Americans in my generation grew up consumed by trepidation over the possibility that the vast and enigmatic communist culture would eventually come to dominate the world. I still recall a full page ad in Saturday Review magazine back in 1965 that simply said: LEARN CHINESE NOW!

The idea being of course, that China was coming and Americans had best get ready.
However, the more I learn about China and the Chinese people, the less concern I have. Economically and scientifically, China will of course remain a major force to deal with in decades to come, but the cold war mentality seems to be fading into history as China recognizes and embraces the power of capitalism. Despite their communist government, China wants the same thing for their citizens that America wants for their citizens; financial success, peace and security.

America is unique because it is a melting pot of people from all other cultures. For this reason, most Americans love and value diverse cultures and believe they make the world a much more interesting place to live. Chinese people are respected for their long and colorful culture, and because history has established that Chinese people are extremely capable and creative when it comes to adapting to challenge and surviving. These gifts are likely to come in handy for China in years to come. For despite the great internal economic progress China has made recently, they continue to face enormous challenges. It is estimated that nearly 45% of the billion-plus people in China still live in poverty and even the quickly emerging middle class still lags far behind the west in terms of annual income. Chinese economy is growing so fast that serious damage is being inflicted on their country's ecology.

These will be difficult and expensive issues to correct in years to come. If they are smart, and I believe they are, they will think carefully and learn from the mistakes other nations (including the United States of America) have made before pursuing any course of action that will impact their ecology.

Americans care about China and they are watching. China has been a part of American culture since Chinese immigrants first came to America to help build our railroads and develop their own communities. Today, Chinese Americans make up more than 10 percent of the population in many American communities and that number is growing fast. In years to come, Chinese culture will become so significant that it is likely that China and America will become veritable extensions of each other.

Our perspective determines our reality. The future is always uncertain but every day is another opportunity to resolve issues and advance toward a goal of mutual cooperation. Such goals can remain dreams or they can become realities. The choice is up to us. China has already proved it can make a long march. It is simply a matter of learning from the past and applying that same kind of commitment, discipline and desire to a clearly defined set of goals that will become the new reality for China and America. The tools for this are economic partnerships, diplomatic discussions and individual friendships that reach across the Pacific to demonstrate kindness and compassion.

Cooperation, compassion and communication are the three C's of survival and growth. Domination is dangerous and destructive but the temptation to use domination as a shortcut to establish and enforce the will of the minority on the majority has always been with us. At some point we need to learn from the mistakes of our past and move forward with a degree of humility and wisdom. With few exceptions, all humans innately desire to live together in mutual respect and peace. Our new reality must therefore incorporate those fundamental human desires if we expect it to endure.

The Africans say; "When elephants fight, the grass is crushed." Today the civilized world is involved in confrontations with cultures seeking to draw us back into the darkness of domination. Islamic fundamentalists are committed to using terror to convert or kill every other person in the world who refuses to bow to their views. Others are focused on merely dominating the powerless masses that reside within the borders of their own countries. We know who they are and we watch with horror as victims suffer and die. Two of these countries border China: Burma and North Korea. Both of these countries present serious challenges that we must work with China on to overcome. The question is though, what do we have to offer in exchange? When we win this battle, do we have a plan to motivate the survivors to leave their anger behind and move forward with us in dignity and peace? In order to accomplish that, we must commit ourselves to understanding one another through cooperation, compassion and communication.

H. G Wells, the renowned futurist and science fiction writer said, "History is a race between education and catastrophe." If those of us who embrace human goodness identify those who do not and commit ourselves to educating them, we may be able to avoid the kind of human catastrophe that will destroy our species.

Both the choice and the journey are ours to make.


These are my opinions. Do you agree, or disagree? Reply to Mike and indicate if you would like your comments posted in a follow-up posting.

READER COMMENTS:

01/20/06 Don Svedberg wrote:

Mike,
You think that Chinese leaders are intent in following Capitalism to the nth degree? Your article leaves me with the impression that you think China is nothing to fear...but only economic competitors...like Walmart and K-Mart. They are still Communists and still deprive their citizens of basic human rights. Capitalism involves private ownership and communism gives ownership and wealth to the state. How can there be any middle ground? Asia holds the last bastions of communism. Do they ultimately seek for world domination militarily or economically or both?
As communists how can they stave off the Islam fetish for world domination. Will Allah and Buddha be bedfellows?

Mike...you wake up people's thought processes....at least mine. There is no one in this country (Philippines) to discuss such things. The people here have little knowledge or interest in what is happening in the world. It is a corrupt country (#2 in the world) and the corruption is not only within the governments...it is a way of life.
Thanks...Don


Mike's Reply:

You raise some very good points, Don. Of course I agree with you that Communist China is not perfect. There are indeed human rights violations taking place all the time and that is why I mentioned how crucial it is that governments treat people with compassion, respect and dignity. It remains the hope of everyone in the world that China will eventually go democratic and there are signs that this may be happening slowly. But one thing I have learned in my travels about the globe is that democracy is not the only way to govern and that in fact there are other forms of government that work better for some cultures. Sub-Saharan African countries and Iraq are examples. Those people have grown accustomed to being ruled by a "strong man" and they don't appreciate or understand what to do with democracy when it is handed to them on a silver platter. Morocco is an example of a well-oiled and benevolent king that is loved by the people and respected by the world. It takes a certain minimal degree of intellectual sophistication and education in order for a participatory government to work. China is vast and the bulk of the population still lives in isolated poverty and has no education opportunities. Their main concern is finding enough food to make it through the day. Things are changing though, and they are changing quickly. I believe that eventually, China will be ready to take the next step if the world continues to educate them about the benefits of human rights and democracy.

