Just back from a month in China, so very many things to say.

I had a really depressing conversation a couple weeks ago in Beijing with a Brit. I was telling him about a 28 year old Chinese woman I had met in Shanghai. She was well educated, fluent in English, world traveled, described having an account that bypassed the Chinese internet "firewall" and told of having a facebook account, reading the BBC and NY Times every day. I asked where she thought China would be in 20 years. "More liberal and open I hope" was her reply. I asked what she and her friends would do to make this happen and she said "Nothing, there is nothing we can do but wait and see."

But back to my British friend in Beijing. When I told him this story, his immediate response was "Forget about that, what about the Americans?" I missed the connection until he continued. "The majority of Chinese have no idea what is going on in their own country. In America everyone can read and see what is going on. Right now, the US is the laughingstock of the world. Everyone outside the US wants to know how anyone could vote for the Republican Party in the upcoming election." He then went on to question right wing positions in human rights, women's rights, health care, international relations, tax policy, wealth disparity, gun control, and on and on. He was incredulous that the possible future President of the United States claimed to believe in creationism, that he was out of touch with reality in terms of wealth and taxes and that his foreign policy would harm not just the US but the entire world.

Why is it that a non-US citizen is better informed and more educated on US political and social issues than it seems many Americans are? How is it so painfully obvious to outsiders that the direction the Republican party would lead this country in is backwards, xenophobic and possibly lead to the permanent decline of this country.

more than enough said