American Politics

[hym 358]

And where will the Iron Curtain fall this time, do you think?  China hasn't really expressed any territorial interest except for a couple of islands they are disputing with Japan.  They ought to take a look at what happened to the Soviet Union if they think they can out class the U.S. in any way.  The U.S. has been at this outproduce everyone game since the 1940s.

 

Theoretically, China should be able to outpace the US with little difficulty by virtue of the vast population difference.  That doesn't mean it will actually happen, but it is not difficult to understand how China would do it if such a thing were to happen.

 

One of the interesting contentions in this whole issue is that the idea of a US-style Chinese hegemony doesn't mesh well with China's historical view of itself and its role in the world.  The argument is that, while both the US and China both consider themselves to be the proverbial city on the hill, they have different ideas for how to achieve the logical outcome of that status.  While the US is will use force as a means to bring you to heel, China will opt to crush you via cultural influence (effectively supplanting your culture with their own).

 

The thing that is complicating efforts to understand China's overall strategy is that it appears to be playing both strategies at once.  It has adopted many of the tactics of the Soviet Union, while at the same time, relying on methods more in line with historical tendencies to conquer through cultural influence.

[LexusInfernus 908]

You realize that the influence of American culture is almost infinitely greater than the Chinese influence? China has no cultural influence really. The way they try it is by effectively 'colonizing' a place by sending in a lot of Chinese workers. And even that method is extremely limited in scope and effectiveness, as its hard to send enough Chinese people to a country and supplant the local cultural influence and because it breeds an insane amount of hostility from the local population. Race riots, discrimination and marginalization are not far off in countries with a large Chinese community. Furthermore, those community tend to be rather insular and inward focused, so the spread of their culture is further limited. China actually relies quite a bit on brute force or the threat of brute force to get what it wants. The thing is though that it has a very clearly defined area of interest in which it operates. 

 

The United States on the other hand is a cultural force to be reckoned with. It has been infinitely more effective at spreading its cultural values around the world. The human rights regime is a mostly US invention. The liberal democratic capitalist values are mostly American and they have been spread on a global level. There is Hollywood and American pop music, things that have again almost global reach. Hollywood movies are seen almost everywhere and pop music is listened almost everywhere. McDonalds, Coca Cola and other American multinational companies operate again on a global level. And while American political power might be diminishing as competitors rise, American culture is still the dominant cultural force in the world. The fact that people think America relies heavily on brute force just shows its immense cultural power. All they see is examples where American diplomacy failed and brute force is the final option. But for every example of that, there are a hundred examples of America getting its way because everyone else has pretty much internalized its values and culture and accepts America's proposition as just perfectly in line with their own thinking. 

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

American cultural power summed up in this beautiful song.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M

 

But I would argue that every great nation has left its mark in culture: China, Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, India, France, Germany, the British Empire and finally the USA.

 

While I think American culture, when historians will look back at it, will be mainly characterized by consumerism, excess, greed, celebrity and delusion. I think what is so amazing about America is how it has always been a walking contradiction. You know the constitution which stated that all men were equal while there was slavery, rampant persecution of Native Americans, persecution of the Chinese and many others. And then how once upon a time America took pride in its isolationist stance, now that's morphed into pride of being the world's policemen of the modern age.  And now in the Internet Age America has become a joke of itself: NSA, crony capitalism, massive inequality and a whole host of issues which have torn the constitution to shreds.

 

What's amazing is how this dream, the American dream, inspired so many Americans despite all of these contradictions, despite of all the hypocrisy, despite of all the persecution... But I think the golden age of the US was during the 1940s to early 70s. The US was at least 50 years ahead of everyone in terms of technology, standards of living, economic systems... It also helped that the US was blessed with fertile farmland, large aquifers, huge coal seams, oil fields and other natural resources.

 

America has had a great run and some great innings, but the culture of greed and excess is becoming ever more detrimental. I really hope the people of the US find a better paradigm, a better way of life, and ultimately the biggest enemy of America is America itself.

