Quite a bit to get off my (hairy) chest today, eh.
First being China. For a long time a lot of people globally weren’t just sleeping on the China threat – they were content to “ignore” it for the time being.
Practicality, some might say ... (though I dont know – the shoddy made Chinese goods and “copy central” I’ve encountered in China and the very rapidly rising labor costs seem to outcut any of the other advantages, but whatever).
They were willing to ignore everything they do internally. Their lack of democracy, brutal suppression of their own citizens. Everything.
And then they sent the plague over, which obviously was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Now if there is ONE reason China managed to pull itself out of it’s post 1960’s – 70’s slump, it ws Deng Xiaoping, who despite his faults is a modern day great leader in my opinion.
And his economic policies.
I still remember his UN adddress saying basically that if one day China became a threat to the world, “the world and Chinese citizens themselves must unite against China”.
True story and quote (though not verbatim).
And Xiaping threw the DOORS open in terms of the economy, and the results showed.
Those were heady times. The WORLD was in a phase of progress (though keen observers could see what lay ahead....).
And the 1990’s and early 2000’s created a wave of entrepreunerus globally.
Jack Ma, Alibaba scion being one.
Matt Furey, another “internet” millionaire.
That was about the time the Internet came out, and anyone smart enough to know their ass from a hole in the ground USED it – and made a fortune off it.
(Yours truly made a considerable amount of dough working a "job" in those days, so never really got around to it. Pity, but hey. Live and learn!)
Would they still have done it today?
Well, thats up in the air.
But I believe YES.
True success stories dont piss and moan about tough times. They find a way – I should know!
(Some of the successes of YORE have been built during unimaginable Depressions and times FAR tougher than the molly coddled majority find themselves in NOW)
(Those of us old enough to remember or read know, hehe. I guess I’m dating myself by saying that, and hey – my birthday is coming up soon too! Stay tuned on that front. Something special planned on that date!)
Same thing for fitness, bro.
If you’re stuck at home and can’t go to your favorite gym, there isn’t much point whining and groaning is there?
Might as well take ACTION ...
Back to China though (yes, this one is a bit of a “different” email than what I normally send but so be it) ... the chinese growth story has been on the ROCKS For years for those in the know.
Yes, I know. The English teachers tell you how they can make a fortune there while barely scraping by (truth be told, even they’re coming around to acknowledge the painful dancing monkey reality) and the nuts living on their wives and girlfriends while masquerading as “China biz experts” or “China watchers” (in reality all they’re watching is their own bank accounts, desperately hoping for some “red” in that account – China’s the opposite from the ROW in that RED means UP and black means DOWN) saying China’s the best place in the world to do business, there’s nothign wrong with theplace, and thus forth.
No.
It’s not.
Ask someone that has been dealing with Chinese factories for AGES now, including a nascent venture I started a couple of years ago that has been put on hold now funnily enough due to the plague itself.
China, I’ve always said is a giant and carefully constructed SMOKESCREEN that covers up the true filth of the place.
India is much the same without the smokescreen. WYSIWYG with India, and truth be told, end of the day, that approach works far better.
Same thing for my fitness books – of course – I dont mess around. I give it to you STRAIGHT. What you see is indeed what you get!
But anyway, the chinese recklnesses in extending inane amounts of state backed “loan shoan”, mindless infrastructure building (ghost towns anyone) and a general and massive economic slowdown over the ages they’ve done all to cover up is coming back to bite them in ass.
Has been for years.
The plague has made it worse.
And the icing on the cake I believe is Xi Jinping’s slow but gradual stranglehold on the economy.
China for those that think otherwise was never truly a free economy.
No private ownership of land for one.
And ANY business that gets too big is eventually taken over by the Chinese government, unless it strictly toes party lines which get more repressive as the biz goes.
WeShat, for instance is never in trouble despite it’s monopoly on the Chinese market.
But AliBaba, and Jack Ma seem to be getting in progressively bad books with the Chinese goverment in general, mostly because of Ma’s propensity to say it like it IS.
And he is SPOT on in that Chinese lending practices, government oversight etc needs to be TONED DOWN, not “increased”.
You either control the economy with an iron fist, or you have a free market economy.
Can’t have both, brah.
And Xi JinPing is slowly doing all he can to take China back to the 1960’s cultural revolution days.
Still not so bad that yours truly can’t blog about it, but there are lines you cannot cross. (despite the Bozo making these posts “famous” on WeShat, it hasn’t crossed any red lines).
But you gotta know what those red lines are. And these days, things are becoming increasingly tougher.
And the free market is all but dead in China now practically speaking.
Lesson here?
Well, I wish I could say there is one.
Move away from China yes (in terms of production lines etc). Thats the obvious lesson.
Where is the question.
I’d love to say India, but under NM, much of the same thing is happening in India (though honestly, I’d rather NM 1, 2, 3, 4 and 1000000 and his inept handling of the economy as opposed to the Xi the utter dictator. At least NM has SOME sort of weird vision for the country as opposed to running it as his personal fiefdom as Xitler does. OK, I dont agree with it either, but hey ...).
Vietnam? Perhaps 10% there ...
So there’s no real obvious option either....
Wait and watch, but thats the tale on China my friend.
From one that truly KNOWS what he BE talking about. 2003 - 2020 and COUNTING, so to speak ... 17 years. Dang. Even I didnt realize it was that long! OK, lets take out a few years between 2008-2011 or so off and on, but still mostly in China. Whew. Been a while since I first showed up in the heady days in 2003! ANd I have some very very fond memories of thoset imes too! ;)
Yes, this was a rather long one, but given what China has done to the ROW, I occasionally do write about this sort of thing (have this year TWICE in the past).
Those articles ran well over 2000 words too, hehe.
Anyway, thats it for now. If y’all need stuff sourced from China and are looking for a reliable person to get it done than won’t BS you – let me know.
And fitness wise, of course – half of my products were “filmed in China” and the other half – well – where I “may be” at the time, hehe.
Be sure and pick some up here – truly what you need for home based fitness!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
PS – We’ll be back to regular programming tomorrow. I gotta get these things off my (admittedly "hairy") chest every six months or so, hehe.