The Top Ten Misconceptions Americans have about China

Every time I get to talk to a visitor from America to China, the very first thing that they admit is that “China is not at all what they expected”. It doesn’t matter if  it was my father, and mother-in-law, my cousins, or strangers. They all say the same thing.

China is not at all what I expected.

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Introduction

We only know things that we have been exposed to. That exposure can come from first-hand experience, education, or word-of-mouth. Today, we have the united media that provides a central repository of “word-of-mouth” experiences. The problem is that the things the media tells us are often half-truths and outright lies disguised as “news”.

• MSNBC warns us about yet another zombie bird-flu outbreak in Hong Kong.
• CNN discuss the maniacal attack-mode killer hornets killing dozens in China.
• CBS warns about a nuclear conflagration due to the Spratly islands.
• The Huffington Post informs us that eating meat makes men sterile. Yikes!

via GIPHY

As a result, most Americans know only about China via the “news” that has been presented to them. Which is really sad. As we all know that the primary reason for the divisiveness in the political spectrum today is due to the mainstream-media;

• Trump supporters are unemployed, stupid, white male gun-loving hicks.
• Hillary supporters are intelligent, open-minded, brilliant, and compassionate.

How do we know this?

It’s the mainstream media that has told us.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the ideas that many Americans have about "Trump supporters" are wildly inaccurate. It should come as no surprise why all the hype about "Russian collusion" in the 2016 election went no where. And, it should come as no surprise that the understanding of China, from an American perspective, is wildly inaccurate.

This is my take on this phenomenon.

via GIPHY

"Of course..without sensational news no one will buy news media. I have seen the same thing from the country where I grew up, India. Mostly the pictures were of the poorest people living in terrible conditions. I never saw anything about the middle class life, which class is now bigger than the population of United States. I spent 37 years in Chicago, and believe me there are really bad ghetto areas there, as are in Detroit as well. Oh well, media will be media. No wonder semi-informed people get distorted views of the world."

-entropy12

Other Posts

This is the first of two parts post. You can visit the other post; ” The Top Ten Misconceptions that the Chinese have about America”. It can be found HERE.

1. The Chinese Hate Dogs & Cats and Eat Them

Not true.

Not even in the least. The Chinese LOVE… L-O-V-E … their pets.

In fact, the Chinese spend more money on their pets than they spend on their very own children. In China,  the children are everything. They really are. Children are protected and placed on a pedestal for a future life. Nothing is too  pricey when it comes to the children. Well, if a family has a pet, their health and well-being takes center stage. It becomes uber important.

You get this impression from the corrupt main-steam American media. They just love to promote every instance of animal abuse and harm to an innocent dog or cat. It’s all propaganda.

Propaganda. It is designed to manipulate you. It is designed to keep you living in fear, and to think that we need wars to keep living the "free life" in the United States.

Why is every single instance when you turn on any media it is always about how great the United States is? It’s not that I don’t think the United States is great, it is that you don’t give any other nations any credit.

It is as if the entire rest of the world is nothing but scenes from a “Save the Children” commercial. Gawd, you’d think that the rest of the world walks around barefoot, sorts through trash, lives in windowless houses, and prostitutes’ children. It’s really a very lopsided view of the world. On the top of the list is China. China is always maligned.

Don’t believe me, eh?

Ok. Here, try this. (I am serious. Please stop reading and do this “sanity check”.)

Do a picture / image search for “dogs in china”. One is a United States search engine; Bing. The other is a Chinese search engine; Baidu.  Now look at the difference in the photos found. Big difference indeed. If you search using American search engines, and American web sites you will get the idea that the Chinese hates dogs. You would get the idea that they eat them and treat them brutally.

When the real truth is that the Chinese love dogs like their very own children. They dress them up in clothes, including socks and shoes.  (Even my dog Shao Pi has sock, shoes, a coat, underwear, sunglasses, a cap and his very own backpack.) They have hairstyles and perms that they give the dogs. They groom them in pet salons, and offer them high-end doggie hotel accommodations, complete with dog-friendly television shows. It is a completely stark mind-blowing difference.

