Some brief thoughts about rising inequality in both China and America and how it ties into the Sino-American Cold War: (1/?)

China and America may be rivals right now, but they're more alike than you think, especially for the young working class. Both are fed up with the status quo and get treated poorly, especially in delivery jobs and are turning to left wing solutions to their problems. (2/?)

Both countries have serious problems with income and economic inequality which neither have addressed for decades. These times most closely mirror the Gilded Age, when the income inequality of the era led to the rise of populist political movements. (3/?)

Now, there are two main types of populism. Left wing populism, which usually includes anti-capitalism and social justice whereas class society ideology or socialist theory is not as important as it is to traditional left-wing parties. (4/?)

Right wing populism, consists of anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking to the people. Both wings of populism object to the perceived control of liberal democracies by elites but populism of the right supports strong controls on immigration. (5/?)

Left wing populism also objects to the power of large corporations and their allies, while populism of the right may utilize this rhetoric, however in practice have an unholy marriage with corporatism. (6/?)

Now, we're seeing this in both countries. The status quo isn't working and something has to give. COVID and Biden's victory have temporarily smoothed over the cracks for China and America's populist movements, however they're still there, waiting for the right time. (7/?)

Movements like Trump or the Neo-Marxists in China don't just fade away. Populism speaks to them, and the only question is which doctrine appeals more to the people. What America and China choose to go down will determine the fate of the world for the next century. (8/?)

If America goes left wing populist and undergoes socdem/demsoc reforms, it will likely survive and come out on top in the second cold war after the revitalization of it's economics. Right wing populism means a drift to isolationism and placebo solutions like nationalism. (9/?)

The same goes for China. If the PRC goes right wing populist, it essentially means they completely embrace their nationalist side and begin provoking nations around it to instigate conflict to distract from economic slowdowns. (10/?)

Gun to my head, China is more likely to go right wing populist, while America goes left wing populist. However, America's been shown to have been extremely volatile and willing to switch ideologies in a flash. (11/?)

However this ends, one thing is clear: The world is the most unstable it's been since the 1930s. We barely staved off utter economic collapse in the vein of the Great Depression. COVID is just the beginning of the chaos. (12/?)

This does not end with the Pfizer vaccine. Neoliberalism may have made a comeback for now, but even it's been forced to move left to accommodate more radical and populist rhetoric. All it's waiting for is the next great crisis. (13/?)

It's not just an America or Chinese phenomenon. The past two decades have been a slow unravelling of Pax Americana as the American Peace turned out to be no peace at all, but rather a temporary respite on the surface as the core decayed. (14/?)

Populists across the world have risen to fill this hole, and in some, right wing populism has won for now, while in others the left is rising. Neoliberalism isn't working, and COVID has exposed it as the bankrupt and outdated ideology it is. (15/?)

What we're seeing in between China and America is not unlike that of Weimar Germany and the US in the Great Depression. Income inequality skyrocketed as the economy collapsed. One turned to left wing populism, and the other turned to right wing populism. (16/?)

Hopefully neither go right wing populist, for it would be a disaster if just one embraced ultranationalism and became a hostile threat to the world. But we must face the fact that it is possible, if not likely, that one of the two superpowers will fall to it. (17/?)

We're watching, essentially, the race to become Nazi Germany, if Nazi Germany inherited a hegemonic status. I don't want to sound alarmist, but we have to be prepared and steer public frustration and anger towards left wing causes, not right wing ones. (18/?)

Otherwise, the consequences would be far, far too dire to even imagine. What keeps me up at night is a world in which both choose to use nationalism as a placebo to their solutions and turning the entire world into their battleground. (19/?)

Both have to find a New Deal that provides a more equitable status of living for ALL in their countries, and they better do it fast. We dodged a bullet with COVID's economic impact being cushioned and Trump's incompetence. I do not know if we will be as lucky this time. (20/?)

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