Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz

Post Reply
johnkarls
Posts: 2034
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz

Post by johnkarls »

.
Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz

Question 1

What does “Tianxia” mean in the Chinese language and culture?

Answer 1

“Tianxia” is a Chinese term for an ancient Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with political sovereignty. In ancient China, tianxia denoted the lands, space, and area divinely appointed to the Emperor by universal and well-defined principles of order. The center of this land was directly apportioned to the Imperial court, forming the center of a world view that centered on the Imperial court and went concentrically outward to major and minor officials and then the common citizens, tributary states, and finally ending with the fringe "barbarians".

Question 2

What is the origin and meaning of “American Tianxia”?

Answer 2

“American Tianxia” is a term coined by the historian Wang Gungwu in 2013 to refer to the contemporary global order centered on the United States. It was further developed by sociologist Salvatore Babones to analyze today's millennial world-system through the lens of the Chinese concept of tianxia, or "all under heaven." While the United States is often called an "empire," this is a historically loaded term that is associated with perceptions of American imperialism. The concept of tianxia has a different set of meanings attached to it that Wang suggests and Babones argues are closer to what the United States actually displays in its contemporary approach to foreign affairs.

Question 3

Is “American Tianxia” similar to “Pax Americana” and, historically, Pax Britannica?

Answer 3

Yes and no.

Pax Britannica (Latin for “British peace”) refers to the century between the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815) and the beginning of WW-I (1914) during which Britain maintained peace on the European continent by constantly switching alliances to support the weaker side.

[It broke down when the Serbs assassinated on 6/28/1914 Archduke Ferdinand who was the Heir Apparent to the Habsburg throne, aka the Austro-Hungarian Empire, aka at that time The Holy Roman Empire (which in so many ways would be the equivalent of Cuba’s Fidel Castro assassinating President John Kennedy since Cuba was allied with the Soviet Union and the U.S. was allied with NATO) whereupon The Holy Roman Emperor provided a Heads Up to Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm about what was going down with Kaiser Wilhelm replying, in effect, “Ya gotta do what ya gotta do” (exactly what the U.S. presumably would have done if it had admitted that Castro assassinated Kennedy and what the U.S. would have expected the NATO reply to have been) whereupon Russia declared war on the Holy Roman Empire and, before the blink of an eye, Russia/France/Britain were at war with The Holy Roman Empire, Germany and The Ottoman Empire (which lost all of its Middle Eastern and North African possessions and shrunk to become modern-day Turkey from which the Ottoman Turks (NOT the Seljuk Turks who had ruled the Arab Empire from modern-day Iran 1037-1194) ruled the Arab Empire 1299-1918).]

Pax Americana is usually employed by historians to refer to the “relative peace” that has prevailed since WW-II. That is, despite small regional conflicts such as The Korean War, The Vietnam War, etc., there have been no “world wars” -- each involving battlefields in numerous countries with zillions of casualties.

Like Pax Britannica for which Britain was primarily responsible, Pax Americana has been produced primarily by American military power.

The reason for the initial “yes and no” answer???

The concept of Pax Americana only extends to relative peace.

The Chinese concept of Tianxia applies to “everything under heaven” -- the predominance of American culture, customs, language, currency, etc., etc.

Question 4

Why/how did the U.S. get saddled with being the center of “everything under heaven”?

Answer 4

Please read on.

Question 5

Does our author claim (p. 18) that ordinary Americans benefit from being the center of “all under the heaven”?

Answer 5

Yes, incredibly!!!

Question 6

Haven’t we studied on numerous occasions how the U.S. routinely ranks at the bottom of (OR BELOW) the rest of the world’s 35 economically-developed nations which are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in virtually EVERY CATEGORY of civilization?

Answer 6

Yes.

Question 7

For example, does the OECD rank “the health system performance” (e.g., life expectancy, infant mortality, etc.) of the U.S. as 37th in the world -- which means that since there are only 35 OECD member countries, American healthcare is outranked BY AT LEAST TWO THIRD-WORLD COUNTRIES?

Answer 7

Yes.

Question 8

And to create the Tianxia in which the U.S. is “the center of all under the heaven,” didn’t the U.S. foot the bill after WW-II for re-building Europe and Japan?

Answer 8

Yes, at least to “kick start” their recoveries.

Question 9

And to maintain American Tianxia, hasn’t the U.S. exported American jobs to all of its European and Asian allies for at least the last quarter century -- at the expense of its own citizens?

Answer 9

Unfortunately!!!

Question 10

And to enforce American Tianxia, hasn’t the U.S. paid “the lion’s share” for the common defense -- for example, saddling American taxpayers with a defense budget of typically 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while most NATO allies don’t even come close to the mere 2% of GDP to which they have committed?

Answer 10

Unfortunately!!!

Question 11

Isn’t it ironic that as we studied for our 3/13/2013 meeting, America’s national debt had reached the level of Greece when it was forced to default -- and that since our national debt now vastly exceeds our GDP, a rise in interest rates to the 21.50% prime rate that prevailed in December 1980 under President Jimmy Carter would mean that interest on the national debt WOULD EXCEED 100% of our national budget (which typically runs about 20% of GDP) so that THERE WOULD BE NOTHING LEFT FOR ANYTHING ELSE???

Answer 11

Unfortunately!!!

Question 12

And why doesn’t the mainstream media ever mention that the Federal Reserve IS FORCED TO KEEP AMERICAN UNEMPLOYMENT HIGH because virtually any reduction in unemployment would result in higher interest rates that would soon cause the U.S. dollar to tank, if not crater???

Answer 12

God only knows!!! [Though in this regard please read Q&A-18!!!]