 

The Hopi best described it- Koyaanisqatsi, i.e. crazy life.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Homo sapiens is a funny species.  Because it has "intelligence" is abuses it in various ways.  However, a two hundred and fifty year old culture will not prevail over one with a history of over five thousand years.  All China has to do is sit and wait, and as the great general once put it "the body of your enemy will float by".

 

The Chinese are very good at absorbing and converting other cultures.  Where is the Mogul empire now, to look for a recent one?  The Japanese were lucky they didn't "win".  By now the Emperor would be Han.

 

Lexus thinks the Chinese cultural influence is less than the American one.  Living in a small European country might fool you into thinking so, but there are areas in the big cities in Canada where various Chinese dialects are the vernacular.  Now if that is not creeping acculturation, I'd like a better definition.  Much of the language spoken is either Haklo or Cantonese, but Mandarin is always present since it is the "National Language" of China.  How heavy is the Chinese patch in American cities?  The San Francisco Chinatown is famous, but what of others?

[LexusInfernus 908]

Lexus thinks the Chinese cultural influence is less than the American one.  Living in a small European country might fool you into thinking so, but there are areas in the big cities in Canada where various Chinese dialects are the vernacular.  Now if that is not creeping acculturation, I'd like a better definition.  Much of the language spoken is either Haklo or Cantonese, but Mandarin is always present since it is the "National Language" of China.  How heavy is the Chinese patch in American cities?  The San Francisco Chinatown is famous, but what of others?

Yes, and those are all part of the Chinese community. But how many people outside the Chinese community speak Chinese. And how is that compared to the number of people outside the English/American community that speak English? 

 

The fact that a lot of people speak Chinese in Canadian cities is by no means an indication of Chinese cultural influence. Its simply an indication that there are a lot of Chinese immigrants living in Canadian cities. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

When one considers the cultural heritage of the Chinese, one has to consider that they have always conquered by osmosis.

[LexusInfernus 908]

When one considers the cultural heritage of the Chinese, one has to consider that they have always conquered by osmosis.

No, they haven't conquered jack for a very long time. What they achieved a thousand years ago is no indication of what they can achieve right now. 

[jmsepe 2,040]

Well I can't speak for others but Chinese influence among its Asian neighbors is high. In fact, it has become too vital that you can't simply get rid of it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

China, like the Vatican, plans in centuries.  Americans consider long range planning concerns something next week.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

The Cultural Revolution in China has greatly changed China. The Ancient Chinese Empire is less like modern China than the USSR is like modern China.

--Ocram

[elavery 1,013]

China is very steadily recolonizing Africa in at least an economic sense. Many African countries like to drive out the evil white European companies under the claim of indigenisation, but then of course sell all their mines and companies on to the Chinese. Zimbabwe being the foremost example of this in recent years.

[LexusInfernus 908]

China, like the Vatican, plans in centuries.  Americans consider long range planning concerns something next week.

No they don't. Sure, their long range planning is probably longer than the American long range planning, but the difference is not centuries. 

 

China is very steadily recolonizing Africa in at least an economic sense. Many African countries like to drive out the evil white European companies under the claim of indigenisation, but then of course sell all their mines and companies on to the Chinese. Zimbabwe being the foremost example of this in recent years.

Hardly. The Chinese influence in Africa is greatly overestimated and overstated by Europeans and Americans. In reality, Europe is still the largest economic partner of Africa. And Chinese enthusiasm of investing in Africa is also decreasing now that Africa is slowly developing and becoming better at making demands from the Chinese. The Chinese have also found that working with a lot of African countries is difficult, as those African governments have a habit of not holding themselves to agreements, which means the Chinese have to pay a lot of extra in bribes. 

[Odainsaker 2,137]

A bit of hometown provincial news in that San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro was easily confirmed by the U.S. Senate as incoming Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on the Obama Cabinet.
 
