It doesn’t matter whether you admire or condemn China. What matters is China is where things get done. The US is where things don’t get done (other than enforcing PC).

These days, China has (by a substantial margin) a larger economy than the US. In some respects (coal, steel, concrete, Copper, Aluminum, Nickel, etc.) China dwarfs the US. For example, in 2022 China produced 1.013 billion tons of steel. The US produced 87 million tons of steel in 2021.

Liberalism / democracy won’t survive if they are objectively synonymous with inefficiency. At one time, liberal/democratic societies were notably more efficient, than authoritarian nations. For example, the US in 1968 (or 1868) was liberal / democratic and far more effective than Mao’s China.

In 1968, it was fair to say that the US had an effective government and other countries did not.

In 2023, this isn’t so clear. Let me use one of my favorite examples. California tried to build a high-speed rail line and failed. Costs in 2020 were estimated at $80 billion and possibly as high as $99.8 billion. The project collapsed under its own weight (cost). The nation of Spain built an HSR from Madrid to Barcelona at a cost of $6 billion. By coincidence, the distance is about the same.

Of course, California has substantial mountain ranges as you approach San Francisco (from the south) or Los Angeles (from the north). Conversely, the Central Valley of California is one of the flattest places on Earth (way flatter than Spain).

The details here are not really that important. The important fact is that the US/California is now a place where things don’t get done.

In 1968, the US was in the final stages of the Apollo program (which would succeed in 1969) and China was starting the debacle of the Cultural Revolution. Stated differently, the US was arguably among the most effective nations on Earth and China was among the least effective nations on Earth. What about now?

“Liberalism has created the most successful, prosperous, and free countries in the world. Singapore may be one exception but if you look at the thirty wealthiest countries in the world they are all democracies.”

In a word, no. Check the actual data over at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L….

“I love my country and it is nothing without our freedoms.”

For better or worse (worse), the USA has already lost its freedoms. Check out the sad fate of Colin Wright. Of course, Colin Wright is just one example, Many other examples exist.