Yet, you know you would think that the US media would WANT to show this bizarre behavior to the American public. It is, after all, newsworthy. But they don’t. Anything that shows China in a positive light is suppressed.

Here are two videos to make this point. Both are from an APP that is very common in China. (It is called IesDouYin,(Not a very English-Friendly name, I am afraid.)  you can get it HERE.  It is a kind of You-Tube in a Twitter kind-of format. It’s pretty cool and super popular in China. Heck, if you really want to get a taste of what China is actually like, then watch the videos.)

• Husky gets into the car.
• Motorcycle riding stylish dog.

Now of course, there actually ARE villages in Southern China that do actually eat dogs, and there actually are grandparents that will catch a cat or two and eat it. It is, to them, just the same as if they catch a pigeon or a rat. It is an animal that was caught and that can be eaten. They are old-school rural Chinese hillbilly lifestyle.

They are a small and remote anachronism that exist in China.

However, these are typically uneducated village people who live hours away from a major city. They do not represent the bulk of modern Chinese society. Maybe they represent less than 1% of the total population in China.

2. China would collapse without Americans buying their products.

Not true.

While it is certainly true that many American products are made in China, it is an illusion that China ONLY makes products for Americans. Here is a chart from Forbes consisting the major trading partners with China in 2016. America certainly holds a sizable chunk, but it’s no where near the 80% that most American seem to believe.

This chart clearly shows that a third of all shipping containers outbound from China go to the United States.

It is true that China ships all kinds of things to America, what is shipped is the cheapest, high volume products made in China. That is only true for America. The rest of the world utilizes China differently.

As far as the rest of the world is concerned, China ships higher-quality, higher value items to the rest of the world. So on the general scale of things, in terms of value, in terms of content, in terms of quality and overall benefit, America is shipped low-value junk while the rest of the world gets the best that China can produce.

85 percent of artificial Christmas trees are made in China. So are 80 percent of toys

Americans see their store shelves flooded with low-quality mass-produced Chinese junk.

But, China produces more than just low quality junk. They produce high value cars, watches, and most of the world’s electronics. So in stead of considering the number of shipping containers outbound from China, let’s consider the net value and net worth of the content of those containers.

That is a more useful indicator as far as global trade is concerned. After all, a shipping container full of little rubber ducks will not have the same value as a same-sized container full of iPhones.

Thus, an American gets the impression that is all that China makes. Americans end up blaming the Chinese for making the crappy products they buy. They accuse the Chinese for stealing “their” factories, and flooding the nation with junk. However, that is all misplaced.

America only represents 11% of all that China makes, by value.

Thus, if anyone, if any American, thinks that a 100% tariff situation would “bring China to it’s knees”, they are sadly mistaken. A 10% decrease in the monetary  value of what is shipped out in China could cause some distress to the Chinese, it would certainly not create a catastrophe.

That being said…

If you want to blame the flood of cheap Chinese made junk displacing quality-made products... look no further than billionaire Jim Walton and their oligarch family network from Arkansas. They demanded American factories provide them with the cheapest and inexpensive products, or they wouldn't work with them.

If you want to blame the destruction of the American industry and movement of "off shored" factories in China, don't blame the Chinese. Blame rich billionaire Al Dunlop and his ilk who spent decades decimating American industry so they could line their own pockets.

Here is an interesting chart showing how the exports from China to the United States grew over the last two decades, while the exports from the USA to China dropped off. There are many reasons for this drop off. One of which is prohibitive tariffs that China put in place, as well as the lack of tariffs on products coming into the United States.

I would say that around 2012 the trade relationship between the United States was near parity. Unfortunately, this could not be maintained with the policies that both nations had.

The trade relationship was established during the Bill Clinton administration and was representative of an emerging third-world nation (China) and a first-world nation (the United States) supplying products to a nation devoid of quality manufacturing capability. The situation has since changed.

Obviously, a reset is in order.

China will not collapse if all trade with the United States were to end. However, this could indeed result in an economic recession in China. Neither sides want this to happen. Because, the Chinese have tied trade relationships to their external investment strategies. They have done this specifically to avoid that threat.

