WORLD ECONOMY LONG THREAD
That’s a good chart @DavidInglesTV

Let’s deepen our understanding by ZOOMING OUT:

from a 50-year-view (1970-2020) —>

to a 2000-year-view (1 CE to 2020 CE)

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https://twitter.com/davidinglestv/status/1270957103427928064?s=21 https://twitter.com/davidinglestv/status/1270957103427928064

RETURN TO THE NORM
China & India have been THE WORLD’S TWO LARGEST ECONOMIES for THOUSANDS OF YEARS!

THIS *IS* THE NORM.

During the last 180 years (1840-2020) there’s been a blip, and now a RETURN TO THE NORM.

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THE 180-YEAR BLIP
= Rise of the West

Western Europe (esp Britain ),
followed by America ,
has been LEADING THE WORLD ECONOMY, during this 180-year blip (1840-2020)

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INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Our history books teach us that the blip — Rise of the West (1840-2020) — was MAINLY due to:
- Western economic miracle of “The Industrial Revolution” (1760 CE to ~1830 CE)

This is only PARTIALLY TRUE.

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COLONISATION & CONQUEST
WHAT ELSE funded the Rise of the West?

- RICHES FROM CHINA : during “Century of Humiliation”
- RICHES FROM INDIA : via colonisation
- LABOUR & GDP FROM COLONIES: in India, Africa (remember slavery?), SE Asia, China, etc

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CENTURY OF HUMILIATION
= what China calls the period of 1840-1949.

Instead of paying for CN goods (ie. tea, silk, porcelain), Foreign powers (UK , US , FR , JP , RU ) decided they’ll take them BY FORCE—divide CN’s pie amongst themselves

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OPIUM WARS
How? Using GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY :

1. Starting TWO OPIUM WARS to continue + legalise the unethical but lucrative Opium trade from UK to China
- First Opium War 1839-1842
- Second Opium War 1856-1860

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2. Seizing ports & territories via UNEQUAL TREATIES post-war, incl:
⁃ Hong Kong by UK (1842 Treaty of Nanking, 1860 Convention of Peking),
⁃ Macau by Portugal (1887 Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking)

3. Huge post-war reparations to Western powers

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“GIFT” OF WESTERN WISDOM
During colonisation, Asia has silently observed & learnt MANY VALUABLE ECONOMIC LESSONS from the West, incl:
- Market economy
- Meritocracy
- Rule of law
- Western biomedicine & science
- Industrialisation
- Caring for nature

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RETURN OF THE JEDI (ASIA)

And now ASIA IS RISING again,
⁃ led by China currently, and
⁃ likely followed by India .

The 21st Century = The Asian Century

This is a RETURN TO THE NORM — THE NORM of the last 2000 years of human history.

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A NEW HOPE, IN A MULTIPOLAR WORLD

THANK YOU for reading this long thread.

Let’s end this on a HOPEFUL note for our future.

I love this quote by @thecyrusjanssen:
“When the United States & China work together,
the entire world wins.”

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

H/t to
⁃ @SolTaiyang for the 2000-year chart, some of his words
⁃ @mahbubani_k’s 2018 book “Has The West Lost It: A Provocation”
⁃ @thecyrusjanssen

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https://twitter.com/soltaiyang/status/1246785380017246208?s=21