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You reflect the state of the West, not the state of the world. Because the West is a failed society, a society that has failed to deliver on its promises. So in the West we see the death of the idea of progress, the death of optimism.The West is locked into its false assumptions and cannot imagine a different, better, future. But there are places in the world where people look forward to the future--places that are bursting with vitality, vigor and optimism. Places that see the sun rising, not setting. China, Russia, Iran, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, ASEAN--the peoples and civilizations that are struggling to be reborn, to be recognized. The nations that are finally waking up from the nightmare of colonialism. Tomorrow belongs to them. And they will have it--as the Russians, Chinese, Iranians, Palestinians and others are demonstrating. These are places of spiritual health, exuberance and energy. The future is theirs, and yes, by God, they will have it. And the West be damned.

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Excellent!!!!!!

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It is fashionable now to distill the essence of the West into a concentrated toxin, like 'colonialism', but as the earlier sections in this essay describe so eloquently, there was much more to it than that, much that was truly excellent and fair but which is now tawdry and faded. The current polities you mentioned now on the rise are similarly mixed bags. Both Russia and China lost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of lives recently during the last century and for them too, much that was grand and glorious in their previous cultures has now faded. That said, they are indeed on the rise even as we fall, but it is not because they are spotless and pure and we are not. We do both our own ancestors and our own human natures an injustice by ascribing only evil to them and explaining our current decline as due entirely to the sins of our fathers; rather, we must acknowledge that some of what rose in the West was good and some was evil just as some of what is rising now in the East is good and some evil. It is a mixed picture, just as human experience is always a blend of head and heart.

All societies ultimately face the same challenge: how to foster goodness and discourage evil to engender meaningful, productive lives and uplifted societies which protect and flourish the same. Time never stands still so even societies which generally achieve this will do so only for a while, since the more goodness there is the more of an enticing target it is for evil to coopt. Every Garden of Eden has a Serpent in it! The Confucian approach may be the best one ever specifically designed to deal with this issue (how to continuously promote good in society), but the worldview from which it grew is no more - the Chinese are modern materialists now as well - and so we can no longer perceive, let alone adopt, it.

In any case, those young today will learn in a few decades how well the modern Chinese system performs in this regard, though I suspect Russia is more on the right track because the last century for them was a more obvious and deeply traumatic catastrophe so they are not rebuilding their brave new civilization with arrogance, rather great care. The Chinese 'modernisation' drive is more breathtaking in scope and ambition, at least on the material level, with plans to connect the entire planet with their roads, trains and ships but their sheer numbers may tend to drive whatever they do, and no matter how well intentioned, into the rigid hell of totalitarianism. Time will tell.

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Excellent post, terrific!

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I could not have summarized my thoughts better than this writing. Personally, I veer toward Russia since I agree wholeheartedly about your description of China as it relates to materialism coupled with totalitarianism. While I'd have a difficult time with Religion, like where I live now, I meet and become friendly with those who seek peace and cherish souls.

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To assume "the West" is all the noise sifted through the Internet Monopolies and the controlled Media, is a mistake. Boiling underneath, awaiting the as yet unknown catalyst, are millions who will not follow the East or South, but do not want to be their enemy, either.

Financialization enriched the many Princes, but never, ever made anything of value. Price is not value. Printing money has the same practical economic effect as cutting the same pie into smaller and smaller slices, while giving your friends, the piggies, the first feeding.

To the article, it staggers me, when I count the suicides I have known during my life, that such prose can be written with such dark compulsion hovering in the background.

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I wouldn't romanticize anything about China. Chinese citizens are run like robots by the highly corrupt Communist regime where Big Brother watches everything that you do. Do not step out of line with a non-regime independent thought. China is a horror story for mankind.

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