Question 13

BTW, since the world’s economy (not just the American economy) runs on the U.S. dollar, why don’t economists recognize that the tremendous EXTRA AMOUNT of U.S. dollars needed to comprise THE WORLD’S FUNCTIONAL CURRENCY are nothing more than ZERO-COUPON INFINITE-MATURITY debt obligations of the U.S. which is A HIDDEN PART OF THE U.S. NATIONAL DEBT PROBLEM???

Answer 13

A confession from Yours Truly -- when preparing Short Quizzes, I often don’t know the answers but pose the questions as being things to look for in the focus book and/or to research using other resources, preferably “original sources.”

This was true of Q-13.

It was posed because if things “head south,” the EXTRA DOLLARS needed to serve as the world’s currency would be AN ALBATROSS (of exactly the same kind) as our national debt!!!

HOWEVER, there is a difference between “real dollars” and “synthetic dollars.”

For example, Yours Truly is fortunate that his annual pension income is six figures, but I don’t use a “real dollar” from one year to the next.

All of my retirement income streams are wire transfers. And all of my expenses are either paid on-line or by credit card, with the credit cards being paid on-line.

The same is true, or virtually true, for most large businesses.

Indeed, one of my favorite jokes during the period of rampant inflation caused by President Lyndon Johnson’s famous “guns AND butter” policy of NOT raising taxes to pay for the Vietnam War was to ask retail clerks before presenting a credit card whether their organizations were at all worried that if I presented cash, it would be worthless by the time they could get it to a bank.

For the super-curious, on 1/26/2018 the U.S. Federal Reserve reported (http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12773.htm) that as of 1/24/2018 there was approximately $1.61 TRillion of U.S. currency in circulation, of which $1.56 TRillion was in “Federal Reserve notes.”

“Federal Reserve notes” are “paper currency” and the Federal Reserve is honest enough to admit that the country’s “paper currency” is nothing but “notes” which is the legal term for debt obligations.

An interesting tidbit???

$1.61 TRillion of total U.S. currency less $1.56 TRillion in “paper currency” leaves $0.05 TRillion (or, in other words, $50,000,000) in coins.

Possible question for the Second Short Quiz???

How much of that $50 million in coins is needed by Las Vegas and the rest of the country’s slot machines???

Which might produce another confession from Yours Truly if slot machines in casinos no longer accept coins.

What do I know??? After all, casinos long ago dispensed with “real money” for all of their other types of gambling -- charging your credit/debit card for “chips” which at the end of the evening (if you still have any) are “cashed in” by crediting your credit/debit card.

Even rental cars have electronic devices that pay your bridge/tunnel/turnpike tolls since toll booths have become “an endangered specie”!!!

Enough already!!! (I’m having too much fun with this one!!!)

Question 14

So although our author may be partially right (p. 18) that some (rather than “all” as claimed by our author) Americans benefit from Tianxia, isn’t it primarily what, since studying Dana Milbank’s “Homo Politicus” and Robert Kuttner’s “The Squandering of America” 10 years ago, we have called “The Establishment” which we have defined as the billionaires who “own” both political parties, who “own” many, if not most, of the members of the Mainstream Media, and who “own” many members of academia?

Answer 14

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 15

And isn’t it ironic that after “The Establishment” has exported American jobs for the last 25 years, “The Establishment” has the gall to compel American taxpayers to pay for the FREE USE of the American military to protect the foreign investments of “The Establishment” resulting from the exportation of American jobs?

Answer 15

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 16

How is “The Establishment” able to fool American voters into paying for the FREE USE of the American military to protect the foreign investments of “The Establishment” resulting from the exportation of American jobs?

Answer 16

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

In this regard, Q&A-17 & Q&A-18 are offered to “stir the pot”!!!

Question 17

Are Hollywood movies the “heart and soul” of fooling American voters into paying for the FREE USE of the American military to protect the foreign investments of “The Establishment” resulting from the exportation of American jobs?

Answer 17

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

After all, don’t ALL Hollywood movies (even so-called “kiddie flicks”) feature characters (whether human or anthropomorphic animals/machines) that are either “good” or “evil”???

And don’t MANY (IF NOT MOST) Hollywood movies feature battles between the “good” characters and the “evil” characters???

NB: Even Star Wars [which is always cited as Exhibit A by cognoscenti for the proposition that there are zillions of “smash hits” that will never be produced because George Lucas should have been confined to an asylum for the insane the way he persisted for so long in trying to obtain financing for Star Wars by claiming that it was nothing more than “The Lord of The Rings” set in outer-space and “The Lord of The Rings” is/was the all-time best-seller behind only The Bible] has thrilled young audiences as well as old and, despite all its young viewers, features zillions of violent battles.

So aren’t all these Hollywood movies, virtually all of which place the American audience in the role of a “jury” judging the behavior of everyone/everything else, a “set up” which subconsciously conditions Americans to take action to “right” what they perceive to be “wrongs”???

Question 18

Has the Mainstream Media been a “co-conspirator” of Hollywood in fooling American voters into paying the FREE USE of the American military to protect the foreign investments of “The Establishment” resulting from the exportation of American jobs?

Answer 18

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

After all, doesn’t the Mainstream Media always mount vicious attacks on anyone who stands up for America -- rather than for international interests trumping American interests??? As if it were inherently obvious that the U.S. must serve as “the policeman of the world”??? And that welcoming the world’s “tired, poor and huddled masses” is the solemn obligation of the U.S. no matter the consequences for American workers???

Post Reply

Return to “Participant Comments - “American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power and the End of History” by Prof. Salvatore Babones - March 14”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests