HELLO CHINA!

Observation of the Day!

When I was writing my family history, my research on the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection and my grandfather's service in both ends of the war, I learned that the reason we did not give the Philippines their independence as we did Cuba was the fact that the U.S. viewed the Philippines were the gateway to China and the Far East and the vast markets. It has been a slow evolutionary process, but now a hundred years later it would seem that China has finally made it. The Olympic Games were the coming out party to the world.

Yes, China is communist country with an authoritarian government, but it seemed to me that the people in China were relatively happy and going about their lives. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. The athletes were all getting along fine in the spirit of the games. There was some questionable judging occasionally, but that isn't something new to the Games.

It further confirms in my mind that ordinary people are ordinary people and bear few hostilities toward each other. Once again it is governments that create wars, not the people. In the government controlled world former enemies become friends and old friends become enemies.

Not long after I go my way to another world, China will be the next truly world power. The U.S. will continue to wither away. Their education system works,. Ours is failing. Foreign countries are buying U.S. assets until we won't own much.

We have become arrogant and lazy. We will wither.

A few years ago I heard my management hero, Peter Drucker, tell us that the intermingling and codependents of business being global will do much to prevent wars in the future. There will be too much to lose on all sides.

China is out there and the Olympics added the exclamation point.

Tomorrow I will give you some of my observations of the games themselves.

Have a nice day!

Samuel