China will do fine without advice from New York

A researcher cuts off a flea’s leg, than releases the flea onto a table and says: “jump”. The flee jumps. He snips the second leg, releases the flee, says “jump”. The flee jumps. Same with the third leg, the fourth one, always the same result. However, when he finally removes the flea’s last leg, the flee does not jump when commanded. The researcher concludes: “after all its legs were cut, the flee went deaf”.

Dividing the word into the World of Order and the World of Disorder (“Peking Duct Tape”, by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, Feb. 16, 2003) is a conclusion of the same caliber. Where is the World of Disorder coming from? Has it been sent to us from Mars? If it is a result of human efforts here on the Earth, where was the greatest superpower on Earth when the World of Disorder was forming? What did the USA do or not do wrong? What were the most perceptive think tanks on Earth doing that they did not foresee the creation of the World of Disorder? How did it happen that the best intelligence in the world was surprised on September 11?

It was not Mr. Friedman’s intention, but he gives us the answer. He still does not get it. He does not see the world divided for rich and poor. He does not see the high potential of all the opportunities here contrasted with hopelessness of places like Palestine or Afghanistan. From the basic physics, we know that when objects of different potentials are getting closer, there will be sparkles. With technological advancement, the world became smaller, and places like Afghanistan or Palestine are relatively closer to New York then before.

The Chinese see it clearly. They do not share the American President’s excitement, together with his cabinet, which seems to understand the world about as much as Mr. Thomas l. Friedman does. America might not be as rich as it is now forever. The time may come faster than many of us think, when Americans will not be able to afford even cheap Chinese products. Selling to America as much as possible, China is building its internal consumer market. 20 years from now China’s economy may well be the greatest on the Earth. It may not take long for the worldwide business and cultural center to float from New York to Shanghai.

This is a China’s objective. If Americans want to shoot, let them do it on their own account. From the Chinese prospective, the Americans will be shooting themselves in the foot.