Here is the reason…

China has been investing heavily in America. Most of those new buildings, and construction projects that are going up in America are being funded by the Chinese. If the trade collapses between the USA and China, so will the financial investment in the United States by China.

The idea that shutting down trade with China will uniquely target China and have no impact on Americans is a swan song. Not only is the net value of the products coming to America of low value, but China has created a sizable feed-back loop that could wreck havoc in America were the trade imbalance not suitably readjusted slowly, carefully and properly.

27NOV20
The Trump Trade War from 2017 through 2020 was a complete failure. America's economy collapsed if not regressed, and active PPP GDP shows China as the global economic leader.

3. China is Starving and Needs American Food Exports

Not true.

China, with it’s enormous population, does not need food imports to exist. China is an enormous breadbasket. Farms exist everywhere. For instance, did you know that China has more pigs than the next 43 pork producing countries combined…

China does not need any imports of food to feed it’s people

China feeds 22 percent of the world population with only seven percent of the planet's arable land. Land is heavily utilized for agriculture. Vegetables are planted on road embankments, in traffic triangles and right up the walls of many buildings.

China is the world's top consumer of meat and grain. As it becomes more affluent people consume more meat and cooking oil and this has lead to increased demand for soybeans as an oil source and feed for livestock. China also uses more fertilizer that any other country.

According to United Nations statistics, China's cereal production is the largest in the world. In 2003 China produced 377 million tons, or 18.1 percent of total world production. Its plant oil crops---at 15 million tons in 2003---are a close second to those of the United States and amounted to 12.6 percent of total world production.

Lauren Keane wrote in the Washington Post, “China has a long-standing policy of food self-sufficiency, growing 95 percent of the grain required to feed its people. The country's sheer size means that a major crop failure or other food emergency here could have international ramifications, overwhelming world food markets with sudden demand. "Were China to need to import a large amount of grain, it would have a very dramatic impact on world food prices," said Anthea Webb, director of World Food Program China. [Source:Lauren Keane, Washington Post, May 31, 2010]

-Facts and Details

The idea that China cannot feed it’s people comes from the late 1960’s when the Communist central government failed in the implementation of policy. Taking advantage of that situation was a SJW moment known as the Cultural Revolution. It collapsed when the military had to be called into to restore order and control.

Today, China has pretty much thrown out the traditional communist precepts of central economic policy. Instead they have embraced “Dengism” a (American Conservative philosophy) of “free markets” implemented by Mr. Deng. He was a big follower of Ronald Reagan, and tried to implement as many American-style conservative policies as possible in China. China today is what it is because of Mr. Deng.

The closest thing that I can use to compare what China is like today, is to imagine an America with only one political party. There are no opposition parties at all. They are all illegal. 

The ruling party is traditional. It is conservative, and follows the Constitution to the letter. Running the nations out of Beijing are Chinese people with a similar social-political philosophy to Donald Trump, and Ron Paul.

That being said, any opposition to the party rule, and any changes to the Constitution results in the strongest responses and the most lethal solutions. The Chinese will no longer accept progressive liberal allowances to change a traditional and fundamental Constitution. They expect their judges to follow the Constitution, and interpret it to-the-letter.

Maybe that is why such people as John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Obama and their ilk insist that China open up it’s Constitution to change. After all, look how successful they have been in America doing so.

27NOV20
The Trump administration though the neocons tried to inflict starvation upon China by the release of eight bio-weapon viruses upon livestock and grain, during the two year period of 2018 to 2020. They failed.

Obviously they believed the "echo chamber" narrative, and failed to do their fucking research.

4. The Chinese Infrastructure is Old and Falling Apart

I always laugh at this.

It is so obviously wrong that I wonder how anyone can maintain such a ridiculous narrative. Obviously the people who are promoting this narrative hasn’t been to China in a while. Maybe at least the last two friggn’ decades. This is simply because the very first thing that a new-comer to China notices is how absolutely brand-new and state of the art every thing is.

The first thing a visitor to China notices is how modern everything is.

