Charlie Chaplin said, "Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot." Reading chapters from Gibbon's Decline and Fall, and Trump's press conference, you will conclude that a nation's decline is the reverse - it is a close-up comedy and long-shot tragedy. Trump has turned White House into reality comedy shows.
Category: Politics
Factionalism in War and Peace
In Tolstoy's War and Peace, Prince Andrey enumerated the factions within the Russian high command during Napoleon's invasion. You usually see the full range or a subset of these dynamics as a group responds to situations. Rigid military theorists Non-planners favoring spontaneous actions Courtiers reconciling the first two groups Advocates of surrendering to Napoleon Adherents… Continue reading Factionalism in War and Peace
The Political Logic of China’s GDP Growth Target
I'm a political analyst, not an economist. But in many situations, it's more than enough for me to understand the logic behind the Chinese economy. As an important example: in the March 2016 National People's Congress session, why did Xi Jinping set 6.5% as the GDP growth target for the next 5 years? This number… Continue reading The Political Logic of China’s GDP Growth Target
On Posture
In politics, posture is very important. This includes physical posture. The picture shows Japan's surrender to China at the end of WWII. Standing on the left and right are the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese (Ho Ying-chin) and the Japanese (Yasuji Okaruma) Army respectively. It looks as if China was bowing to Japan. The relative heights… Continue reading On Posture
Andy Yee 