America’s new red scare

“Why Do great Nations fail? America tried to spend and tax itself out of a great recession” Of course we owned most of their debt, so now they work for us...laughter” you can change the future-you have to.”

Yikes. The now infamous ad from Citizens Against Government Waste says it all. Should we be afraid of China? On the streets of Chinatown, DC resident Angelina has a more tempered opinion.  “I don’t things we have to be afraid of China, but I do think that we should be concerned.”Concern might be the right word, as a March 2011 BBC Poll shows that many in the west aren’t thrilled about the prospect of China gaining more economic steam. In the span of just five years, negative attitudes toward China have skyrocketed with countries like France, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S. all unhappy at the thought of China nipping at their heels.Nowhere is that clearer in the U.S. than in the 2012 race to the White House. Candidates such as Mitt Romney and Michelle Bachmann have come on the offensive, pumping up strong rhetoric against China.Candidate Rick Santorum however has a more direct message saying “I want to BEAT China. I want to go to war with China, and make America the most attractive place in the world to do business.”Does it have to be us against them? Steve, a DC resident sees through it. “The worlds’ changing…so like, the fact that China’s economy is modernizing isn’t the reason our economy is doing poorly right now…and so maybe it’s just a straw man when Presidential candidates bring that up”.Shannon, a DC resident as well, echoes that statement, going as far to say “in a business sense and an economic sense most countries do just work with China as any other country. I don’t know where the fear comes from the U.S. about China.” For now it seems China is the new kid on the economic block. It’s up the U.S. and the West however to see how they deal with him.