Open thread 9/9/22
She is so impressive and also so good at breaking down what she’s doing in order to teach othes:
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
She is so impressive and also so good at breaking down what she’s doing in order to teach othes:
As usual, these two guys I find to be most enjoyable.
Speaking as an individual with less than zero knowledge of violin music , I must admit that the “teacher” sounded a lot better than the “students.”
Wonder what it is that the Chinese in particular seem to take to classical music exceptionally well and produce an inordinate amount of musical prodigies.
Then again, when it comes to STEM and finance, the Chinese excel there as well.
As Thomas Sowell has pointed out, no matter where in the world the Chinese settle, within a generation or two, they are near or at the top of the socio-economic ladder.
In one of his books he mentions that in Indonesia? Malaysia? (or some other Asian nation) there are laws limiting the number of Chinese accepted to university to allow the local population to have university seats.
I believe the same situation exists here today within the Ivy League and within the UC university system.
Here in the USA, the Chinese were originally (the 1800s until the 19??’s) discriminated against, yet they refused to live in the past and strove to succeed.
Perhaps this lesson should be adopted by other ethnic groups – and we all know to which group I refer – here in the USA.
I have ample respect for the Chinese I worked with in Silicon Valley. No disrespect for John Tyler either.
I suggest watching the news on China closely.
In addition to its systemic crises of demographics, real estate, mortgage protests, banking, high youth unemployment, slowing economic growth and its GDP-killing Zero Covid policies, they’ve just been hit with a serious drought and an earthquake.
No good news for the PRC.
I feared the ascendant Chinese superpower narrative, but now China looks more like a collapsing shell. Here’s another Niall Ferguson video in which he describes China’s likely collapse and its inevitable turn towards nationalism as a refuge:
–Niall Ferguson, “China in decline, Population and Economic collapse”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_0UWGh96Fc
Now that I’ve looked more deeply into it, I think China is in deep trouble. It won’t supersede the United States. It may not even survive in its current configuration.
This is good news/bad news. We don’t have to worry about China as a competitor. We do have to worry about the repercussions as China declines … or implodes.
Perhaps AesopFan already covered this ground, but Sarah Hoyt was inspired by neo’s post:
–“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”
https://www.thenewneo.com/2022/09/06/things-fall-apart-the-centre-cannot-hold/
Hoyt’s response:
_________________________
A lot of us have a sense of things falling apart. This is both real and crazy. Neoneocon puzzled me yesterday by having a “the center cannot hold” post, all lamenting that America as she was is gone. She’s both wrong and right, and from the morose tone more wrong than right.
On a little thought I came to understand it. A lot of us have a sense things are falling apart, and we’re right, they are. But it doesn’t follow the falling apart is bad. Or that what emerges will not be American. Stop staring at me. I haven’t lost my mind.
–“THINGS FALL APART”
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/09/07/things-fall-apart/
_________________________
I’m in Hoyt’s camp. Where we come out on the other side won’t look like 1950s-1990s Americana. But we will be American.
I myself miss sixties psychedelia and hippie communes. They ain’t coming back either.
@ huxley > “Perhaps AesopFan already covered this ground, but Sarah Hoyt was inspired by neo’s post:”
I made a note at the end of the comment thread, for later reference.
–“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”
I would like to think that Sarah is correct, but the only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know anything for sure.
At the moment, my “bingo card” has 4 spots for the beginning of WW3, depending on which tipping point comes first.
If the hippie communes don’t come back as sixties psychedelia, they will come in another form. They are always there, in every age and clime.
BTW, I love TwoSetViolin – the guys are so talented and so funny!
However, none of the references I dredged up revealed how they picked the name for their Youtube channel.
Does anyone know what the reference or in-joke is?