CNN: Senate confirms Castro as HUD secretary
 
The rumor mill is that Castro is being positioned as a potential vice presidential running mate for the 2016 election, perhaps as a Clinton/Castro Democratic ticket should Hillary run.  Notably, Castro gave the opening keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, vaulting him to national attention in a path similar to that given to a fresh-faced Senator Obama when he gave the opening speech at the 2004 convention.  It's also not lost on the politicos that Castro is a rising Hispanic political star from a minority-majority, working-class city just as Hispanics are rapidly growing as a voter demographic.  Some outright make accusations of token racial gamesmanship equivalent to Obama and the Democrats courting blacks, and it is interesting to see that while the nomination was considered relatively safe and had mostly bipartisan support, political forums and comment boards about Castro's nomination quickly devolved into general open race-baiting.  Fidel jokes are inevitable.
 
Interestingly, it was senior Republican Senator from Texas John Cornyn who enthusiastically introduced Castro as Obama's nomination before the Senate.  While Cornyn voted for confirmation, Tea Party champion and Texas's junior Senator Ted Cruz notably voted against his fellow Texan.  Not too much of a surprise, as Cruz in the past typically avoids San Antonio in ways that really look like political slights.  As part of the Texas delegation, part of the role is Texas boosterism, and there are low murmurings about how Cruz, for all his sensational confrontationalism in Washington against Obama, does not actually produce results for Texas.

Amusingly, Mayor Julián Castro's identical twin brother Joaquin Castro sits in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Texas Democrat for one of the San Antonio districts. They make for a peculiarly striking duo when sitting together...sometimes looking eerily like sci-fi clones! More darkly, political daggers from the fringe point to Castro's activist mother as a member of La Raza Unida, a Chicano nationalist political party in the 1970s, making the sons by default into sleeper-cell Manchurian Candidates for communist revolutionary immigrant Latinos.  As mentioned, Fidel jokes are inevitable.

Also not forgotten by the pundits is that Mayor Julián Castro's rise mirrors that of San Antonio's previous Hispanic star on the national stage, former mayor Henry Cisneros, who became HUD Secretary under President Bill Clinton.  While generally praised for his efforts expanding homeownership at HUD, Cisneros's political career exploded amid a personal scandal involving payments to his former mistress that were illegally hidden from FBI background checks.  Some claim that it was Cisneros and the Clinton Administration's initial loosening of credit standards for mortgages for homeownership that would led to the real estate crisis triggering the 2008 Great Recession.  However, this is mostly dismissed as political revisionism given the many bigger economic issues and decisions made in the 10-year interim between when Cisneros left and unregulated U.S. investment banking imploded with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
 
Ah well, for Castro's politics, his time in the national limelight at the Democratic National Convention was used to push his "Pre-K 4 SA" initiative to provide city-funded pre-kindergarten education for children lower-wage families within downtown San Antonio as an initial means of boosting overall educational attainment.  It was added to the local 2012 ballot, and while no one here in the Red State of Texas thought they would tilt the national campaign focused on Obama versus Mitt Romney, for which "Pre-K 4 SA" was less than a mere footnote, we did watch this ballot question carefully as a political bellweather.  Still, the fruits of this education starting program may not bee seen for some generations.  Initially as mayor, Castro began with SA2020, a workshop campaign to pool residents' visions for the city's future into a set of presentable and actionable goals.  More visibly, Castro's terms as mayor backed efforts to redevelop San Antonio's woefully underutilized and urbanistically disorganized HemisFair Park and surroundings, now underway as the largest construction change to the urban footprint of the city's downtown since the actual HemisFair World's Fair in 1968.  Also coming to the fore are design plans for near-downtown's San Pedro Creek to remake the long-neglected drainage way into another River Walk extension.  Local critics have noted a downtown and inner city bias by Castro, which I find to be a good thing.  Others, however, fear that Castro's assertive push for housing in the downtown area and for low-income and affordable housing filling in the sprawling suburbs may bring undesirables to formerly exclusive areas.
 
