Frankly, the Obama genuflection and encomium made the Geek physically ill. There is no new era of cooperation. There are no grand set of principles held in common between the Chinese government and that of the US. There is no reality grounded reason to be praising China and its leaders for anything--other than singleminded pursuit of Chinese national and strategic interests.
That, after all, is what governments are supposed to do. Pursue, expand, and ruthlessly defend national and strategic interests regardless of the posture taken by other states.
Fifteen or so years ago, President Bill Clinton fawned over China and the Mandarinate as he opened the door of "free trade" between the Central Empire and the US. Of course those who were not blinded by the light of belief--belief in the myth that free trade and globalization would not only lift the boats of every person in the world but provide American consumers with more choice at lower cost--groaned in anticipation of what would come.
What came, as surely as rain falls down not up was a series of three sounds. The first was the rush of greedy feet as American industry and finance made a rush to the Open Door of China. The next was Ross Periot's famed "sucking sound" as jobs and capital went through the same Open Door. Then came the sound of cash registers as they recorded the purchases of Americans flowing into the coffers of Beijing.
George W. Bush had his own "bidness" based motives for continuing and expanding the immense and primarily one way trade with China. For all the years of the neocons, the money flowed to China. The Mandarins of the Forbidden City used the money well. The infrastructure was improved. Business flourished like fungus after a soaking rain. And, the Peoples Liberation Army in all its arms was modernised at a fierce rate--well in excess of any legitimate defensive need.
Because the cash flooded through the Open Door faster than Beijing could spend it, the surplus was invested in US T Notes and Bills. By the time Bush went, the Central Kingdom held more than 800 billion dollars in these instruments. Of course, buying American government securities made sound financial sense--until now. More, the scarfing up of Uncle Sam's IOUs made very, very good sense in the game of international power politics.
Facing the unknown future of massive indebtedness on a scale never before contemplated in US history, the Obama administration must, that's right, must be sure the Chinese continue to buy and hold our governmental paper. Without the Chinese underwriting the deal(s) there is no way to pay for the ambitious domestic agenda sought by President Obama and the Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party. No way whatsoever even with tax increases which would gladden the heart of the most confiscatory oriented "progressive."
There is a cost involved. A very real if not dollar denominated cost. By virtue of holding so much of America's collective debt both public and private, the Denizens of the Central Kingdom can exercise significant authority over American foreign policy in all its myriad forms. From global warming to what can be done with Iran to the nature and character of the American commitment to Taiwan, Beijing can exercise a significant piece of "the say."
We the People must share responsibility with the past two administrations for having sold out American freedom to act on the world stage for a mess of consumerist pottage. The Open Door swung wide to our dollars during the greatest spasm of greed and rapacity ever seen in our history. The past two decades have put the legendary excesses of the "robber barons" during the Guilded Age to utter and complete shame.
The reason for that charge is simple. Over the past two decades or so, many of We the People have been direct participants in the mechanism of corporate greed. Through our 401's, or mutual funds, our retirement plans, We the People have demanded corporations show a profit regardless of the hidden, indirect, and long-term costs. Not only have We the People allowed, we have demanded that corporations generally commit treason to the best interests of this country in order to see the next quarter's bottom line better that of the current quarter.
We have cheered lustily at the profits while ignoring the consequences. And, if the consequences, the abstract impacts of the pursuit of profit ever bothered us, we could quickly assuage any anxiety by going out and buying something--anything. So what if factories closed. So what if Walmart, leader of the corporate subverter pack, shelved its "We Buy American" ad campaign as more and more on the big box shelves was marked, "Made in China." So what if our money flowed into the pockets of a regime hostile to our interests, values, and role in the world.
What the hell! As long as the goodies were cheap enough. As long as credit was cheap enough. As long as our individual and joint portfolios were profitable enough, our attitude was that of Edward Newman--"What! Me Worry!"
As long as the buying was good and the profits accruing to us were high, there was no need for We the People individually or collectively to ask, let alone answer a very key question. The question is easy to posit but hard to either contemplate or answer. Here it is---
"How much is enough?"
Look at it. Roll the words around in your mouth. In your mind. Think about it in your life. And, in the lives of all of us. "How much is enough?"
It is the most important question We the People can ask of ourselves--and each other. The answer to this question is the sole means by which our nation will regain its freedom to act for a better world. The answer can free us--over time--from the Chinese, the Arab Sovereign Wealth Funds, and others who bind our capacity to act with impunity on the world stage in chains of debt.
How We the People answer that question will determine more than any other factor what sort of life our descendents can expect in the world. How much freedom they will experience. How much our nation will be the actual guide to a future in which prosperity is not limited to the few at the top of the globalization pyramid but can be far more broadly distributed. How much our nation can act robustly in the world to advance and protect our national interests and those of other countries, other peoples who share our values and norms.
"How much is enough?"
Answered correctly that question allows, no demands, that We the People blow the whistle on the legions of corporate traitors who have facilitated so eagerly--with our complete support--the selling out of American national sovereignty and interest. Answered correctly this question provides a roadmap to a future of greater energy independence, fiscal sobriety, and diplomatic freedom.
It is a mighty powerful question, and that is what makes it so hard to ask and answer. For its power lies in the ability of the answer to be truly transforming. Not the Obama form of transformation, pure prestidigitation requiring smoke, mirrors, and a look-at-this-hand-not-that-one approach to politics and society.
The current economic mess including the unprecedented projected deficit gives both the right time and motivation to ask the key question. It is time for each and everyone of us to use the mantra of Mr Obama's Chief-of-Staff and let no crisis go by unexploited.
"How much is enough?" Ask it. Answer it. Ask the companion questions: "Do I really need that?" "What is important enough to need." Once you get in the groove pointed out by these questions life can be transformed.
It may take a personal crisis. A few years ago the Geek and Her Geekness ran across a luxury SUV stuck in the sand and gravel of the canyon. The owner, some sort of high dollar lawyer had believed that his overpriced vehicle could actually go far, far off the road. He was wrong.
It was hot, over a hundred in the shade. And, out in the dry watercourse, there was no shade.
Their cell phone wouldn't work. Mountains are like that. Even the onboard emergency service system didn't connect. Narrow canyons are like that.
The engine had overheated running the air conditioning. The driver, his wife and the two teenage kids had no more water.
They were miserable. Desperate. Not much traffic out here.
Just before the Geek's (then) forty-two year old Jeep pickup easily yanked the wheel-spinning land yacht out of the holes it had dug, he asked, "Do you really need that thing?"
After a long few seconds, the man replied, "No. I guess not."
May we all be that honest. If we are, we will have a richer and much freer nation.
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