Comments, the Internet, and China

Last night on "The Office" there was a subplot about an argument between Michael and Oscar regarding China.  Michael had brought a magazine to the office after a visit to the dentist, an issue of Newsweek with the cover story "China is on the Move" and started alerting the workers to the threat of China.  Oscar replied with a more sensible approach, taking apart many of Michael's arguments in a manner I found somewhat familiar.

The politics of the show weren't important (it's "The Office" and I don't expect them to have a fair discussion about China, although they did have a more reasonable approach than you'd find on Fox or likely even CNN) but one thing I did find amusing was the cover of the Newsweek issue Michael had brought back.  It looked familiar, and judging from the dentist office connection I guessed it was going to be old.  You can see it in the screenshot of the clip below (which also has an amusing political angle in Michael's fear) and maybe it looks familiar to you too.



I wanted to find out how old, exactly, that issue was, so I did a little internet searching and found a Newsweek story from 2005 with the headline "China is on the Move."  Ha!  Five years old!  I felt pretty good finding that meta joke within "The Office" and thought I would show off my awesomeness by leaving a comment on the Hulu page for this episode.

Now, I've only commented a couple of times on Hulu, and have found that generally it's a barren wasteland of commentary, so I figured my little link to this old story would stand alone.  Imagine my surprise when I found fifteen pages of comments, mostly arguing about China!  Even on Hulu, even on a silly show like "The Office", there are people viciously calling each other names and spreading fear.  It was a real surprise and, to be honest, a bit of a downer.

So rather than leave a comment there, I thought I'd come here.  Man, people really do like to argue, even over ridiculous things in ridiculous places.  Seems like there's nowhere for a guy who remembers some magazine cover from half a decade ago to find friends anymore. :)

Boogeyman China Headlines Delusional Anti-Government Ad

A very disturbing ad is making the conservative rounds, featuring a glimpse into a so-called future where China is inexplicably mocking the United States of 2010. I saw this ad over on The Consumer Trap today, where the overt racism is decried. Setting the racism aside (I can't imagine any self-respecting actor of Chinese descent signing up for this commercial) this ad is full of ridiculous misrepresentations and misdirection.



First off, the presenter suggests that America fails because they "turn their back on the principles that make them great." I don't disagree with this basic premise, we're in a lot of trouble right now because we've done exactly that, turning our back on the principles of the 20th century that saw us rise to world prominence. From 1936 to 1980, our top marginal tax rate was at least 70%... during this time America became the industrial and manufacturing powerhouse that won WWII and lead the technological revolution for the world. We turned our back on this progressive tax code in the 1980s, and the massive tax cuts of 2001 continue to ravage our economy today.

Unfortunately, this isn't what the message is in the commercial. As an example of the "turning our back" idea, they list the US Stimulus package, and refer to it as "so-called" and "massive". This idea is ridiculous on the surface, as China enacted a much larger stimulus package at the same time as ours (representing 1/6 of China's economic output), 38% of which was directed toward infrastructure improvements.

The ad also decries the health care overhaul of the Obama administration, a convenient talking point of the right, which is entirely out of context when comparing our industry-oriented reforms to China's state-based free insurance. If the right's suggestion that Obama has made US health care state-run were true, wouldn't the Chinese applaud this change to something more similar to theirs?

Finally, the commercial makes the point that US debt is largely owned by China. While this is partially true (they hold 20.6% of our outstanding foreign debt) they own less of us than Japan and the UK combined, neither of which would take a pro-US stance versus China. On top of this, a large majority of our debt is held domestically, with foreign debt making up less than $5 trillion of the $13 trillion debt. The implication in the ad, of course, is that Obama and progressives are somehow responsible for China holding our debt, when a majority of our outstanding debt was accumulated under President Bush. Not to mention that China holds a smaller percentage of our debt today than they did at the beginning of the Obama administration.

Unfortunately, none of these facts are convenient for the anti-tax anti-spending message of the commercial, and it's not likely people will go to the work of researching this information for themselves. It's much easier to ignore the facts and stir up emotions when people are justifiably afraid that our country has fallen behind in many areas. This commercial, sadly, blames the very things that could help us catch back up with China and the world.