Asia 'set to eclipse' US by 2030

[Jimbuna]

I was aware of China but not sure about India

Asia will wield more global power than the US and Europe combined by 2030, a forecast from the US intelligence community has found.
Within two decades China will overtake the US as the world's largest economy, the report adds.

But the report says it does not anticipate that China will emerge as a superpower in the mould of the US, forging coalitions to take on international issues.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20671917

[Takeda Shingen]

Neither quote is surprising. We all knew that economic power was shifting to Asia, and it was inevitable that the US was not going number 1 forever. However, it will likely remain the seat of political power for some time to come, as the Chinese government hasn't learned to treat it's people well enough, nor get along with other nations in a manner to place it as a political leader worldwide.

In terms of politics, India does not seem to have any such ambitions.

[Jimbuna]

Well I certainly feel more comfortable with our US allies maintaing that position.

*Hides under cover awaiting the backlash*

[AVGWarhawk]

Is the worlds largest economy always a good thing? It comes with it's own challenges and issues.

Super Power. Is it really all it's cracked up to be?

[STEED]

The fat pigs are already got there eyes on the East.

[the_tyrant]

Kindof expected you know, I mean, the continent is 50% of the world's population.

Also, when the comparisons are at the national level, Asians have the advantage. You don't really see many "libertarians". 99% of people I know in china are fiercely pro-government. Whereas most young people in the west are all about "sticking it to the man", in China, most young people want to "serve the nation".

Asian cultures also have many advantages against the west in certain aspects. 0% tolerance towards drugs (all users are forced into rehab, dealers with more than one ounce of product get the firering squad, no ifs or buts), no teenage rebellion (do well in school OR ELSE), 0% tolerance towards crime (Whether it is China, or Japan, or even Cambodia, the average death row convict is executed within months, not after ten years).

I am not saying that Asian culture is "better", I'm just saying on a national level, it does have significant advantages in creating "national strength".

[August]

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

Whereas most young people in the west are all about "sticking it to the man", in China, most young people want to "serve the nation"

Small wonder.

Our media spends most of it's time telling people that "The Man" screwed them over and that the game is rigged against them, whereas the Chinese media is all about instilling their people with national pride and patriotism.

[Oberon]

China and India will have their times, but with greater power comes greater social pressure. The sort of things in Chinese media could well have been seen in British, European or American media a hundred and fifty years ago.
Every empire has a rise and a fall, who knows who will be next after China? My money is on South America.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

Asian cultures also have many advantages against the west in certain aspects. 0% tolerance towards drugs (all users are forced into rehab, dealers with more than one ounce of product get the firering squad, no ifs or buts), no teenage rebellion (do well in school OR ELSE), 0% tolerance towards crime (Whether it is China, or Japan, or even Cambodia, the average death row convict is executed within months, not after ten years).

So a repressive drug policy with questionable results, raising children as robots and denying due process should be a role model for the world?
You might also want to inform yourself about the deterrence of capital punishment

No way, I prefer to stick to the motto of East Frisia, Europe : Lever dood as slaav.

[the_tyrant]

Originally Posted by Penguin

So a repressive drug policy with questionable results, raising children as robots and denying due process should be a role model for the world?
You might also want to inform yourself about the deterrence of capital punishment

No way, I prefer to stick to the motto of East Frisia, Europe : Lever dood as slaav.

You missed the point.

Understand that obedient robots do wonders for the country's "strength". People in china trust the government's decisions, this means that if the country has effective leadership, it can do a LOT more than western nations.

In the great leap forward, even the most idiotic decisions had millions of people doing it willingly. this just shows, that if the nation's leadership wants to execute a policy, it WILL BE DONE, no ifs or buts.

This is something that no western politician has the capability of doing. people in asia value unity, in fact, in Chinese, “你想造反？” (you want to be a rebel?) is used like "are you insane" in English. Asian countries have a type of national pride never seen before in the western word. And this is why I say they will be a force to be reckoned with.

[August]

We once had the same national pride and we didn't need an authoritarian government to have it either.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by August

We once had the same national pride and we didn't need an authoritarian government to have it either.

Some of that national pride is diminished with the influx of people from other cultures, ideals and religions?

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by August

We once had the same national pride and we didn't need an authoritarian government to have it either.

The work ethic between America and China/Japan is not comparable though, in fact I think most Western nations would struggle to understand the mindset of most Japanese, I certainly do. National pride though, yes, there was once a similar mindset, but then people became allowed to question and doubt the state. China and Japan spent many years not being allowed to, in China it's still taboo, although it's a LOT better now than it was even thirty years ago, in Japan I think the government is considered secondary to business, since most of the time the government is either corrupt, out of touch or ineffectual, so loyalty is owed to your boss, not your nation. Even so, there's still a fair bit of nationalistic pride, particularly amongst the youth. Same in South Korea from what I can tell.


And Skybird, what China has is a suicide bomb. Yes, it can do severe damage to Western economies, yes it can drive Japans economy even further down the toilet, but at the cost of destroying its own. China has an economic bomb, but the firestorm that it would unleash would consume it along with its enemies.
China isn't stupid, it wields the threat but it's reluctant to use it until it can put itself into a position where it would survive the backlash. The US would recover, Europe would recover (eventually), Chinas current success is built on this economic boom, if it loses that, it goes backwards, it's like kicking the legs out from underneath a table.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

You missed the point.

Nope, I replied to the words you wrote that I quoted.
If your argument would be how govenment decisions get enforced quickly in authoritarian regimes, you should have written that - given you wrote it now:

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

Understand that obedient robots do wonders for the country's "strength". People in china trust the government's decisions, this means that if the country has effective leadership, it can do a LOT more than western nations.

Slaves comply and things get done fast without checks and balances. Your point is? How are top-down decisions more efficient? Just look how effective the planned economy was. Not even talking about long term-costs of dumb decisions, because no other side was heard. For example an interesting point to consider would be enviromental costs, which are not calculated in short-time thinking.
There is a big difference between getting things done quickly and getting things done efficiently.

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

In the great leap forward, even the most idiotic decisions had millions of people doing it willingly. this just shows, that if the nation's leadership wants to execute a policy, it WILL BE DONE, no ifs or buts.

I think several million people who kicked the bucket during the Great Leap would disagree. Or do you want to argue that all those "only" died of starvation and nobody was killed because they disagreed with the govenment?
And how many people were prosecuted again during the Culture Revolution? Guess those are the minor damages when enforcing obedience. Though I agree: killing and imprisoning opposition is effective in creating obedience through fear.

And do you really want to argue about the advantages of blind obedience to the government, no-questions-asked national pride and millions of willing followers with a guy whose parents were born in the 3rd Reich?

On the economic side:
I would like to see proof how a worker who has pride in his nation is more efficient than a worker who has pride in his company, or a self-employed guy who has pride in the product he creates.

[Armistead]

Let's face it, being a melting pot in the US seems more to divide us now than anything, China has the advantage of being of one mindset.