HALF A MILLIONAIRE

History shows that every empire has an end, and I believe that American domination on the international stage has been weakened by China. And, although the Asian giant is still about 100 years behind the U.S., it will catch up and eventually take the lead in the long run because:

1. The growing pain that China is currently bearing is exactly the same pain which the U.S. had to go through during its industrial revolution period. However, China saves a lot of time and money on scientific research, which the U.S. and other nations have done.  

2. China is America’s largest creditor. And, personally, I don’t believe in “good debt” because debt weakens our nation. Many argue that the debt is small compared to the national GDP and that America can still handle it. In my opinion, it is the most ridiculous and irresponsible excuse. When we are in debt, our voice is no longer the strongest, and it shows during President Obama’s tour of Asia.

3. America is not being led by strong leadership, and I am not just blaming it on President Obama. I am calling out everyone in Washington DC. Turn on the TV and we can see how they fight each other for political gain. They do not really care for the American people. Most of them care about personal legacy and their own pockets.  

4. Chinese leaders are tough-minded. They learn from the collapse of the Soviet Union, so they are slowly reforming their country. Of course, many in the Western world have been criticizing China’s human rights record for years, but the Chinese leaders never give in. They hear the complaints, and they solve the problems behind closed doors. They are not afraid of external influence because they know that the problems are theirs and that no one can tell them what to do. We all must remember that China is not the United States of America. It has thousands years of history. Its society is governed by a different set of values. We, Americans, should be more careful and sensitive when we attempt to introduce our democracy to others.

5. On the other hand, President Obama is trying really hard to please the world because he believes that America’s image has been destroyed by the previous administration. In my opinion, it is a waste of time. Why do we have to care so much about what others think of us? I believe that his first priority is to create jobs for Americans. Why did he have to tour Asia during this time? I listened to his speech in Tokyo, and, as always, it sounded really good. He told the world what he would do to fix America. However, the speech would have been more meaningful if he had actually succeeded in fixing America’s problems, in my opinion. If I were him, I would have stayed home and worked tirelessly to create jobs for Americans. And, I would have let the results speak for me.  

6. We, Americans, complain about everything because we never feel satisfied with what we have. We borrow money against our house to purchase things that we do not really need. Now, we want free healthcare when the national unemployment is over 10%. However, we must remember that nothing is “free” in life. How will we fund for universal healthcare? If we print more money, the value of the dollar will go down even more. If we finance the cost of healthcare by borrowing from China, how will we pay it back?

7. China has the largest labor force, and everyone wants to improve their livelihood. Therefore, they all are willing to work hard. Americans on the other hand always demand a higher standard of living, so the cost of doing business in America is higher. Thus, jobs will leave our shores. Bankers, engineers and doctors will do fine, but those without high education will struggle to find work. The gap between the rich and poor will widen. The poor can no longer afford the things that they used to. Frustration and anger will peak, and riots will break out.

Although the momentum is on China’s side, the Asian country will be facing many serious problems in the future that can potentially hurt it. For example, environmental pollution is slowly killing the Chinese people. After having tasted the fruit of their labor, they will begin to seek political freedom and democracy, which can lead to unrest. However, in my opinion, learning from the mistakes made by the Soviet Union and the U.S., the Chinese leaders are ready for these challenges. They will continue to rake in the money by doing business with the West, but at the same time they will keep a tight grip on their people. Regardless if we like it or not, it is their country, and they have the right to do whatever they want to do. Most importantly, we must remember to keep our mouth shut because China has a leash of debt around our neck.

On September 11, 2001, I woke up early to prepare for school. As I was eating breakfast, I heard the news of the attack on television. And, I could not believe it, so I alerted my roommates. For a moment, we thought that it was a documentary or a hypothetical scenario created by CNN. However, after we had noticed the word “live” on the screen, we knew that it was for real. Immediately, some of my friends, “Star Wars” enthusiasts, yelled ”the empire strikes back”. For the entire morning, we began to do what college students always love to do: We argued. We looked at the issue from all angles. We all agreed that it was wrong to kill innocent people (there was no debate about this among us). However, we believed that Osama bin Laden had his own reasons for doing what he did. Some believed that the terrorist leader was stupid because he would never win against the U.S. by employing terror tactics because the U.S. is the only nation on earth that did actually drop atomic bombs on its enemy. 

