Written by Frank Li
After talking about civilizations, let me delve a little deeper into it by focusing on human races, political correctness notwithstanding.
1. What is human race?
Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
(Human) Race is a social concept used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by anatomical, cultural, ethnic, genetic, geographical, historical, linguistic, religious, and/or social affiliation. First used to refer to speakers of a common language and then to denote national affiliations, in the 17th century, people began to use the term to relate to observable physical traits. Such use promoted hierarchies favorable to differing ethnic groups. Starting from the 19th century, the term was often used, in a taxonomic sense, to denote genetically differentiated human populations defined by phenotype.[1][2][3]
For more, read: Race (human classification).
2. Race in English vs. Chinese
“Race” is a very interesting word in English. Here are two meanings from Wikipedia:
Classification, such as black or white in human races.
Competition, such as an auto race.
Does the term “human race” imply “human competition” in English? It seems so. At least it makes more sense than that in Chinese, whose corresponding term is just “human type”, without any implication of competition.
The simple truth is that mankind has had to be competitive from the start, or we would not have survived as a species! We have been competing within our own species, in addition to competing against nature and all other species!
3. The race for superiority between human races
On a very broad basis, there are five human races, as shown below:
To keep it simple, let’s focus on three human races: black (Africa), white (Europe), and yellow (Asia).
3.1 Yesterday
The race for superiority between human races reached its zenith after 1492, when Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas. It was almost over by 1940, when the white Europeans had colonized most of the world, subjugating members of all the other races. However, there was one major exception: Japan.
Japan, a “yellow” country, not only advanced like the white Europeans, both economically and militarily, but also behaved the same by colonizing Korea and most of China. Moreover, Japan had launched two major wars against the whites as follows:
Japan won the first Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
The end of World War II in 1945 brought a new era to all mankind: the beginning of the end of western colonialism – Decolonization of Asia and Africa. As a result, many Asian and African countries became independent from the white Europeans.
By 1990, several Asian countries (e.g. Japan, South Korea, and Singapore) had become hugely successful economically. Africa, however, did not fare as well.
3.2 Today
After the turn of the 21st century, China, another “yellow” country, showed up on the world stage, big time …
Today, China and Japan are the 2nd and 3rd largest economy in the world, respectively. Therefore, world domination is no longer “mostly white”. Instead, it is “white and yellow”.
3.3 Tomorrow
The world will likely become more “yellow” in the coming decades, led by China, which is well on its way to becoming the largest economy on earth by 2020.
It’s time for the “blacks”, as a race, to demonstrate their competitiveness in well managing their own countries (i.e. those with a black majority)! Unfortunately, most black countries are very poor. Two extreme examples:
Haiti: It is the only black country in the Americas that is truly independent (e.g. not even a member of the Commonwealth of Nations like Jamaica), and it is dirt poor.
Liberia: It is one of the poorest countries in the world. What’s so special about Liberia? Read: Founding of Liberia.
For more, read: List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita.
The most promising “black” country is South Africa. As a BRICS country, South Africa is uniquely positioned to be successful in the coming decades. But will it happen?
4. Americas
It’s really a misnomer to say Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas – Human beings had been living there for more than ten thousand years before him!
After 1492, the Europeans poured into the Americas. After wiping out the two biggest civilizations in the Americas (e.g. the Inca Empire and the Maya civilization), the Europeans competed among themselves. Here are the two biggest deals:
Between the Spanish-speaking folks and the English-speaking folks in North America, the latter clearly won the race for superiority. See image below.
Between South America and North America, the North clearly won the race for superiority.
5. Human races and the U.S.
There are actually four races in the U.S., as shown below. Unfortunately, the red population is so small now that we can exclude it in this discussion.
With that, it can be said that the U.S. is a smaller version of the world, with the black, white, and yellow competing for superiority in a way unique in human history. For more, read: U.S. Immigration.
Overall, racial diversity has served the U.S. very well so far. Two examples:
Adolf Hitler, an extreme racist who believed in the “pure” white race, considered America’s racial diversity to be much inferior to his master race. He even dared to declare war on America – What a mistake! Japan also viewed America similarly, resulting in its fatal mistake of attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941.
America became “the shining city on the hill” after WWII!
Nevertheless, racial problems have been persistent in the U.S. throughout its history, from slavery to the passages of various racial discrimination laws over time (e.g. Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts and Jim Crow laws).
In bad times, racial problems become worse. Three examples:
During the Great Depression, many Mexican immigrants were treated very poorly. For more, read: Mexican Repatriation.
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, America declared war on Japan, followed by the total mistreatment and abuse of Japanese-Americans. For more, read: Internment of Japanese Americans.
China bashing. For more, read: China Bashing: A U.S. Political Tradition and Peter Navarro: Death by China.
In good times, racial problems become moderate. For example, after WWII, America experienced unprecedented prosperity in human history, with remarkable advancement in racial equality (e.g. Civil Rights Act of 1964).
Unfortunately, unless America changes fundamentally as I have suggested, America’s economy will continue to decline towards bankruptcy. Consequently, more tough times will follow. Because of that, many problems, racial or otherwise, will become bigger and more evident. Two examples:
Income inequality: It will increasingly become a political fashion, against the very foundation of America: better results should result in more pay! If lower paid people resent (or envy) higher paid people, they should compete and become the higher paid people! It’s all possible in the U.S., and I am a living proof in modern America (My American Dream Has Come True). Income redistribution will yield the same result in America as it has been practiced everywhere else (e.g. China 1949-1976): lower income for all!
Hispanics: At this pace, Hispanics will soon, if not already, pick all American Presidents and will eventually become the majority in America by 2050, if not sooner. Will most American politicians be Hispanic? Will America then become Mexico, replete with rampant crime and vast corruption? Will Spanish replace English as the official language in America?
6. Discussion
The world has been, and will continue to be, pyramidal (Pyramid Theory II), with some races (or countries, or ethnic groups, or people) rising above the others. In other words, the race for superiority between human races will continue.
For America’s three chief competitors, race is not a major issue, because of their lack of racial diversity. Specifically,
China: It has many big problems, but race is not one of them, largely because Han Chinese is more than 90% of the population.
Japan: It has even fewer racial problems than China, because more than 99% of the population is Japanese.
Russia: 80% are Russians, and almost 100% are white.
For more info, read: Ethnicity and Race by Countries.
So far, America has benefited from racial diversity more than any other country. But things change over time. I think America will face far more racial problems in the coming years, thanks to its declining economy, with high unemployment and high national debt being the top two problems.
Worse yet, America may even become Mexico by 2050, thanks to democracy and open borders, as we practice them today!
Worst of all, most Americans are blithely unaware of it or simply in denial!
7. Closing
It’s the economy, stupid! With a good economy, most problems disappear. With a bad economy, most problems exacerbate.
America is in a race not only with other countries (e.g. China), but also with itself, with race being one of the biggest problems in the coming years. So be prepared!
Here is a must-watch short video: Dr. James D. Manning on Obama!