THE GOBLIN NEWSLETTER 117 - CHINA

I’ve been watching a lot of Youtube videos on China. China is amazing. An ancient society experiencing a level of advancement that is almost unbelievable. I’ve been exposed to a constant drumbeat against China since the 90s from all angles: labor & economics, civil rights, both anti-communism & anti-capitalism, the genocide of the Uighur etc. But, China as a society is blowing America & really, all countries out of the water. If you look at just the fact that they have pulled the majority of their country out of rural poverty into the middle class it’s obvious. I’ve been into the look of the Asian-flavored future city since I was a kid, this was distilled in Bladerunner, which was inspired by Hong Kong. China makes Japan look shoddy. China makes America look embarrassing. You can tell that they make plans & then go through with them, the five year plan is probably the best & least offensive part of Maoism. I can see with the chaos & decay of American cities that some kind of vision, something that’s not just a reaction to whatever the media is telling you to pay attention to is necessary, some kind of plan. Some kind of plan that is honest about what America is, a vehicle for transformation & making dreams come true. Not for a specific group of people except for people that just want to do it. The role of world police played by America should be about making what America is trying to do successful, not about selling weapons, drugs or what have you. I decided to view America & being American as an immigrant in 2000 or so, because I saw that all the nativist groups of people had a sense of entitlement that made them unhappy. I saw immigrant groups take this country by the balls & run with it, they were happy, had big families & were models of success. Their identities take a back seat to the priority of being useful in this society. Meanwhile I saw the whites around me living off of the past wealth of their immigrant, hungry families, their kids resenting that & a wholly opposite resentment coming from the black folks around me. Meanwhile, the immigrants around me showed a sense of purpose, an ability to see the opportunity around them & take advantage of it. I see the same thing in China, just going for it.