, people of color, and workers, in the United States.
The US’ NATO pal, the European Union, has already made China its number one trading partner, displacing, guess who? the United States.
There is nothing the US can do to change China’s geopolitical location. It is smack in the middle of the Asian mega-continent. This gives China several advantages that countries on smaller continents or peninsulas do not have.
The Belt and Road Initiative, an upgraded version of the 2,000-year-old Silk Road, was proposed in 2013. It must come as a shock to the Western elite that it is already in operation. In roughly the same time frame, since 2015, the US and California have been struggling to build a bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco. It’s stuck in Fresno.
According to the Financial Times and Xinhua Net, in 2020, 12,700 freight trains made the journey between China and Europe, laden with goods for consumers in both countries, at a third of the cost of ocean transport, while cutting the time from two months to approximately 10 days. Bonus: tens of thousands less fossil fuel ships used for shipping freight will allow the oceans to heal.
Biden’s infrastructure plan, also known as the American Rescue Plan and/or The American Jobs Plan, will bring needed employment to the working class, if it ever gets through the Senate. But will the workers be paid at least $15 per hour? In addition, the decrepit condition of the US infrastructure is not becoming of a first-rate power. Many roads are falling apart, and you can’t trust the water from the tap. There are between half a million and two million homeless people in the US (the number becomes more vague, the higher it gets).
In addition, time has run out for taking serious measures to stop global climate change. Biden’s plan to replace as many ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles with electric cars, is good, as far as it goes. Additional fines and taxes should be levied on the big polluters. The fight against climate change should be the war we’re fighting, not a war against other countries. If a war with China breaks out, we can kiss our mostly agreeable world goodbye.
Let’s not allow our love of the supposed benefits of belligerent capitalism outweigh our love for this planet, and for happy and meaningful lives that are the birthright of our children and grandchildren.
The Revolution Begins
The Revolution begins with the word,
and the word becomes protest
and dwells among us.
The Revolution grows when racism
rears its head,
and we all cry out.
The Revolution grows when Wall Street
is encircled by the poor, the young
and the “deplorables.”
The Revolution grows when our friends
around the world
show us the way to freedom.
The Revolution grows when we learn
that our politicians are walking arm in arm
with the rich and powerful.
The Revolution grows when American drones
kill the innocent
and we gasp in horror.
The Revolution grows when
the elderly and the kids, the disabled,
and veterans have to beg for food.
The Revolution grows when
we charge students to learn
how to improve all our lives.
The Revolution grows when
only those with insurance
will be nursed and healed.
The Revolution grows when
the prisons bulge
and we revolt.
The Revolution grows when we see
men and women, and children too,
sleeping in the streets.
The Revolution grows when
it becomes our way of life,
and our friend.
