Time is analog. No country, that exists as today, has had a perfect run. History of the world, though the best chronology of our life on the planet, suffers from the flaw of human subjectivity. It ranges from being revealing and enlightening at times to just being a set of lies, agreed upon. So from what we have and what we can make out from it, civilizations, countries and nation states have had their ups and downs and those transitions have defined something bigger than just history; our evolution.
I had written about the obsolescence of imperialism in today’s world (https://lifeingigahertz.blogspot.com/2020/05/crimea-river.html) and how the same begets diminishing returns. But while the world maneuvers through challenging times, China, has started serving us it’s Revenge Soup, a dish served (cold) after brewing for a century (of humiliation). For those who like to maintain lists, the smallest one today would surely be titled: China’s Friends. With the middle kingdom, all that is needed to suffer a territorial dispute is physical proximity. If you live near China, then Beijing wants your land.
2020 has taught us how fragile our comfort zones are. The marvels of the last century, from industrialization, technology, globalization and digital prosperity, have all been proven weak in front of life threatening events like the corona virus spread. Fundamentals of economic demand and supply failed in the absence of emotional or psychological demand (i.e. People, with money refusing to buy goods / services). The business of excess, that boosted global consumerism and gave rise to double-digit growth, lies idle, shattering the virtual value bubble we had assumed as our datum. Fiat currencies served well for naturalizing virtual wealth derived from hedges and futures, fooling us into a manipulative transactional system. However, bereft of a gold standard, the same do not shoulder the strength to stabilize a real crash when the astronomical debt will need physical mitigation.
This is where China has modulated from imperialism to expansionism. Realizing that a majority of money wealth today is just bytes on a system and can be manipulated and controlled through democratic banking systems, the yearning of the “Real” estate as the scale of future power and influence is what china seeks. Be it through debt-traps, military posturing or straight buyouts, china is after land, the one resource completely out of production. In 2014, China supplanted Canada as the largest share of foreign buyers of US residential real estate, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. In 2018 dollars, Chinese buyers accounted for roughly 25% of total foreign investment in US residential real estate. The case is the same in other countries, like in Africa where large agricultural tracts now bear Han ownership to even military bases in Djibouti that fit the three considerations of property ownership: location, location and location.
As an emotional response, one would say it is instinctive that "the child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth” but this is where countries need to differ from individuals. It is complex to void responsibility of ills inflicted by past generations but once we graduate from individual to national consciousness, the current greater good deems higher precedence than past balance sheets. And if we all apply salt to historical hurt, then the whole humanity would be at conflict with itself and probably would have self destroyed by now. But with the passage of time, complicated human nature has accepted the reality of forgetting, even if not forgiving, history.
Coming back to time and it’s analog nature, we are all just in phases of our existence. Centuries ago, Rome was the biggest power, Greece in another time, Mongols once reigned the world, Cholas ruled the seas and Sun did not set under the Union Jack. Yet here we are today, a new phase with new players trying to rule the world. A few millennia from now, this all will just be timestamps and faded memories.
