Today was the signing ceremony for the Asian Infrastructure Bank. China is seeking to compete with the World Bank and/or IMF to gain some real muscle in the world of international finance. I say welcome to the party and obviously a brilliant move for China.
USA and Japan (and not too many others) are bummin' because there is the chance that the Chinese are watering down global finance opportunities rather than growing the pool, but I say so if the Chinese want to pump big bucks into trade infrastructure, that means more business for everyone, more world citizens are brought into the sphere of controlling their own lives, all for the good.
I grew up in a Libertarian household. I say that for two reasons: 1) I have never been a Democrat or a Republican (nor can I imagine any scenario in which I'd want either of those clown colleges representing me); 2) Its all about free markets, if its not about free markets then its more likely just politics as opposed to governance. And since I personally gravitate toward international affairs more than domestic ones and the Libertarian Party basically has no foreign policy, I was pretty much done as a Libertarian by the time I hit voting age. Realistically I am not now (nor have I ever been) politically a Libertarian. I never replaced the Libertarians with anything else, choosing instead to disdain all politics for being an unfortunate waste of time and energy.
I do not vote, don't feel the need to nor the desire. I don't like people that run for office, I could tolerate them but they have such a perverse need to loved and admired irrespective of their inconsistencies, insecurities and/or repulsive habits. And I don't really roll that way. I respect better than I love and I got no respect (or love for that matter) for the vast majority of politicians of my lifetime. I am told voting is my "duty" to which I ask: whose "duty" is it to give me something I want to vote for? Even duty needs a hint of reciprocity and the Democrats and Republicans have yet to offer any to me. I'm not a huge fan of democracy, I find it merely leads to elections. But democracy is what we got here in America and I can live with that, if anyone ever tried to take away my right to vote I would vote against it. But until then I don't see much I want to vote for. My life is just fine, I don't rely on gov't for livelihood or entertainment, not voting has yet to make a difference in my world because I don't make the assumption that the idiot that lost the election would really be better than the idiot that won.
I am generally a global optimist. I think everything is getting better all over the world. We live in a world suddenly bathed in sunlight. Some embrace it, some fear it. This period of history we currently inhabit is the early connected years: a clumsy mix of the people who love this shit and those that think this shit is an abomination (or at least an annoyance); in many place we see barriers coming down and in other places we see more barriers than ever. I don't believe the barriers will hold, I believe the people will make the most of each opportunity and gov't of the world will be powerless to stop it. The interconnectedness will be second hand to the next generation: even the most epochal civilization-warping inventions are just everyday objects to a baby and the kids that grow up with this processing power, this social reach, this astounding depth of knowledge available will expect it as an ordinary way of life and the only way for politicians to stop it is to get better at it.
Humanity is growing together on a global scale and that reach is still fairly new. I think it's a beautiful thing. Our art and our commerce will keep us healthy, happy and prosperous and the digitization will make so much available to so many people for such minimal investment. Humans learn from each other and we can learn faster and more completely than ever before.
There will be disagreements, there will be disputes, there will be egos with more power than they ought to have, there will be fights, there will be skirmishes, there will even be wars. There will be people who fail to succeed in even the most prosperous peace. But I am convinced the opportunity to live a better life will be available to steadily more people throughout my lifetime.
The first step for making the world a better place is developing trade infrastructure for more people in more places. The AIIB makes that possible. It'll open markets, create more consumers, bring more professional opportunities to more people and that should not worry the World Bank, IMF, USA or Japan. More money makes more customers, more stability, competition will make the World Bank better, competition indicates that the financial universe is growing. Some Americans bristle at the news of the AIIB but I think its good news, suggestive of greater (not lesser) stability.
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