America's fastest "high speed" train goes less than half as fast as the new train between Shanghai and Beijing (150 mph vs 302 mph)

Over the last two decades (that’s twenty years for you folks that don’t really grasp the significance of this statement) China has spent billions of dollars in infrastructure. This differs substantially from the “blue ribbon panels” and “study committees” in America that spends millions of dollars even before the first contacts are awarded. But that is a changing…

• Donald Trump signs order to cut red tape for businesses
• The Six Ways Trump Has Cut Red Tape (So Far) – Forbes
• Donald Trump amazed by ‘cheese pizza’ red tape

The Chinese do things quite differently. They do not mess around. A proposal is made, and money is spent making the idea into a reality.

Subways are in all the Chinese cities. They are new and modern. The Chinese have developed techniques that speed up the creation of subways, and have modularized the building and construction of them. Thus they are absolutely everywhere.

Personally, I like subways. They are super cheap and very convenient.

I can spend page and page elaborating on the extensive subways in every city. I can enumerate every new bridge and highway project. I can discuss the funding of the city infrastructure task forces that are active in China. I can elaborate on the hyper-speed internet, the super-fast telephone communications, and the substantial network of road way systems. However it would be a waste of time.

Buy a ticket to China and see for yourself. PERIOD.

In fact, anyone who HAS NOT spent at least six months in China over the last four years should NEVER be considered an “expert” or an “analyst” in Chinese matters. China changes every four months. It’s difficult to keep up. Further, a visit to China should not, NOT mean that most of your time is in Beijing or in a Western city like HK or Shanghai.

That’s like someone coming to Washington D.C. and thinking that it was representative of all of the United States. Pretty silly, huh?

Reading reports by other “experts” who have never set a foot in China does not make you an expert. You are in your own echo-chamber, and you are just repeating the lies and the narrative that has become long, long obsolete.

One of the things that kind of amazes me are all the glass floored bridges and buildings in China. It doesn’t matter if it is the Pearl Tower in Shanghai, or a bridge in Hunan, they are everywhere. By using modern PVD inter-layer technology, the use of glass as a structural element has really taken hold in China.

This trend is also moving to the EU and the UK. Numerous projects are following the Chinese example. Soon, we can expect to see some pretty impressive public works in Europe that follows the Chinese model.

China is full of surprises that Americans have no clue about.

Consider all the state of the art water-parks, and recreational parks. You know, it goes to say, that with such a huge populations, the Chinese need places to play…right? You talk to most Americans and you soon discover that they are absolutely oblivious to the Chinese toll-booths, water-parks, synchronized high-rise building lighting displays, and the nighttime water fountain displays.

And here is Shanghai. Look around. It sure as Hell doesn’t look like the infrastructure is falling down. It really doesn’t. Nor does it look terribly polluted either…

The Chinese take pride in themselves and their nation. They are not hampered by having to hire minorities, or substandard individuals. They are not hampered with having to retain seventy year old airline stewardesses.

They fly state of the art aircraft, and staff it with beautiful and attractive staff that is well trained and at the top of their class. I can hardly think that this is indicative of a corrupt and falling apart infrastructure…

China is not what Americans expect.

Here is the suburb of Nanshan in Shenzhen. At night the buildings all have a synchronized light display because… well why not? You see, in China, it is duty and the purpose of the government to provide an environment that is conductive for having a high quality of life and to raise a family.

In America, it is every man out for them-self. Which is why many Americans have a problem trying to figure out China. They think that the Chinese is like the American government; everyone is after their own little ‘piece of the pie”. Not so in China. In China the community comes before the individual.

In China the community comes before the individual.

Nothing is more beneficial to the Chinese community than a well-maintained, start of the art infrastructure.

It’s not only in Shenzhen. These lighting displays all all over China. Every city has them. Check out this one. It’s actually quite impressive.

Finally, here is a city in the center of China called Chongqing. I wouldn’t even bother to include it, but I have received emails to the effect of “well, you are only showing large Westernized cities”, how about cities that the average people live in. Sigh.

5. China is a “Saber Rattler” and Wants War

Hardly.

You would sure get this impression from reading the American news. It’s always an article or two about “leaked” documents and war plans from “unnamed sources”. It’s about latest policy studies by “analysts” and “China experts”. There are always reports of “warnings” made in a “bellicose” manner about Chinese warplanes harassing our military who are flying near the Chinese border.