The price people pay for not having a representative form of government is that they run the risk of having leaders who will abuse their power and the people. This is not an easy problem to solve though. The USA is finding it is not as easy to step in and alter things as we thought it might be. The point of my article was that we can avoid as many confrontations if we move forward together, accepting differences but keeping options open by communicating. This is not always the best solution of course, but I believe it is in the best interest of America to take this approach with China because China and America have the capacity to do enormous damage to the human race if we enter a confrontational mode. We must move carefully though. Despite appearances, we do remain engaged in a cold war with China to some extent. Maintaining a balance of power through negotiation and economic cooperation will keep the door open to future positive change.

-Mike

This last week contained so many emotionally stirring events that it is hard to know what to address. Some of the highpoints included:

- Several school shootings
- Discussions about arming teachers
- The Congressman Foley sexual harassment resignation
- Controversy about Sanctuary Cities that prevent police from doing their job
- The rapidly disintegrating war effort in Iraq

I could write a complete blog about each of these topics but since we are already being overwhelmed by the media attention on all of this I see no point in echoing their comments here. I do feel compelled to express my feelings on one event in particular, though.

All school shootings are horrendous of course, but the execution-style shootings of the seven young Amish girls in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has to top the list in terms of cold-blooded assaults upon innocent victims. The revelation that two of the girls (sisters) stepped forward when the shooter said he was going to kill everyone and asked him to kill them first (and leave everyone else alone) is heart-rending. That extraordinary demonstration of Christian willingness for self-sacrifice was followed up by a display of Christian forgiveness when the Amish visited the widow of the shooter to comfort and pray for her and her dead husband, who had shot himself after shooting those first two girls and five others.

Regardless of one's personal spiritual leanings, one cannot help but be moved deeply by the way these gentle people reacted to events that horrified the rest of the nation beyond words. The Amish took a horrible tragedy and turned it into a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate how Jesus told his followers to live when he delivered his sermon on the mount over two thousand years ago. The Amish proved that loving and forgiving your enemies really is possible and it gave pause to a resolutely cynical world who watched in wonder. In this dark time, when religion is being used to justify unspeakable horrors around the globe, it is refreshing to be brought back to the peaceful center of the hurricane by the gentle Amish.

Like everyone else, my prayers and thoughts of support are with the families of these young and stunningly innocent victims who died willingly like sacrificial lambs to bring a sliver of peace into the world for a short time. We all morn their loss but more importantly perhaps, we rejoice at the message their deaths delivered; that the message of Jesus is real and relevant for us all if we choose to accept it. We owe the Amish a great debt for continuing to nurture the seeds of true Christianity in the face of advancing civilization and chaos.


Those are my thoughts. Do you agree, or disagree?

In the early months of 1990, I assisted the US State Department with the evacuation of over 5,000 US citizens from the obscure West African country of Liberia as rebels closed in upon the capital city of Monrovia. I recall being surprised to learn there were so many US nationals residing in that incredibly corrupt, poverty-stricken country. Many of the evacuees were US Peace Corps volunteers, official staff and dependents of US Government operations or employees of locally operated US-owned companies. A large segment of the evacuees though, were African Liberians who had simply been born in America. Somehow, their mothers had managed to obtain a visa to visit the United States at precisely the time they were scheduled to give birth to their children, thereby receiving instant US Citizenship for their newborn child under authority of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. This was no accident. It was an intentional, contrived plan.

Citizens of foreign countries are very aware of the fact that the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship at birth to almost all individuals born in the United States or in U.S. jurisdictions, according to the legal principle of jus soli. Section 301. [8 U.S.C. 1401] states the following:

The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth: (a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof; Certain individuals born in the United States, such as children of foreign heads of state or children of foreign diplomats, do not obtain U.S. citizenship under jus soli.)

While the US Congress is debating whether or not to allow gay marriages and searching for funding to build a fence on our US/Mexico border, thousands of people are being allowed to manipulate their way into being United States citizens simply by being born here. One can only speculate as to the number of pregnant (or soon to be) Hispanic mothers who feel pressured to cross the border into the United States to take advantage of this citizenship loophole, but the number must be very significant. In the end, it makes no difference whether or not the parents are in the United States legally or not. If their children are born here, the children become US citizens. That is the law. Then, once that happens, it is much easier for the parents to convince INS to allow THEM to remain in the country with their US citizen children. Once that door is wedged open, it is nearly impossible to close it. And once the child is born, the process of applying for (and receiving) post-natal health care, food stamps, and many other social services, all at US taxpayer expense, begins.

The dike is leaking badly and this happens to be one hole we can easily plug by a legislative change in the law even if It requires a repeal or rewrite of the 14th Amendment. Few, if any other countries grant automatic citizenship like this and there is no reason why the United States of America should do it either.

It is time for a change. Citizens of the United States must unite to convince our lawmakers that this is an issue their voters consider to be very important. You can do so by writing your congressman and telling them to repeal the 14th Amendment and by encouraging everyone you know to do the same.

These are my opinions. Do you agree, or disagree?


A READER'S COMMENTS:

Mike,
You have touched on a subject that I have complained about for years. The 14th Amendment was written and approved in order to assure that the newly freed slaves and their offspring were recognized as U.S. citizens. Obviously, that need has long since passed yet we have continued to bestow U.S. citizenship on anyone born in the U.S., despite their status as legals or illegals. This situation must be changed.and changed soon. Years ago, my uncle who lived in the Rio Grande valley of Texas told me about pregnant Mexican women who would come across the border for the sole purpose of having their children being born as "Americans".

While we need a rational system to determine citizenship by birth, the current situation under the 14th Amendment is clearly not it. I would have no problem modifying the 14th Amendment so that anyone born in the U.S. of parents who were legally and lawfully present in the U.S. are citizens. What say you?

-Mike Hawkins