Hi Jerry. Thanks for response. You gave the definition of "authoritarian" if one replaced the word "they" above.

I understand the Chinese rational. I don't believe it is inherently evil. Like you say, each system has its strengths and weaknesses.

I hated Trump. When he was elected I was practically sick to my stomach. However, part of me saw it has a good reminder to Americans that many other Americans are completely sick and fed up with the hypocrisy of many people. There is o solution. The U.S. sways from fuck-up to fuck-up. No one gets to decide who is an expert and who isn't. Certainly, they try, but we still have laws in place which prevent it. Problems do get worked out.

I believe the "we're the experts" strength of the Chinese government have become its weakness. It can't change. As Sinclair said, "No man will look to understand a problem he's paid not to understand", or something like that.

I predict China will collapse (not go away of course!). The U.S. won't collapse because, well, it's always in a state of collapse. What worries me is what happens when authoritarian states collapse. There have no let off steam valves, no way for outside voices to be taken seriously. They're closed loop systems. Too many single-points of failure. That said, the West is hardly innocent and its arrogance is provoking China in a war, seems to me.

We shall see. Thanks for your story and thoughts!