Lockdowns and the decline of Western civilisation
If there was any doubt before, it’s very clear now that the 21st century will be China’s. Faced with an Eastern virus that our forebears would have shrugged off, the West has immiserated itself in such an extraordinary manner that Chinese officials must have fainted in delighted disbelief. It has presumably got to the stage where, although they were initially rather pleased to see their competitors on the world stage destroying their economies and societies, they now fear we have done so much financial damage to ourselves that we might not buy as many of their goods from now on. This could explain why the WHO has recently gone cooler on lockdowns, for the WHO is under the hoof of the Chinese. The direction of travel has been obvious for the last three decades or so. China’s admission to the World Trade Organization in 2001 was seen at the time as a great moment for the world, and the hope was that as China became richer, capitalism would do what it always has done, ie foster a flowerin...