On January 9th, The Wall Street Journal ran an article that would become the most viewed, commented-on editorial in the publication’s history.
The article was so controversial that the author — a Yale Law School professor — received several death threats.
Thousands of enraged American readers went so far as to accuse her of advocating physical and emotional violence against children…
Meet Amy Chua: a petite, 48-year-old Chinese American and the author of the WSJ firestorm piece, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior”.
Obviously, the headline caught my attention. My wife is Chinese and we have three children.
But what really surprised me was the viciousness of the comments from readers.
But as I perused through the comments of anger, hate, and even threats to Chua, I realized I as was actually reading comments of insecurity, fear, and envy.
Think about it…
Had this article been written by anybody other than a Chinese professor, it would’ve gone largely unnoticed.
Bottom line: Americans fear the Chinese juggernaut.
Here are just a few headlines from the past year that have caused panic among Americans and the West:
- Pentagon Surprised, Concerned as China Debuts High-Tech Weapons — Politics Daily
- Chinese ‘Carrier-Killer’ Missile Could Reshape Sea Combat — Fox News
- Chinese ‘carrier-killer’ missile raises concerns of Pacific power shift — Associated Press
- China Stealth Fighter? Photos Released Online Raise Speculations — Huffington Post
- China’s First Stealth Fighter Test Successful — CBS News
- China backs Spain to emerge from crisis: Beijing — Sydney Morning Herald
- Move Over Europe, China Is Pushing to Bailout the Greek Economy — Washington Post
- Wow: China to Bail Out Europe? — Daily Mail UK
- China’s Pres. Hu calls dollar’s preeminence ‘thing of the past’ — Wall Street Journal
- President Hu provoking the US by suggesting yuan replace dollar as reserve currency — AsiaNews.it
And now Americans are fearful of the Chinese mother, as reported by Time Magazine: “Tiger Mom: Amy Chua Parenting Memoir Raises American Fears.”
I hear it every day…
“China is going to overtake the U.S. economy… We need to catch up before they flood our markets with electric cars, wind turbines, and solar panels.”
Heck, even billionaire Warren Buffett has invested in a Chinese car manufacturer…
America is doomed, right?
Now before you send your children to Mandarin school (which I think is a waste of time), let me state for the record that I think America has a distinct advantage over the rest of the world: innovation.
According to the Global Innovation Index, the U.S. ranks second in global innovation behind South Korea.
China? They’re ranked 13th.
Undoubtedly, China will move up as its economy grows. But in my opinion, freedom of opinion, speech, and expression are directly tied to robust innovation.
Yeah, I know… Both the Republicans and Democrats want to curtail free speech.
Hopefully that’ll never happen. I don’t think it will.
In the coming weeks, we will outline four pillars of innovation that America dominates. These coincide with the four sectors of the U.S. stock market that continue to boom.
Stay tuned.
By the way, tomorrow is the start of Chinese New Year.
2011 is the lunar Rabbit year, and the forecast is it’s going to be an unfavorable year plagued with uncertainties and continued troubles carried over from the roller coaster Tiger year.
Can you say, “Middle East”?
However, the wealth rabbit is good for 2011. The stock market should continue to rise.
Gung hay fat choy,
Brian
Publisher, Wealth Daily