Just who are these “unnamed experts? What qualifies someone to become an”analyst” that is worth my time? Who leaks these “leaked documents” and why aren’t they ever provided for inspection?

Imagine that! Every week there is a new report. In fact, if you map the article out, they come in batches. Yup. It’s always a batch of reports to get your emotions all riled up and upset about that evil communist empire; the evil red Chinese!

Yikes!

In regards to one of the latest reports. How in the world did CNN manage to get on board a top-secret aircraft, fly into the Chinese airspace, be permitted to listen in on secret encrypted communication, disembark from the plane on a Naval aircraft carrier, and be permitted to transmit that information from the carrier to the CNN headquarters in New York City? I just cannot imagine that President Trump would let anyone from CNN near our military, let alone “Mad Dog” Mattis.

Once, such nonsense is printed, it is repeated again and again by all the other “usual suspects”. You can see it HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

People, this is not 1914. The American people now are able to get news from global sources. While you may want to isolate these other sources from the major American software networks, your Orwellian reality has not yet come to pass.

Keep in mind that…

• Today, America is simultaneously involved in fighting seven wars simultaneously. In seven different nations.
• We have not fought a defensive war (the only kind of war authorized by the Constitution) since the 1940’s.

• US Has Spent $5,900,000,000,000 On War Since 2001

Ok. The truth behind this is actually quite simple. Read the book by George Orwell, titled 1984, if you are confused.

It is in the interests of the American oligarchy to keep American fearful and willing to support wars; war against the rest of the world.

Chinese Military - Defensive
The Chinese military is set to support a defensive posture. Their range of equipment, their policy positions, and their technology investment all supports this. Their singular aircraft carrier is based in the South China Sea and supports operations against piracy of freighters leaving the Guangzhou industrial heartland.

American Military - Offensive
America has over 15 aircraft carrier groups. They are deployed world-wide. They are not deployed to defend America. They are deployed to exert political-military influence globally. This is because America is currently fighting six wars.

The last war that China has fought was with Vietnam back in 1977. That was forty years ago. Do you have any idea how many nations that America has been fighting in since then? Well, have you? It’s a lot!

The Chinese preference is to develop trade and economic communication channels rather than to support and finance wars.

Currently their military is used to support humanitarian efforts. They have been deployed in the Philippines, Macao, Africa, and Korea just to name a few place. They are used to support the recovery of natural disasters. They have worked alongside American troops in that some role.

Meanwhile…

America is currently engaged in fighting wars in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. America is simultaneously engaged in six wars. But, apparently, that isn’t enough. NEOCON’s in the United States, also want more war. They want wars to be conducted in Russia over the Ukraine. They want a military conflict in North Korea.

They also are not shy about discussing war against China.

The assumption is that all these conflicts against these Asian nations would be comfortable conventional affairs, where the American population could sit back and be entertained by television reporting of the events. Americans, and the American leadership, have made many assumptions about a conflict with China.

I dare say that most of these assumptions are WRONG. These are big, very big  assumptions that have no place when dealing with another global superpower;

• China will suitably engage in a conventional war with the USA, and will absolutely not employ nuclear weapons.
• Any war with China will be limited to China and there would be no “spill over” in the United States.
• The Chinese people would welcome Americans as liberators. (Ha ha ha ha!)
• Taiwan would side with the United States. (Highly unlikely.)
• Japan would side with the United States.
• Korea would side with the United States.
• The Philippines would side with the Untied States.
• Russia would not align itself with China.
• The EU will stand by the USA and not stand with China.

These assumptions were probably valid up until 2005. Now, it’s quite a different world. Don’t be so sure as your assumptions will hold true.

I find it difficult to believe that China would sit back and NOT unleash a nuclear holocaust over any attack against their sovereignty. They ARE a nuclear equipped nation, in case you are unaware. They do deploy theater, tactical, and strategic nuclear weapons.

If there is one thing that I have learned, after my multiple years in China, they will NEVER do what you expect. They will do what provides them advantage.

I do not want war. I think that war is a tool used by evil people for their own purposes. War is but a tool. It should not be glorified or praised as an agent of change. It should only be used when all other avenues fail.

