As Ted C. Fishman pointedly remarks in China, Inc., “China is everywhere these days.” Despite its ubiquitous presence, America does not accept the rising competitiveness of the Chinese economy as par for the course. The threat of China equaling or surpassing the United States as a world super power is a real concern and there are many ideas being put forth as to how to maintain competition with a Chinese economy that seems to be expanding at warp speed.
“Maintain” is the key word, however, and its use belies the wrong approach. Regardless of the immense cost advantages that China currently enjoys, the United States continues to have a leg-up in a department that is somewhat downplayed in comparisons of the US economy to China’s: freedom.
According to Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel, “socioeconomic modernization,” “a cultural shift toward rising emphasis on self expression,” and “democratization” all constitute expediters of human development. In an attempt to simplify a complex modernization theory:
• with the onset of socioeconomic modernization comes fewer constraints on human choice due to greater resources
• as humans enjoy the rewards of increased autonomy they begin to internalize self-expression values;
• with greater valuation of self-expression citizens begin to understand the importance of civil and political liberties and demand access to them
• public demand for these liberties catalyzes the establishment of “institutions best suited to maximize human choice”
This process culminates, according to Inglehart and Welzel, universally in democracy.
The primary differentiator between industrialist societies moving toward secular-rational values and postindustrialist societies that exhibit self-expression values is an emphasis on survival. While survival is the ultimate human goal, as human development progresses from pre-industrial to post-industrial, perceived levels of existential security increase. It is the confidence in existential security, in the ability to meet basic human needs, that allows humans in postindustrialist societies to occupy themselves with self-expression values instead of depending on external authorities to provide survival security.
In a country that has only relatively recently pulled large segments of its population out of destitute poverty, China would be characterized as an industrial society moving toward secular-rational values. These values tend to emphasize both science and reason while still relying heavily on order and limits. This means that while Chinese citizens have been experiencing increases in personal choice they still live under a very authoritarian government that imposes regulations and limits on their choices. For example, the Chinese government exerts considerable control over what is published in its mass media outlets so citizens have a limited choice as to which news stories they can consume.
In contrast, the United States is a postindustrialist nation made up of citizens that exhibit self-expression values and who constantly strive toward “increasing emancipation from authority.” Americans enjoy freedom of speech and thus have a vast array of choices when it comes to consumption of mass media. Fewer constraints on autonomy has fueled the creation of a “knowledge society” that fosters “intellectual independence,” creativity, and innovation. Innovations in farming techniques in the form the John Deere 9650STS has allowed American bean and corn farmers to compete in the Chinese market by offering these goods at a lower cost.
It is this strength that the United States must (forgive the irony) capitalize upon in order to continue to improve as a country and succeed in outcompeting China in economic strength. Maintenance should not be our goal, but improvement both in our own right and relative to China’s robust growth. As Fishman prescribes, “America itself must become a new place.”
While switching to renewable energy technology is not a race in the proportions of Sputnik, in some sense it is a competition. Although China’s rapid development raises great alarm about its impact on climate change, in its relative youth as an economic power it has already made important strides to contain its carbon emissions. In 2007, it became the first developing economy to adopt a National Climate Change Program focused on reducing its emissions
A recent article written by Xie Zhenua, Chinese President Hu Jintao’s special representative on climate change, outlines four ways in which China has been working to become more sustainable, including increasing the use of renewable energy for primary energy to 15% by 2020, from 10% in 2010. In comparison to the progress the developed and experienced United States has made, China looks like a prodigiously ambitious teenager while the US appears as the hesitant mid-life crisis racked forty-something.
In the same vein as the Breakthrough Institute, Fishman prescribes that in order for the United States to not just stay abreast of China but place itself on an upward trajectory, it must invest in innovation; particularly through education.
While Breakthrough focuses on investing in renewable energy innovation, investments in education can lead to benefits across the spectrum of sectors that make up the United States economy. Our competitive edge over China, as well as future economic competitors, is the freedom America has prided itself on throughout its existence. While China’s great source of strength is its immense population, our inexhaustible resource is the knowledge economy our level of socioeconomic development provides. We should not let this crucial asset go to waste.