April 15, 2021
China's
finger-trap plan and what we should do
By T.L. Hesse
A centuries-old
puzzle, sometimes used as a practical joke, is the Chinese finger
trap. It’s a simple woven bamboo tube into which an unsuspecting
victim puts both index fingers but then cannot release themselves from the
tight bondage of the tube, no matter how hard he pulls.
This brings to mind
the "one belt, one road" project advanced by China all over the
world, especially in Africa, South America, and the poorer parts of Asia.
A poor country,
grateful for Chinese aid, readily accepts the offer of a road or
bridge. After completion, China asks for payment as per the vague
agreed upon terms that were presented more in terms of goodwill and helpfulness
than tit for tat.
Now the debtor
country may have a new road or bridge, but new money did not come with it.
China demands payment
of some sort, and the poor country, still bankrupt, often pays with a naval
base or a port, perhaps an airport, or key factory, or mine — whatever is
advantageous to the Chinese. Threatened and intimidated, the poor
country reluctantly agrees and loses an important asset. The Chinese
dragon sinks its fangs and talons into the hapless country in prelude of
swallowing it whole, gaining yet another foothold in a different hemisphere or
region, sometimes ours. Perhaps
"stranglehold" is a more accurate term. Surprisingly, the
conundrum is that many such countries haven’t learned that there is no such
thing as a free lunch. China has no compunction about lying to achieve
their objectives.
Not long ago, Kenya lost an
important commercial port to this scheme. A few years
ago, Ecuador lost control of
nearly all its oil. Laos, Burma, Cambodia,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Montenegro — they all fell into the
trap. Luckily, a few countries are wising up and are working to
contain China. Japan, Australia, and India were never in
hock to China, but they are in this group.
The U.S., not so much.
A different form of
this Chinese finger-trap trick is used on greedy politicians, individuals,
corporations, and even supposedly benevolent organizations such as the National
Basketball Association and World Health Organization.
Nike and Apple look
the other way as their products are being manufactured by slave labor while
genocide is taking place. The NBA sees a vast new audience. Quickly they find
there is no simple way out of this financial quagmire even if they wanted out.
And there certainly
is no shortage of American politicians and many diverse corporations on the
take.
China had surmised in
recent years that a nuclear war, or even a conventional one, with the U.S.
would be impossible to win (although with its aggressive military buildup,
there seems to have been some rethinking), so in this logic, the way to
conquer the U.S. was to basically purchase it.
The one brave man,
President Trump, wise to the Chinese's plan and willing to stand up to them,
had to be removed even if it took a pandemic and eminent world depression to
accomplish, in tandem with questionable election results achieved, no doubt,
with Chinese help, to top it all off.
China has seeded our
educational system with its communist ideology, has spread heavy doses of
propaganda via social media and Hollywood, and may have bought off politicians,
judges, and their families, et al.
And they have been
quite successful at it, as demonstrated by our current government.
The world is both
bewildered and amused by what is happening in the United States while most of
us are simply sickened.
We have a different
but very effective form of the "one belt, one road" project, one
perhaps even more lethal, as it is based on human greed, being
applied. Our country is moving toward socialism and communism every
day. We have elected officials openly hostile to our system and way
of life, disdaining our history, sullying our traditions and heroes, and
ignoring settled law.
Our capital is surrounded by fencing and troops, a slap in the face to
all that is American. China presents "one belt, one
road" as a return to prosperity for all countries involved, just like
the good old days of the Silk Road. But in reality, it is only for
China’s benefit, as always these things are.
So what is the secret
of the Chinese Finger Trap? How does one find a release from its
bondage? You must push the ends toward the middle where the
woven construct is freer in size, large enough to escape its
grasp. To try to run from it by yanking your fingers in opposite
directions will not undo the trick, but only tighten its grip.
We must all gather
toward the middle as one force and push the ends together to escape what's
going on here, which includes China’s grasp.
That means all those
on China’s payroll must exit from office or position. Products
made by slave labor must remain unpurchased. Propaganda films must
stay unwatched. Career politicians need to become
extinct. The brainwashing must stop. Colleges and
universities on the take need to be shunned, school systems teaching
un-American courses must be purged of leftist teachers and
leadership. The 1619 Project must be scrapped and President Trump’s
1776 project introduced. Citizenship, civics, patriotism need to be
taught again. American values are paramount to our survival. We
must push toward the middle.
Pride in country and
oneself are priorities, and there is no shame in being who you are, no matter
what your color, including white. Family ties, religion, and
all the things that made America great need to be revived and the dark scourge
of socialism scrubbed away. We must have the rule of law for
everyone without exception. Law and order is not a disgusting term,
as it has been made to seem. A lawless society cannot flourish, any
more than Somalia, Libya, or any of a number of such countries can.
We need to be
self-sufficient, not beholden to anyone or anything for our vital supplies of
energy, medication, minerals, and food. Our borders must be
controlled. We must take care of our own, our veterans, our homeless
and those addicted, before we add more un-vetted people who just dilute our
resources and add to illegal vote counts.
And most of all, we
must be careful, very careful, before we allow ourselves or anyone who speaks
for us, to ever again insert our collective fingers into a trap.
Image: Carol via Wikimedia
Commons, CC BY 2.5, CC BY 4.0.
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