As far as science can tell, it has been about half a billion years since life began on this planet of ours. And every indication there is, says that life is a process that begins with birth and ends with death. Between the two extremes, however, there exists the process of reproduction which allows life to continue under a different conception while still rooted in the one that spawned it.
This is not only a process
that's proper to natural organisms; it is also a process that governs
everything which exists as an organization and everything we call institution.
It is true of the tiny atom that is well organized, as it is of the massive
galaxies––and everything between the two. It is true of the family that is
governed by a simple hierarchy, as it is of the empire that is run by a complex
government––and everything between the two. The reality is that they all begin
to exist at some point in time, and instantly begin to decay into a disorganized
state till they are no longer what they were. But when they die, they leave
behind a remnant of themselves which yields elements that become the next
generation of what used to be.
Even before we became human,
the organizations and artificial institutions we have created to govern our
interactions with each other, and to organize the world on which we depend to
stay alive, have followed the pattern of birth, growth, decay and death.
However, despite these realities which are common to all, there is one thing
about the life form to which we and a few other species belong, that makes us
unique in all of creation. It is that we have developed the tendency to try
having a permanent existence by defying the natural order which necessitates
that we gracefully accept our gradual decay, and the peaceful end to our
existence. We want to live forever and be on top of things all the time. Alas
no one has achieved immortality.
You can see that tendency in
some species, including the human, where the Alpha individual at the head of an
institution, would fight rivals that appear to have the potential to succeed
him or her. They fight to maintain the status quo instead of stepping aside
gracefully and allowing the natural order of things to take its course.
This is what you see playout
at this time when you look at an America that's going crazy trying to prevent
China from replacing it as the Alpha jurisdiction that will lead the world into
the future and spread its system of governance. Of course, when this happens, it
will only last till such time that someone else will grow big enough and rise
high enough to challenge China's supremacy and win the battle that will
inevitably take place unless our species will have matured by then to develop a
better way to interact among ourselves.
One of the mouthpieces
expressing the American point of view in this matter, is the group that sits as
the editors of the New York Post. They came up with a piece whose title reads
as follows: “China's drive to control is only getting worse,” and had it
printed in their publication on September 19, 2020.
What happened that caused the
editors of the Post to express the opinion seen in the title of their piece, is
that Beijing and Washington have accused each other of “hegemony and provocation.”
The editors sided with Washington that accused China, and they called laughable
the Chinese accusation that Washington was the culprit. And so, like good
scholars, the editors gave their reason for taking the stance that they did.
They said that despite the
Chinese accusation being laughable, they are not laughing at the Chinese joke
because the governing party in China is cracking down at home and seeking
influence abroad. The proof that the Chinese are guilty of the latter, say the
editors, is that the American military establishment known as the Pentagon, has
issued a report which says that China has modernized its resources and
technology in nearly every respect, so much so that its military now ranks
ahead of the American in certain areas.
Being the level-headed, normal
human being that you are, you fail to see how this indicts the Chinese leaders
of anything except that they are darn good at fulfilling their duty to advance
and protect the society they are responsible for. And so, you continue to read
the Post editorial to make sure that you're not missing something. What happens
next is that you encounter the accusation about the goal of the Chinese being
“nothing less than to revise aspects of the international order”.
Looking closely at what the
Chinese did in this regard, you find that outside of their neighborhood, the
Chinese did nothing that's not in the realm of trade, commerce and economic
development. You feel that the editors of the Post can discuss economics all
they want, but they'll never convince every economist they are correct to
indict the Chinese for what they do. The people who are at the receiving end of
China’s largess like what they are getting, and that's the important thing.
As to what the Chinese are
doing in their neighborhood, especially in the realm of military preparedness,
we first note that given the size of China and the number of neighbors that
surround it, the military encounters it has had with neighbors since the Second
World War, and the duration of such encounters, indicate that China has had the
most peaceful relation with neighbors that are near and those that are far.
That’s unlike America which had the most encounters with the rest of the world.
In fact, if everyone in the world did what the Chinese are doing, which is to keep their military near home and mind their own business, we would have the world we've been dreaming about since Adam and Eve were kicked out of Paradise.