What makes China so exciting is not so much its epic infrastructure in tangible projects (opposed to financial vaporware), its gigantean size or meteoric rise, but its singular attitude about the future, an attitude quintessentially at the heart of America’s DNA. There’s a confidence and patriotism, a manic energy, a cautious optimism, a sense that, after a “century of humiliation,” as is said here, China’s time has come.
Consider that eighty-six percent of the Chinese who believe their country is headed in the right direction, compared with 37 percent of Americans. The majority of the Chinese also believe that it will produce the next Google, while only a third of Americans believe the next big thing will happen on its soil. The reality may be different -- but you can’t deny the loss of American serotonin and testosterone.
Such yankee cowboy bravado is at the core of a nation’s vitality and at the heart of America’s economic engine. When anything is possible, the horizon is far and wide, and opportunities great, things happen. It’s intoxicating and self-fulfilling. How many American’s have been inspired by the hope that if you play by the rules and work really hard, anything can happen?
Across the political spectrum, Joe and Jane know that rules of the game are stacked against them. The rules have change.
