History 2.0

China's Comeback vs. America's Decline

De: Frank Li

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

The 20th century was clearly America’s. The 21st will belong to either China or America. But which country will ultimately claim it? China, unless America reforms its failing political system, as I suggest in this book! To best appreciate the prediction, you must truly understand both America and China, because everything is relative – In today’s world, no American can truly understand America without truly understanding China, and vice versa. Unfortunately, most Americans just do not understand China. Because of that, America is not only failing to see an urgent need of political reforms at home, but also unwilling to accept China’s “rise”, without understanding that China is simply re-claiming her rightful place in history, with the century of humiliation being merely an aberration! Worse yet, many Americans do not even truly understand America, from the real reason behind the American Revolution to that behind the American carnage. Worst of all, America has been provoking China with wars. As a Chinese-American, I am caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, I wish China, my native country, well – She suffered too much over the past 200 years. On the other hand, I wish America, my adopted country, well – It must stop its precipitous decline. Most importantly, there must be no war, trade or otherwise, between the two largest economies in the world! So, what do I do? I write! I have been publishing extensively over the past decade, to the point that I must now re-write parts of the history, thus “History 2.0” … Human history of the past 2,500 years was most prominently made by China, India, and the West (e.g., Spain, Britain, and the U.S.), with other folks making some intermittently, such as the Arabs (Early Muslim conquests), the Mongols (Mongol Empire), and the Turks (Ottoman Empire). History is written by, and about, the victors. Because China and India were big losers throughout the 19th century as well as the first half of the 20th century, most of the [modern] history has been written by the West, especially America. Now, China is back, big time, and so is India, to a lesser extent. Therefore, it is time to re-examine the history, re-writing some as necessary! In this book, I simply divide human history of the past 2,500 years into three periods: 1) 500 BC–1492 AD, when Christopher Columbus discovered the “new” world. 2) 1492–2003, when America launched the Iraq War. 3) 2003–Present: Throughout this period, China has been rising rapidly, while America has been declining steadily not only ideologically, but also economically. By the mid-1800s, the world became distorted, totally! This total distortion has resulted in two monstrous falsehoods: 1) America as an exceptional country, featuring, among other things, two “new” notions: freedom and self-governing. Neither was really new, as both predate the notion of a nation-state formed quite a few thousand years ago. 2) Democracy as a, if not the only, valid form of government. The simple truth is modern Western [liberal] democracy is a lie built on top of capitalism (Okay), colonialism (not Okay), and imperialism (not Okay), without which it has failed everywhere else (e.g., Egypt and Iraq), without exception! Both falsehoods were largely exposed in March 2003, when the U.S. launched the Iraq War. America vs. China: where are we today? 1) Economic growth: China surpassed America in PPP in 2014, and will almost certainly surpass America in GDP by 2040. 2) Government approval rating at home: China (95.5%) vs. America (38%). 3) Global approval rating: China (34%) vs. America (31%). Highlight for the short-term solution: 1) A mandatory retirement age (e.g., 80) for all 3 gov branches, particularly the SCOTUS. 2) Congress: strict term limits. 3) Presidency: 1 term (4-6 yrs). "Read this book with an open mind. You will learn and enjoy!" - Jeffrey Sachs, Ph.D., Prof. of Economics, Columbia Univ.

Very bad virtue voice quality

The virtue voice completely botched this book. There are some interesting points in the book itself, but the voice is so distracting as to leave an impression of complete chaos. Very unprofessional.