[bawana]

Long, long ago, I remember the first toy I ever got that was made in chiina. It was a wooden cube puzzle. various interlocking differently shaped pieces that when assembled formed a cube. It was so different to all the other toys made in america by hasbro, mattel, tonka, etc. Back then I felt like I was holding a toy made by the ancient Greeks, a puzzle to teach geometry, analysis, pattern recognition. So abstract, so removed from daily life, it transported me into a different world. Like chess, it was an engaging abstraction. But unlike chess, it was not about conflict but rather interrelating pieces to make a greater whole.

So this is what really unsettles me. Not that China graduates more engineers every year than we have entirely employed in the US, but rather, that these individuals are not about delegating work, but actually doing it. Whereas the western credo is to get someone else to do the work (or in the words of PAtton, to get some one else to die for his country), I get the feeling that China will get robots and AI to do the work. I am reminded of the joke about Chinese factories having only 1 security guard and 1 dog. The guard is there to feed the dog.

[youknownothing]

"the western credo is to get someone else to do the work"

This. One of the things that most shocked me when I moved to London was how bad English people were at hard skills, but also how easily giving orders and "projecting gravitas" came to them. Everyone wants to be a "leader", which sadly has become code for reaping benefits of other people's work.