[kennon]

I would argue that the China example is somewhat invalid. Seems to me that China's economy has been expanding because they've begun to mimic "western" capitalistic principles more closely than in the past. That is, Chinese citizens are more able and willing to start up businesses for personal gain, something that wasn't really possible a couple decades ago.

Also, I picked the cow and the hay, even though I lean more towards individualism-- maybe not compared to the average American, though (I'm Chinese, born in the US).

[stcredzero]

If you're going to make a prediction of China on which you will bet, bet that China will continue to be China.

This is more that a tautology -- I suspect there is a tremendous stability to the underlying forms of culture and society in China that seems to transcend ideology. Mao just turned out to be the latest Emperor, after all. I predict that China will more or less continue to have its current borders. It will continue to have a highly centralized government. China will ultimately defeat invasions (including cultural ones) through assimilation. If democracy ever comes to China, it will be a uniquely Chinese version that will somehow manage to resemble an imperial government.

[william42]

I remember learning about China in a class and one of the things that was said was that they perceived Communism slightly differently from the old USSR, they perceived it in a more Confucian light.