What this implies is that;

• American leadership is so incompetent that they always have to resort to war.
• American citizens are powerless to advise the government in it’s actions or change them.
• The individuals who run the American government profit handsomely when there is a war.
• Those that promote war do not believe that there will be any negative consequences that will affect them personally.

27NOV20
I have a bunch of posts on this. You might want to read these...

America tries to Suppress China
America sends an Armada to wage war against China

6. Everything Made in China is Junk

Hey! That fine German camera that you want, but is too expensive to ever buy? You know, with the label that says “Made in Germany”. Well, the real supply chain looks like this; Made in China, assembled in China, shipped to Germany. Stored in a German warehouse. Shipped to America.

Or, consider that Japanese laptop. You know the one, with the famous brand name. Made in China. Assembled in China. Shipped to Japan. Stored in a Japanese Warehouse. Shipped to America.

China is the manufacturer for the world.

Americans are under the impression that everything in China is junk because most Americans shop at Walmart. Everything sold at Walmart is junk. Therefore, and ergo, if everything you buy is from Walmart and it is all made in China, then everything made in China is junk.

Right?

Nope. Not at all.

Here is a little history lesson. Way back in time, before George Bush was President, companies in America were jockeying to have product placement in Walmart. Walmart was the leading retailer of products, and to have your goods sold at Walmart meant that you pretty much could sell your product anywhere in the Untied States. Not just anywhere, but in huge volumes as well.

There was only one thing.

They wanted all the profit. When I worked at Sunbeam-Oster, our profit margin on a garment steam iron was 3% of the total cost. Walmart then took that amount and added an additional 33% profit to THEM, on top of that. In addition, they also demanded 1.5% decrease in price every year. After two years, we were only breaking even. The only solution was to develop a new product, and start from scratch all over again.

Over time, the only way that American manufacturing companies could compete was to make the products in places where the labor costs were really low. That meant, for the most part, China. Which is why so many American factories were shuttered and the assembly went overseas in China.

However, the rest of the world is not run by John Walton. All through Europe, the socialistic nations there have provided really generous packages to the workers, and thus labor costs are really high. They still demand high quality, but they just cannot afford the labor costs.

So, while the cheapest and flimsiest products were being made in China and shipped to America, the really good stuff went to Europe.

7. China is Dirty, Smoggy and Heavily Polluted

Certainly, Beijing in August is awfully smoggy. The combination of dust and pollution really creates an atmosphere that is rather undesirable. However, Beijing is not representative of China as a whole. Just like Washington D.C. does not represent what America is like.

Here is Coastal China where I pretty much live…

Here is a view of the central mountainous section of China. This is a nice rural village. The Chinese government(s) have taken the time to invest in the preservation of history and local villages. Otherwise, they would all be torn down and replaced with modern skyscrapers by aggressive Chinese businessmen.

Here is a view of a smaller Chinese city. These smaller communities are spread out all over China. They are so tiny and cute.

China is like any other place on the surface of this planet. There are good days, and rainy days. There are places that have snow, and other places that have hot deserts. Yet, the American main-stream media never shows you that. They only show the ugly and bad side of China. This causes a terrible distortion of reality.

Life is NOT like it is portrayed in the American main-stream media.

And, here is another picture of the absolutely beautiful Chinese coast. Boys and girls, the world is filled with beautiful places, and wonderful and sunny people. You do not have to live in fear, thinking that the rest of the world is a dark, dingy and terrible place. Throw away all the propaganda, and go out and see the rest of the world with your own very eyes.

Don’t move ahead with the narrative brought to you by the American oligarchy.

The above micro-video is from the Southern coast of China. What about the Northern coast? Well, here is a micro-video taken in the Northern section of China. It is taken near Mongolia.

When ever you, the reader, are too riled up about something you read, maybe it’s high time to sit back… drink a nice frosty beer and play with your dog (or cat). Then book a plane and travel to China. You do not need to believe me. All you need to do is see things with your own eyes. It is neigh time that we stopped listening to those that control and influence us, and make our own decisions.