However, Castro's biggest urban and political project has been the push to bring a streetcar system to downtown San Antonio, which many see as a starter project to eventual light rail and San Antonio-Austin commuter rail.  Like light-rail proposals in other cities, San Antonio's streetcar project, slated to break ground next year, has become a lightning rod for local and bitter political rancor.  Local conservative, anti-rail, and Tea Party activists have been circulating a petition drive to block the project in the upcoming November elections through radical changes to the city's charter and targeted campaigns to unseat pro-streetcar council members.  Mayor Castro's departure for higher office in Washington removes a key supporter of the project from the City Council, and the election to fill the mayorship will no doubt ultimately involve re-litigating yet again the issue of urban rail.  I must admit, for this reason I am actually not really happy to see Castro go.  Nationally, conservatives expect a tidal wave of victory based on opposition to Obamacare and disillusionment with President Obama, and given typical trends of mid-term election turnout, we expect local elections to be caught up in this wave as angry conservatives wildly turn out in droves.  I'd rather the key players still be here overseeing the sometimes fickle Council until ground is actually broken.
 
In the world of Washington Musical Chairs, Mayor Julián Castro will be taking over HUD from Shaun Donovan, who is moving to head the White House Office of Management and Budget in place of Sylvia Burwell, who was last month confirmed as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, replacing Kathleen Sebelius, who was forced to resign over the bungled rollout of Obamacare.  Yes, again in the weirdest political tie-in, San Antonio's trains may fall victim on two fronts to Obamacare!
 
Last week, as his last major city project as mayor, Castro surprised San Antonio by unveiling an unsolicited proposal from San Antonio-based Frost Bank and developer Weston Urban for a series of building and land swaps to allow Frost Bank, the largest Texas-based bank, to build a new downtown skyscraper as an iconic new headquarters.  Speculations are now for a potential 600-700ft mixed-use office tower, which would be the tallest in the city and the first large commercial skyscraper built in downtown in a quarter-century, the last being Weston's own landmark Weston Centre in 1989.  Additionally, after Frost Bank vacates and moves into its new home, the City would move into Frost Bank's current building, largely consolidating city offices.  Normally, such grand proposals would be taken with great skepticism, but conservative Frost Bank and the City have done such building trade-offs in the past to build Frost Bank's current headquarters, with the current City Council already housed in Frost Bank's historic 1922 former headquarters, and many have noted that Frost Bank's recently iconic tower in Austin initiated that city's current downtown building boom.  There are high hopes that the specific backing of the city's corporate keystone Frost Bank, billionaire tech CEO and local developer Graham Weston, and now incoming HUD Secretary Julián Castro will be sufficient to move the City Council over the next months to review and approve the proposal to pursue the property conveyances that would lead to this landmark project's construction.  Meanwhile, the multi-billion-dollar local municipal energy company, CPS Energy, is also planning to move out of its choice River Walk historic corner for a new landmark headquarters skyscraper of potentially similar height, teasing us with a potential local competition for landmark skyscrapers.  Mayor Castro, who was not expected to have much urbanist flexibility given budget projections at the beginning of his first term as mayor in 2009 amidst the fallout of the collapse of the Bush Economy, now leaves San Antonio with broad-based construction already underway, more in planning, and many indicators pointing positively towards an accelerating building boom in the next few years.

 

________

 

 

Hehe, see, sometimes politics is all local!

[hym 358]

It might help that he is from Texas. The name "Castro" is more familiar here than it is in other parts of the US so it has fewer "wait what..." issues.

[hamsterTK 93]

The rumor mill is that Castro is being positioned as a potential vice presidential running mate for the 2016 election, perhaps as a Clinton/Castro Democratic ticket should Hillary run.  

 

 

quickly devolved into general open race-baiting. 

 

 

Oh boy. Unfortunately it's going to be worse than you think. Consider his family and activist past and some of his statements, they are really going to piss off a lot of rural white voters once they get repeated. The media crazy train is leaving the station as we speak.

 

Now personally I'm above that kind of thing, I like Castro(well sort of)  and through a conversation know my friends in SA voted for him, but still.

 

Hillary needs a much more anodyne running mate. And for those who say the VP on the ticket doesn't matter, I personally believe Sarah Palin helped Obama win in 2008. Just my opinion. When she was nominated it felt like every undecided moderate, stunned by that ludicrous display, went D. I think the much repeated phrase "just a missed heartbeat away from having that in the white house", regarding how old McCain was and how people just really didn't like Palin, tells the whole story. 

