I can speak to this a little. I lived in S.Korea from 2014-2019. By the time I left, the "american" franchises had exploded, and so had the koreans waistlines.
I had a very wise friend who pointed out this was how the US took over the world -- not with guns and bombs but by infecting the world with our bullshit corporatism.
I've read Zeihan's book and followed him for a few years.
I don't think he is up to speed with the fact that this is a war of non-state and state actors against civilian populations.
China can just as easily cure their demographics problem with a single bioweapon, just like Israel, UK, Germany, France, US, Russia, etc.
Remember, nations are about self-survival. Same for non-state multinational actors.
No act is beyond them.
China has enough of tech, natural resources, food production, water, energy and everything else to run ... say a 500 - 800 M population, with demographic pyramid fixed.
Yes, if everything just gets worse, like Zeihan assumes (I don't), then China will be worse off than , say USA.
But I don't believe the Zeihan scenario is the most probable one, for the reasons I gave above.
ANything is up for grabs. The whole world map is now burning and continents are moving. Everything is being reset: money, food, transport, tech, trade and yes, populations and genetics.
In this scenario simple generational extrapolation models from history can easily break down. Time will tell what happens.
Also, about monetary systems, he is just well... not very educated.
I like Zeihan for big picture demo-geographics, but monetary expert he is not, that's for sure. He's just regurgitating talking points .
Chinese are in a trap, but unlikely to repeat the mistakes of Japan in same way.
Japan and Korea were also 100% USA's bitches.
China is not and does not want to.
I can speak to this a little. I lived in S.Korea from 2014-2019. By the time I left, the "american" franchises had exploded, and so had the koreans waistlines.
I had a very wise friend who pointed out this was how the US took over the world -- not with guns and bombs but by infecting the world with our bullshit corporatism.
I've read Zeihan's book and followed him for a few years.
I don't think he is up to speed with the fact that this is a war of non-state and state actors against civilian populations.
China can just as easily cure their demographics problem with a single bioweapon, just like Israel, UK, Germany, France, US, Russia, etc.
Remember, nations are about self-survival. Same for non-state multinational actors.
No act is beyond them.
China has enough of tech, natural resources, food production, water, energy and everything else to run ... say a 500 - 800 M population, with demographic pyramid fixed.
Yes, if everything just gets worse, like Zeihan assumes (I don't), then China will be worse off than , say USA.
But I don't believe the Zeihan scenario is the most probable one, for the reasons I gave above.
ANything is up for grabs. The whole world map is now burning and continents are moving. Everything is being reset: money, food, transport, tech, trade and yes, populations and genetics.
In this scenario simple generational extrapolation models from history can easily break down. Time will tell what happens.
Also, about monetary systems, he is just well... not very educated.