Understanding China

I really wish Americans would spend a little more time trying to do this. I've been disappointed (but hardly surprised) that the American presidential race has already descended to ritual name calling. China is a big place (about five times the population of the US) with a big history - they claim about 5,000 years but at least 4,000 years as a nation state is clearly sustainable.

It also has huge stability problems which mean that even if they wanted democracy - and a large number genuinely don't seem to - it is unlikely to be possible to implement without risking the destruction of the entire society. I read somewhere that there were 400,000 instances of civil uprising in China in 2005 alone. That's why their army is the world's largest employer.

Of course, now an increasing number want their own version of the American Dream (not just having a 'fridge as large as a car and car that drives like a fridge' which seems prevalent state-side these days) and this seems to be an unstoppable force that will propel China back to it's accustomed place as the most powerful nation on the planet and overcome the economic blip of the last 250 years or so.