 

I don't consider '16 such a safe bet like some overly optimistic people think, the GOP is just so discombobulated right now they can't field a worthy challenger but that could change.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

As an outside observer, I think the early jockeying is exactly that.  People are feeling the water to see if there are any 'gators swimming in it.  The rubber won't hit the road until the conventions, and then there could well be some surprises.  The primaries may tell something, but they really don't tell the tale,  Only the ballot box will define the result in 2016, hoopla aside.

[Duke87 1,070]

Everyone assumed Hillary would be elected in 2008, then look what happened. I honestly don't see 2016 as being different. She has some celebrity status but she's part of the old guard and she lacks new ideas. And her husband's unfaithfulness will be an issue, the Dems don't need THAT spectacle in the spotlight again.

 

That said, the other obvious alternatives (Elizabeth Warren, etc.) are people who lean more to the left and they therefore probably would be less electable nationally.

[tonyr 926]

I am not a fan of the US Tea party. I'm curious as to what you guys think? Sorry if I'm too far off topic.Thanks BTW.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

From here it looks like the TEA party is actually a faction of the GOP based mostly in the southern Bible belt consisting of "Christian" members.  They are not my brand of Christian, having a rather vindictive streak that Jesus would not like much.

[Larks2242 251]

China, like the Vatican, plans in centuries.  Americans consider long range planning concerns something next week.

 

I must question the point of such long drawn out planning when you would be dead before the results.

 

 

I am not a fan of the US Tea party. I'm curious as to what you guys think? Sorry if I'm too far off topic.Thanks BTW.

 

There are many aspects of the tea party I agree with and some I do not, I'd consider them to be the least dangerous for the future of the country as opposed to the other factions.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

@Larks: Doesn't matter if individuals die.  Long term planning is for the good of the race and the country or organization.  Seeing a trend toward the desired result is usually satisfaction enough.  Wanting things to happen in your life time is short-term planning.

[LexusInfernus 908]

@Larks: Doesn't matter if individuals die.  Long term planning is for the good of the race and the country or organization.  Seeing a trend toward the desired result is usually satisfaction enough.  Wanting things to happen in your life time is short-term planning.

Yeah but planning centuries ahead is ridiculously stupid, impossible and no one does it. Not the Vatican, not the Chinese government.  Long term planning is usually planning for over a ten year period. Medium term planning is for about 5 years and short term is for 1-2 years. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

For many executives in the top office suites, short term planning is who to have lunch with tomorrow.  Long term is who to drink lunch with next week.

[Larks2242 251]

For many executives in the top office suites, short term planning is who to have lunch with tomorrow.  Long term is who to drink lunch with next week.

By that I assume you mean on the death bed unable to consume solids?

[LexusInfernus 908]

For many executives in the top office suites, short term planning is who to have lunch with tomorrow.  Long term is who to drink lunch with next week.

So? I never said that the current focus on the immediate short term is a good thing. I just said that the idea that some people plan ahead for centuries is just total nonsense. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Take a look at some of the Vatican papers sometime.  You'd be surprised just how far they look ahead.  As for the Chinese, they have a reputation for sitting by the river watching events and bodies float past.  Western civilization is far too impatient.

[Larks2242 251]

Or we actually like to see the results of our labor.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I doubt anyone in China foresaw the damage and devastation Mao inflicted on them.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I doubt anyone in China foresaw the damage and devastation Mao inflicted on them.

No, the whole communist ideology is foreign to Chinese thought, which has always been a feudal capitalism.  However, if you notice they are slowly reverting.  It might take a century but the middle kingdom always prevails.

[LexusInfernus 908]

Take a look at some of the Vatican papers sometime.  You'd be surprised just how far they look ahead.  As for the Chinese, they have a reputation for sitting by the river watching events and bodies float past.  Western civilization is far too impatient.

Look it makes no sense to plan ahead for centuries because to much happens in a century. If you were living at the start of the 20th century, would you be able to foresee how drastically human society had changed by that time? Hell, planning ahead for 50 years is already next to impossible. And people know this, so they don't bother with planning ahead for centuries because they know its a futile effort. 

 

And the Chinese do not have a reputation of just waiting and trying to outlive their enemy. Nor is that something they have actually been doing.