What Is the Role of Government, anyway?

Written by Frank Li

One key difference between the U.S. and China is the role of government. In China, the government is [almost] everything, while in the U.S., the government is often viewed as optional, if not a necessary evil …

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1. What is the role of government?

Domestically, everything “public”. Four examples:

1. Public health, such as handling a pandemic.
2. Public safety, such as fighting crimes.
3. Public education: For a society to become truly civilized and advanced, public education not only is essential, but also must be good.
4. Public works, such as building and maintaining roads and bridges.

Internationally, everything between the country and the world. Four examples:

1. Defense.
2. Diplomacy.
3. International trade.
4. “Humanity as One”.

2. The U.S. vs. China

Domestically, China has done far better than the U.S. in all four categories.

1. Public health: Can you spell Covid-19 (Newsweek: Most Rank China’s Handling of Covid Pandemic Better Than America’s)? For more, including your keen interest in the origin of Covid-19, read Section 5.
2. Public safety: China is overwhelmingly safer than America, especially in big cities. For more, read Crime Stats: compare key data on China & United States.
3. Public education: Overall, China is far better at it than America, resulting in a better-educated and better-informed population than America. For more, read Shanghai is number one in world education rankings.
4. Public works: Trump compares US airports to ‘third-world country’.

Internationally, China has done far better than America in all four categories as well.

1. Defense: No 9/11-like attack on China. No foreign war for the past four decades, at least!
2. Diplomacy: Global approval rating: China (34%) vs. America (31%). For more, read China’s global approval rating has surpassed the U.S.
3. International trade: China has been the largest exporter in the world for years (Which Country Is the Largest Exporter of Goods in the World?).
4. “Humanity as One”: Three examples:
   • U.S. withdrawal from U.N. Human Rights Council is “America alone”.
   • Trump administration moves to formally withdraws US from WHO.
   • Climate change: US formally withdraws from Paris agreement.

Note: on “Humanity as One”, the Biden administration has already started righting the wrongs by the Trump administration, but the damage to the U.S. is already done, with one basic question: Can American government be trusted beyond one administration?

Now, why is the U.S. government so bad, especially when compared with China?

Let’s examine the U.S. and China, respectively, before comparing them …

3. The U.S.

Let’s briefly examine yesterday and today …

3.1 Yesterday

The U.S. was founded by/of/for the rich, with the government being a necessary evil – The rich wanted a limited (or minimalist) government, which would not only leave them alone to become richer, but also be actually controlled by them (via money).

Worse yet, Americans must be prepared to defend themselves against the government by bearing arms (Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

In short, not only is the Federal government extremely limited in power by design, it might also be viewed as the enemy of the people, against which Americans must be armed.

What a funny way to start a new country like that in 1776 (or 1789)!

For more, read What Is the American Revolution, Anyway? (V5).

3.2 Today

The U.S. remains a country by/of/for the rich.

Worse yet, many Americans continue to view the government as a necessary evil, if not the enemy of the people, against which Americans must arm themselves. As a result, it may take another civil war to seriously address the issue of gun violence, just like what America did with slavery in the 1860s.

Worse still, many Americans, including President Reagan, are foolishly proud of the fact that the “government is the problem”!

Worst of all, the U.S. is obviously losing in its head-on competition with China, but most Americans choose to live in denial or ignorance.

3.3 Summary

The U.S. does not have an effective government. Three recent events (i.e., COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., American carnage, and Texas weather crisis deepens Chinese belief they’re ‘on right path’) have made it abundantly clear.

Challenges for America?

Short term: How to break The Evil Military-Industrial Complex?

Long term:

Can the American government be peacefully transformed into a form that is truly of/by/for the people, without a bloody proletarian revolution first, like China did (The Communist Party of China at 100)?

4. China

In China, the government is [almost] everything and the head of the government is a father figure, with great wisdom and to be respected.

China got the role of government correct 2,000 years ago.

It is chiefly for this reason that China has proven to be the greatest civilization in human history, with the century of humiliation being merely an aberration. For more, read The Communist Party of China at 100.

In short, while the Chinese government is definitely not by/of the people (by the American standard), it is certainly for the people (by any standard), with remarkable achievements over the past four decades, with no end in sight.

5. Covid-19: the U.S. vs. China

Two big things are required to contain Covid-19 (in this order):

1. An effective government.
2. A good citizenry.

The U.S. has neither, but China has both – The image below highlights the result.

In case you are keen on the origin of Covid-19 …

1. Read Unexpected detection of SARS-Cov-2 antibodies in the prepandemic period in Italy.
2. Watch the video below.

6. Discussion

Governance is hard.

Governance becomes even harder, if the role of government is misunderstood and/or ill-defined.

China has got it right but the U.S. has not …

In other words, it is much harder to have an effective government than to have a bunch of successful individuals (e.g., millionaires and billionaires).

China has both – China got the former right first, and then took care of the latter, relatively easily. For example, over the past few decades, China has produced more millionaires and billionaires than the U.S. has. For more, read China overtakes US in rankings of world’s richest people.

In contrast, the U.S. has only the latter, and it will take a long time to have the former comparable to China’s.

America, reform our failing political system, as I have suggested (History 2.0 – China’s Comeback vs. America’s Decline), or become a fiddle, second to China!

7. Closing

No country can be truly great without a great government for the people.

America was founded by/of/for the rich and remains so today.

In contrast, the Chinese government is truly for the people, with remarkable achievements over the past four decades, with no end in sight!

Now, please sit back and enjoy the video below, starting at the 18:15 mark.

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