China’s role in this election — America as No. 2

America’s self-absorption, so grating to the rest of the world, is about to come to an end. Our foolish government has sharply reduced the productive capacity of our people, wasting our treasure — and our young folks’ lives — in disastrous imperial adventures.

Meanwhile, the Chinese have dumped Maoism for capitalism, have curbed Mao’s own foreign adventurism, and have enjoyed 10% average annual growth rates for 30 years — something unprecedented in human history.

Our candidates — McCain and Obama — should be talking about China. But I haven’t heard them doing that. Obama is obsessed with his socialist schemes — Maoism Lite. McCain wants to expand even further America’s bankrupt empire.

Meanwhile the Chinese are over there, like Confucian sages, tending to their business.

Sascha Matuszak reports from China:

China currently stands alone in its ability to weather virtually any storm the banking crisis in the U.S. whips up. With almost $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves, China can afford to be unconcerned about an economic decline in the West that spreads throughout the world, hurting dependent and emerging economies from Pakistan to Panama.

China is not completely insulated from the economic crisis – a slowdown in orders from abroad and a credit crunch at home will hurt the Chinese economy like it hasn’t been hurt before – but the difference is preparation. China is prepared, socially and economically, for a slowdown. The U.S. is not.

Maybe that’s because China’s leaders were trained as engineers, whereas America’s are Skull and Bones scions (the Bushes and Kerry), a “pump-headed” bypass survivor (Cheney), a “community activist” lawyer (Obama), and the burned-out, dim-witted son and grandson of admirals (McCain).

Of course, the Chinese could start doing something stupid, such as invade Taiwan. And now and then in its long history China splits into separate territories run by warlords.

But otherwise, the Chinese seem to be playing it smart. Only about 400 million of 1.3 billion Chinese are in their advanced economy, meaning they have to bring the others in to avoid big problems. As they do so, within a decade or two they will surpass America as the world’s largest and most powerful economy.

The only chance America has of staying ahead is to sharply reduce our own government’s Maoist interference in our economy, allowing a thousand free markets to bloom. End the empire, massively cut taxes and regulations, imitate pacific Switzerland rather than the expansionist Soviet Union.

Yet Bush has done the opposite, in his 8 years — and especially the last 8 weeks — putting the government even more in charge of our economy, and our lives, than ever before. And President Obama promises even more Maoism.

The Bush years will be seen as the “tipping point,” to use our modern phrase, when we plunged downward and irrecoverably fell behind China. Bush and the Neo”conservative” ideologues have spent 8 years attacking the patriotism of anyone who questioned their misrule. Yet it is they who took America from No. 1 to No. 2.