02-10-2026, 06:02 AM
(02-10-2026, 05:26 AM)dukealien Wrote: Your last line is eloquently ambiguous - is the country that makes everything China (which supplies Russia, for a price) or Russia itself if only it had a mechanism to decide what was actually needed/wanted among all its potential, and distribute it? Hard crony capitalism (oligarchy) isn't working much better for them than totalitarian cronyism (Communism as practiced) did.'Crony capitalism' is what characterises America today, and indeed, has characterised America all the way back the era of the robber barons.
Regarding China - I'd say the system is working brilliantly for them. Shanghai beats any American city, hands down - except New York. China's top 10 cities leave the west in the dust.
America's dominance is entirely on account of the US dollar being the reserve currency, a practice whose end is quite foreseeable. The rest of its economy is part petro state and part hype bubble, whereas China not only matches America in tech (Deepseek, Unitree, CATL, BYD) but comprehensively bests it everywhere in the supply chain.