Kamala Harris, Totalitarian?

Larry Sharpe, the organizing director of American Values 2024, warns that a Harris Administration would be prone to totalitarian principles. Author Leslie Colby discusses who will vote for which presidential candidate, and why. If you missed the program on your local network, watch it here.

Quick Analysis

China’s Garbage’s Time

It’s “Garbage Time” in China. [Lèsè shíjiān] (垃圾时间) is what working age citizens of China have named the current economic environment. Younger workers, in particular, believe they are underdogs and have fallen so far behind it will be impossible to catch up with the rest of the world. There are quiet whispers among college graduates and young professionals that the communist system itself is broken [xìtǒng huàile] (系统坏了). It translates into a widespread malaise among urban workers who strongly believe the end is inevitable and approaching fast despite government efforts to prop up the domestic economy. Their response to it is a simmering anger that, since no amount of work will receive a financial reward or get one ahead in life, they might as well “lay flat” and “do the least amount of work” [píng tǎng, zuò hěn shǎo de gōngzuò] (平躺,做很少的工作) possible. The government, and the senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership, are concerned that the lèsè shíjiān concept is spreading in quiet discussions throughout the country. Recently released official economic data indicates that once again China did not succeed in surpassing its planned five percent growth in annual GDP. This is the fifth consecutive year when numbers have remained essentially flat. In 2010, Beijing was already overestimating economic growth by five percent, according to Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist specializing in the Chinese economy. He points out that the country is experiencing a Japanese style stagnation, and its economy has not grown at all in real terms in the last decade. He points out that, in addition, demographic data foretells a dire future for the CCP leadership and China. The government publicly admitted its population shrunk by 8 million for those under the age of five last year. Demographers point out that China no longer has the largest population in the world. It is also an aging population with so few females of child-bearing age that today whole villages have no young women. Those between the ages of 50-70 are the same in number as those who are 0-25 years. To maintain a healthy population, the 0-25 group needs to be two to three times larger than the 50-70 bracket. Zeihan says that it may even be smaller than reported as China has continuously overstated the population range by between 100 to 250 million. Most of the missing population are under age 40 according to independent demographers. That suggests that the 0-25 group may be overestimated by the government by as much as 80 to 150 million people. What makes this data even more catastrophic for China’s future is that the population under age 40 is typically the largest consumer group in a country, buying homes, and raising families. If China is not able to support a consumer-led economy at home, it will be heavily dependent on international trade in the coming years. If no next generation is being born, then it will be impossible for China to build a strong domestic economy. At this point, there will be no economic growth in the country’s foreseeable future. When government spending is removed from the economic forecast, indications are that the Chinese economy has been shrinking for the last seven years. Zeihan says China’s last hope for recovery passed by six years ago and people inside the country are starting to take notice. When in office President Trump initiated sanctions on trade with China that exacerbated President Xi Jinping’s dilemma. Today, many other nation-states have joined the US and are also imposing trade sanctions. Economic risk analysts in Washington are talking about the impact on China if the rest of the international trade system cuts China out of the picture. Beijing is working to stop the hemorrhaging, but it does not appear to be working well. Sanctions on China continue to spread across Europe to Turkey, India, Indonesia, and Brazil, among other states. “Garbage time” in China accompanied by increased unemployment, deflation, and Beijing’s steadfast refusal to take bold action. This year’s economic numbers may be a solid demarcation point that marks the start of the end. The question still to be answered is: “Does this makes China a greater threat to peace in the world?” Xi Jinping is approaching the time in his career when Chinese leaders typically plan for their legacy. He may feel forced to act against Taiwan out of desperation. What occurs in Beijing in the next few years may be dependent, in large part, on who wins the November 5, 2024, presidential election in the United States.