Business is war, and war is business. — Sean Connery as Captain John Connor, Rising Sun (1993) In the early 1990s, Rising Sun captured an America unsettled by Japan’s economic ascent. Beneath its murder mystery plot lay a parable about national confidence; the fear that Japan’s discipline and precision might eclipse Western improvisation and ingenuity.Continue reading “China is the Paper Tiger”
Tag Archives: Xi
Tik Tok
China is a real geopolitical threat because of Xi. TikTok is Chinese owned and the potential for data mining is real. But Washington’s reflex has been fear mongering rather than analysis; turning a genuine security concern into an excuse for domestic control. Technological advances have always favored tyrants, so we are right to be circumspect.Continue reading “Tik Tok”
Tyrants and Eugenics
Khan Noonien Singh is my favorite Star Trek character. In Space Seed (1967), Ricardo Montalbán plays Singh the genetically engineered despot known as the last tyrant from the Eugenic Wars:: KIRK: Name, Khan, as we know him today. (Spock changes the picture) Name, Khan Noonien Singh.SPOCK: From 1992 through 1996, absolute ruler of more thanContinue reading “Tyrants and Eugenics”