

people do lean into the “china smol bean” thing way too much
china is way more vulnerable, even today, than the ussr ever was. maybe because of all the news of their impressive rate of development and growth, or because of the “high tech” nature of their coastal cities, or because of how the other side of american propaganda has been propping them up (your enemy must be both weak and strong enough to be a credible threat etc), we have lost sight of their actual conditions. but they have absolutely no way of facing america head-on. we’re talking about a country that, despite everything, still has half the per capita gdp of the 1980s ussr (in today’s dollars); a country that relies on trade to get their iron needs (importing a whopping 80% of what they use), whereas the ussr was self-sufficient; a country that still relies on trade to attend to their energy needs, especially oil (why do you think this whole iran thing escalated this much out of nowhere? where does a large chunk of china’s oil needs come through?), while the ussr was self-sufficient; a military that, despite all the development, is still less advanced than the soviets’, relative to their time; and the list goes on and on
the ussr had all those advantages over current china, and yet they collapsed under imperialist pressure. china knows that, america knows that, and this is why we’re seeing one side insisting on being quiet and the other doing their best to provoke them into making a mistake. one side needs time, the other can’t allow them that (or else they will, indeed, finally lose), and this is what’s going to explain every major geopolitical decision you’ll be seeing for the next few decades
i mean it feels like he’s that slightly unhinged uncle who just found out that Patterns Do Exist and can’t stop thinking they now hold an immense power
i found it so funny that not only did he attempt to teach “the entirety of human history”, but he tried to do it in 60 classes. my guy, that’s like, a lot of years. and a lot of kilometers. maybe get started with a little less ambition