8. The Chinese Hate Their Government

Yeah. This is another big ol’ whopper.

We, as Americans, tend to think that everyone who lives in a communist nation is imprisoned and can’t wait to escape. Man, that was certainly the case during the “Pro Democracy Movement”, when the Chinese government cracked down on all the SJW’s who wanted to turn the nation on it’s head… “Cultural Revolution” style.

All the SJW’s bailed. They scurried away like rats. many came to America and just begged to be let in. We, being magnanimous, let some come in. Then we left the rest to fend for themselves. We never forgot how they tried to escaped from the progressive liberal socialist “utopia” Communist China.

But, boys and girls, that was over thirty years ago.

Since then, the (American Conservative) policies of Mr. Deng replaced the progressive liberal socialist polices out of Beijing. He tossed away the big socialist lies. He made it obvious that socialism does not work. He rubbed the collective socialist’s faces into the reality of what the structure of the government was.

China became rich, and the people became prosperous. No one wants to change that.

To paraphrase Mr. Deng. “I don’t care if the cat is white or black. All that I care about is if it catches mice.”

The Chinese, of all walks of life, can see their lives changing before their very eyes. When the shackles of progressive liberal thought were decoupled and discarded, they were permitted to fly like a bird in American-Conservative-style free-market economics. They can fly! They can build up their lives unencumbered by rules and regulations. They are happy and free!

Here’s a chick working at a fish market. Look at the people behind here. Are they picking up their phones to call the “Police” or the “Politically correct” action committee? No, not in the least.

The Chinese people today, are very proud of their country and their heritage. They see that there are good and bad aspects, but in the whole they see their standard of living increasing. They see the Chinese government going after crime and corruption. They see actions being taken to curb and eliminate pollution. They see their friends getting and starting successful businesses. All in all, they are satisfied.

When you come to China the impression is not one of doom, gloom, and a resigned belief that you are trapped. The impression is one of openness, friendliness, and happiness.

9. China is a Police State

You know this is a pretty common perception. Since China is “communist” that it must be a “police state”. After all, all Americans know and realize that all communists are socialistic dictators. Right? And, when see facts about executions in China, it just reinforces that perception.

China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world COMBINED... and uses mobile execution vans for efficiency.

But is it really?

Since I moved to China, I have never had to show my identification. I am never bothered by the police for anything. I have never seen a military vehicle with police colors on it. When I do see armored military and police, it is only after a Muslim attack, like the massacre in Kuming.

The truth is that the Chinese police typically let people alone. The closest American equivalent that I can compare them to is a sort of Mayberry RFD. The police are pretty “hands off”. They do not police behavior and only get involved if assistance is required. Seriously, that is the best way that I can describe it.

Heck, America is the Police State. With arrests of five year olds for selling lemonade, and SWAT raids for planting tomato plants in your front yard.

Not China.

10. China is Communist

Yah, and America is still a Republic. We say this, even though the 12th and the 17th amendments effectively changed a Republic into a Democracy, we still walk around saying that American is still a Constitutional Republic.

• 12th Amendment – Vice President is elected by the electoral college vote.
• 17th Amendment – Senators are elected by popular vote.

China might be communist in name, and they might call it “Communist with Chinese Characteristics”, but in truth it functions quite differently than how Mr. Mao first set it up as.

China Today is Communist in Name Only
China operates as a single political entity; a dictatorship, if you will. It's social and economic policies are near perfect copies of Ron Paul's free-market philosophy. They are implemented as if they were run by American Conservatives.

Saying China is “Communist” is like saying that a person is rich because they wear Prada. Governments have strayed and changed over the years. What’s that that the liberals always say about the United States Constitution “it’s a living document” . One that you can revise depending on the dictates of the majority.

I disagree, of course, but others don’t. They have changed America to be something that is was not intended to be.

Conclusions

China today does not resemble anything like Americans think it is. There are numerous reasons for this, however, I lay the blame squarely on the monolithic American news media.

America NEEDS a well informed, intelligent citizenry. While, I will openly admit that I find many things about China that I favor, at least I am trying to show the other side “of the coin”. China is not what many think it is.