Why is Osama bin Laden so mad? And, what is he afraid of? He is mad because the U.S. is wealthier and more powerful. He is afraid that the American culture and Western ideology will destroy his. For example, women have become more independent and empowered in his society. Young people in his society eat McDonald’s and drink Coke. They like to watch movies produced by Hollywood. They love ipods and iphones. They have not questioned the islam faith, but he knows that they eventually will. He wants to stop the trend, but he does not know what to do because he knows he is weaker. He is desperate. He is like a poor person who constantly complains about how others are richer than he is but refuses to improve his situation by working harder. Perhaps, this poor person has tried to work harder, but he is unable to catch up with the rich because when he is one million dollar richer, they on the other hand have increased their wealth by one billion dollars. Therefore, he starts to play ”dirty”.

I would like to share a childhood story with you because my older sister always reminds me of it whenever we talk about our past. When we were young, we were playmates. We collected things that were valuable to us. For example, we had rubber bands, marbles, pretty rocks and thrown-away lotto tickets. We especially loved the lotto tickets because they had beautiful pictures on them. We used them as our “money”. One day, we were playing cards, and I lost all of mine to my sister in one hand. Without hesitation, I grabbed her treasure box and threw it down the sewage moat. I was desperate, so I played “dirty”. Personally, I do not remember the story, but my sister does. I defend myself by telling my sister that my inability to recall the story shows that I did not mean to hurt her. My anger did it.

Osama bin Laden took down the Twin Tower and killed thousands of innocent people. He did terrorize the free world for awhile, but now what? The U.S. is still standing. When one building goes down, we build hundreds more. The loss of lives is irreplaceable, but it brings us closer to each other. We are more united than before. The American culture lives on. Life will go on. However, Osama is nowhere to be found. Many claim that he is still alive. But, who cares? Death and disease will get him. Undoubtedly, his ”anger outburst” will die with him, too. I condemn terrorism because I believe that it is an act of weakness and desperation. If a nation wants to compete with the U.S., then it needs to improve itself and stop blaming the U.S. for its condition. I have great respect for Japan and Germany because they have pulled themselves out of a deep hole after World War II. Similarly, China, India and Brazil are becoming stronger and stronger everyday because they have been playing within the international rules.

In conclusion, Osama lost the game because his life is finite. His short-lived “outburst” (I refuse to use the word “movement”) is not effective and a waste of his life. In the history of mankind, he will always be a terrorist and nothing more.

As usual, President Obama’s healthcare speech sounded very good tonight. I felt very emotional when he talked about Senator Ted Kennedy’s lifelong dream, universal healthcare for all Americans. In my heart, I was yelling: “yes, let’s do it.” However, my head disagreed because I was skeptical about his plan. Simply, I do not think we can afford it.

Some argue that if France, Norway, Canada and many other socialist nations are able to provide universal healthcare to their citizens, then we should be able to do the same. For me, I believe that it is easy said than done. For example, to cover healthcare cost, in Norway, the income tax rate is aboout 48 percent. There is also something called “tax on net wealth”, which means that the government can tax its rich citizens one additional time for having accumulated wealth, because it wants to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. When they are sick, they just go to a hospital and a doctor will treat them. Similarly, Canadians are very proud of their healthcare system because it covers everyone. In my opinion, the U.S. cannot afford universal healthcare (although I wish that we can) because we have a larger population (300 million) compared to Canada (33 million) and Norway (4.6 million).

Universal healthcare is nice, but it is not free. How do we finance the program? We can cut other programs to free up some money. We can apply for an interest-only loan with the China bank. We can just print more money, disregarding inflation. We can raise taxes on everyone because taxing just the rich will not generate enough money to support the program.  

In his speech, President Obama did not specifically point out what he would do to gather up enough money to fulfill his promise. I felt as though he just wanted us to trust him. I felt as though he just wanted us to do it, and we would deal with the financial consequences later when they arrive. As an American, he has it in his blood like all of us, the risk-taking spirit. We financed our houses with interest only loans and we successfully brought down our economy. Although we do not know exactly what the universal healthcare plan will bring down next, we are Americans and therefore we are not afraid to dream the American dream.

Personally, I am torn by the issue. Sometimes, I just want to follow my heart and prepare for the next economic crisis; if the dream becomes a reality, I will be happy and scared at the same time. obviously, I do not want to wish that universal healthcare will always be a dream because I know many Americans need it. All I can do is to hope that they will do the right thing because it is out of my hands.