Szechuan Scenarios

The American election still leaves a terribly sour taste in my mouth. There are a lot of folks in my age group who feel this same apprehension at the result of another Bush term and the largest Republican base of recent history, and not just because of the repercussions on this continent.

Thanks to Bush's thoughtless foreign policies and continual cries of "You're either with us or against us," American international influence is eroding at a pace faster than anyone could have imagined.

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about China and its slow creeping into the global consciousness as the world power of our immediate future. Obviously, China's already dominating the world stage, but there's so much more growth to come from them, and my generation will be dealing with the fallout.

The Yangtze River Dam project is something that will help redefine the world in terms of political power, despite only being a hydro power project. That dam will bring China into the modern age unlike any political shift we've ever seen.

I could blow smoke out of my ass and lay out some opinions about where it's all going, but I'm nervous about doing that, and not just because my pride's on the line if I'm wrong.

There are so many directions the world could go in with China at the world-power helm. Some of those directions leave me drenched in apprehension. But it's not entirely doom and gloom, since we live in our own disaffected microcosms most of the time. I still have concerns about any power taking centre stage when their human rights records are questionable at best.

As with anyone who's grown up under the spectre of the Cold War, China, the most communist power of them all, commandeering the world stage is a thought that's hard to wrap your head around..

The problem right now is that instead of China simply growing stronger and dominating, it's as though the U.S., on the flipside, is overreaching and underreading in its empirical approaches to its war on terror, resulting in that aforementioned erosion of regard. The danger this poses is that China may wind up largely unchecked as it assumes its seemingly imminent place on the podium.

Surprisingly, a lot of political commentators are saying "But they're not as bad as they used to be." What does a miniscule 10 years of softening your human rights stance really count for? After all, look at Russia. They're slowly seeming to be returning to censorship of the press, corrupt political practices, and the reknown industrial incompetence of the former Soviet Union.

Maybe I'll go throw darts at a George Bush photo and order in some Chinese food. Hmm. Honey-garlic chicken could do.