Chinese Humor Highlights America’s Economic and Political Conundrum

© 2010 Peter Free

 

22 September 2010

 

We need to do metaphorically less sleeping, eating, and arguing ─ and come together in a common national purpose

 

Columnist Thomas L. Friedman wrote yesterday about a Chinese school skit that is funny and revealing:

 

China’s CCTV aired a skit showing four children — one wearing the Chinese flag, another the American, another the Indian, and another the Brazilian — getting ready to run a race

Before they take off, the American child, “Anthony,” boasts that he will win “because I always win,” and he jumps out to a big lead.

But soon Anthony doubles over with cramps. “Now is our chance to overtake him for the first time!” shouts the Chinese child.

“What’s wrong with Anthony?” asks another. “He is overweight and flabby,” says another child. “He ate too many hamburgers.”

© 2010 Thomas L. Friedman, Too Many Hamburgers?, New York Times (21 September 2010) (paragraph split for online readability)

 

Friedman has been impressed with China’s rapidly expanding infrastructure and its government’s directed efficiency

 

Friedman is not saying that democracy is inherently at a disadvantage.  He and I agree that our behavior is failing a desirable system:

 

It makes me feel that we are abusing our right system. There is absolutely no reason our democracy should not be able to generate the kind of focus, legitimacy, unity and stick-to-it-iveness to do big things — democratically — that China does autocratically.

 

But we’re not doing it now because too many of our poll-driven, toxically partisan, cable-TV-addicted, money-corrupted political class are more interested in what keeps them in power than what would again make America powerful, more interested in defeating each other than saving the country.

 

© 2010 Thomas L. Friedman, Too Many Hamburgers?, New York Times (21 September 2010) (paragraph split for online readability)

 

China’s weaknesses are not going to trip it up enough to make American complacence look good down History’s road

 

The Chinese hamburger skit is funny because it is symbolically true of political America.  At our current pace, we will be barfing in the wake of our competitors as they zip by.

 

As a nation, we aren’t focused.  And we are spoiled.  We seem to hate compromise and sound thinking.  We argue about illusions, as if they were true.

 

We can’t seem to come together to define and strive after a vision of national success that is based on Reality’s facts.

 

Why don’t we change this?

 

Vision is necessary

 

I don’t want us to be the kid up-chucking burger bits on a pot-holed road.

 

While the other guys are whizzing by on high-speed rail ─ on their way to a rocket launch to seed humanity among the stars.