We owe it to ourselves to start to obtain other sources of information. We need to stop our reliance on obtaining information from the mainstream media outlets. Their role is not to inform. Their role is to manipulate.

Take Aways

• Americans believe that most Chinese eat dogs and cats. This is wrong. A small minority of rural Chinese do so. The vast bulk of the Chinese population love their pets.
• Americans believe that China would not exist if it were not for Americans buying Chinese products. This is false. China manufactures to the world, not just America.
• Americans believe that China would starve if food exports were blocked. This is false. China was worked on self-sufficiency for decades.
• Americans believe that the infrastructure in China is falling apart and old. This is false. There is nothing even resembling this narrative at all.
• Americans believe that the Chinese want to fight a war. This is nonsense propagated by the American media.
• Americans thing that everything made in China is junk. Nope. Not at all. It’s just that the vast bulk of American consumer products out of China have been quality reduced to meet American profit margins.
• Americans think that China is terribly polluted. Some areas are… sometimes. Like everything else, China is a big nation with many beautiful areas.
• Americans believe that the Chinese hate their government and their nation. No. They do not. This is a falsehood.
• Americans believe that since China is “communist” that it is a police state. This is false. It is not a police state, though America certainly acts and behaves like one.
• Americans believe that Communist China is a text-book communist nation. It is not. It is communist in name only, and functions differently than how it was initially set up as.

FAQ

Q: Isn’t there some truth in the narrative out of the mainstream media?
A: Oh yes. There is always a small paltry of truth is every item out of the American mainstream media. For instance, there are some people in the cities that occasionally eat dogs. There are some roads that need to be repaved. There are sometimes Chinese military armed with machine-guns.

The point is not that there are not exceptions to the news, but rather that the information provided by American mainstream media is terribly slanted propaganda.

Q: How can you determine if the American mainstream media is lying?
A: The first key is to look if they are talking. If they are saying something, then there is a very good chance that it is a half-truth, or half-lie. However, the best thing that you can do is go out to the place where they are reporting on.

I well remember an event when I graduated from Syracuse University in 1981. We had an American general speak at the commencement ceremony. Perhaps you know him; Al Haig. The auditorium, the SU dome, was filled to capacity.

Now, up in a small tiny corner way, way, way far away were four “activists” dressed up like nuns with blood all over them. They were protesting something that was going on in South America at the time. Anyways, the police came and removed them. They entire disruption maybe took two minutes. It happened as a little scuffle in a big auditorium of people.

That night we watched the news.

Instead of showing a tiny insignificant scuffle in a swirling mob of people, they zoomed in on the four character activists.  Their faces filled the television screen. The emphasis was on the protesters and nothing about our graduation. Not only that, but while the protests only took at most two minutes of time, the news devoted a full twenty minutes to it.

Anyone watching what was reported would get the impression of a major protest, and one that really made a big stink during graduation. It was nothing of the sort. Not at all.

Q: Why do you hate America and are so pro-China?
A: I do not hate America. I love America. However, is in turmoil right now, and much of it is being instigated from others, often powerful, rich oligarchs who are trying to Change America into their idea of perfection; “Venezuelan” style America.

To get away with this, they rely on deception, fear and half-truths.

This is my admittedly small, but heart-felt, effort to try to correct this imbalance. In a world where blogs are maligned, and the mainstream-media is put on a pedestal, I choose to be a small and tiny voice. To which I must squeek…

"Go out, and look around you. All the news consists of lies and distortions. Do not believe any of it.

The most dangerous lies are the lies that YOU WANT TO BELIEVE. Be careful.

When in doubt, go experience the place and the events yourself."

Please be judicious in everything that you read, and everything that you watch and hear. Powerful, wealthy individuals have twisted it and remade it into an extremely advanced control mechanism. They use feed-back loops to control and predict the actions of great masses of the American populace. Do not fall for their trap.

It’s all crap.

via GIPHY

Other Posts

This is the first of two parts post. You can visit the other post; ” The Top Ten Misconceptions Chinese have about America”. It can be found HERE.

Notes

1. Composed 28AUG18.
2. Draft completed 3SEP18.
3. SEO 3SEP18.
4. Published 3SEP18.