Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, December 7, 2020

A date which will live in infamy, 79 years ago. The Chinese warned the Japanese not to attack America for fear of waking a sleeping giant. Now, the Chinese are speeding against their own advice. The move will likely be against Taiwan as a remote and indirect attack on the US. But, the fight between China and Taiwan could have been avoided. The wise can learn from foreseeable history, even when that history has not yet happened.

Taiwan and China are both run by governments with histories of cruelty, corruption, and incompetence. Taiwan is an emerging and aspiring democracy; China resists democracy. Taiwan is cleaning up its cruelty of the past; China increases cruelty today. Chinese Communist tanks killed thousands of unarmed protestors at Tienanmen Square in 1989; that party remains in power through today. Chiang Kai-shek led an even larger massacre in Taiwan in 1947; his party remained in power throughout Western trade and still exists today, though without total control. Now, these two face war. Would either have the money to bloody the other had the West simply demanded justice and order within their borders proportionate to any agreements of trade?

American Congress continues to push a bipartisan and unanimous agenda for Taiwan. The US wants Taiwan to import meat from livestock fed with ractopamine, something Taiwanese want no part of. The US sells weapons to Taiwan to defend against China—which builds its weapons with money made from exports to the US. Has the US been friend or enemy?

If we look at US and Western policy toward China and Taiwan over the last 70 years, we see pursuit of money, with a blind eye toward massacre of their own citizens, xenophobia toward their foreigners, all trailed by escalation toward war. That has improved, but only in the last 4 years and too little, too late.

From 1947 through 1989, Taiwan should have had limited trade, China none. Had that been Western policy, today both might be much more progressed in technology, just, orderly, wealthy, and most of all peaceful.

Taiwanese continue to grow and mature as a democracy. China continues to pursue control and alienate its neighbors. They each have their lessons to learn. But, not all help is helpful. It might not have come to war if the West had sooner insisted that nations learn a few lessons before bestowing wealth which Taiwan and China could have gained on their own with simple justice and order 70 years ago. Instead, we’re nearing the end of a path that started with greed and finishes in war.

Encore of Revival: America, November 30, 2020

Left wing and Right wing voters are worlds apart.

The Left are adamant and energized; the Right are as quiet and introspective as America was after Pearl Harbor. The Left believe they have already won an election that hasn’t finished; the Right are determined to prevent certain outcomes at any cost. The Left believe that asserting claims that the election is over makes it so; the Right know that results and actions make a thing so. The Right believe Trump acts like he holds a royal flush and will soon bust “the bold move”; the Left think Trump is already neutralized and acts like he’s lost. The Left are not armed and trained; the Right have been for eons. The Left know the Right will be angry, but think themselves more powerful; the Right know how dangerous the Left are in riots, yet quietly understand that they themselves would be the more formidable in conflict.

But, the biggest difference is their understanding of sowing and reaping: The Left do not understand how wealth, tax dollars, strength, peace, victory, and justice are cultivated, but take these for granted; the Right know how these are cultivated and that these will cease without correct action. Biden should not be selecting a cabinet for his evermore doubtful presidency; he should be making his seemingly dubious election look less dubious for when it is challenged in court. But not understanding sowing and reaping, Biden and his Left supporters take his victory for granted just as they do tax revenue; the Right know better and are putting their effort where it will make the difference.

News companies, such as CNN, use descriptive terms like “unfounded conspiracy theories” and “insidious claims” in reporting accusation of election fraud. But, these terms imply verdict and opinion, having no place in reporting of mere facts and claims prior to court rulings. The Right see that; the Left don’t see the difference. A cross-industry attempt at pushing an agenda is unabashed. The Right feel backed into a corner, believing if they concede this election, there will be no fair elections in the future and that the cost of civil war to restore elections will only increase with time, so they feel compelled to action now; the Left think the Right are not any threat worth notice.

The Right view claims of fraud as plausible and worth investigating; the Left already think the claims are a hoax because they don’t understand how accurate investigation works. While the Right reflectively wait for evidence to be shown in court, they see a Left wing agenda that would sow the seeds of destruction which Left wing voters don’t believe will happen. Biden’s decisions would give rise to Eastern communism and Middle Eastern terrorism, as happened with Obama; the Right think so and the Left do not because the Left do not understand how global results are created. The Right will rise up with its various powers to successfully stop Biden’s decisions—one way or another, preferably peacefully—, but the Left do not believe the Right can succeed because the Left do not understand how conflicts are waged and won.

The Right created their own enemies on the Left by refusing to give justice to problems they would not acknowledge. They have not punished “bad cops” enough to restore faith in law enforcement, yet they demand action to restore faith in elections. The Right are competent, but selective with justice; the Left fail at things when refused help and fail more at things they try on their own because they don’t know how things work. Both are being conditioned for genocidal thoughts against the other; one is stronger, the other only thinks it is. While the long term danger is an over reverence for a fake Republican party, which cares nothing for the values of its base, a more immanent dilemma is before us. America cannot deal with its own national transgressions if it is taken over by foreign communists and foreign terrorists who are far more unjust in every way. We are in a conflict of competence—the need for policies that will build rather than destroy, even if selective in its justice; only one group understands that, the other only sees injustice.

One way or another, Biden and Harris will not get their way, but they don’t know that—they can’t know that. Fortunately, there are those who do.