Liberty & Power: Group Blog

William Marina

Did The Chinese Invent Just About Everything?

Care for a toothbrushanyone?

I recall in 1986 teaching a class of 240 students in a required Business course called "Government, Business and Society," and that after a lecture on China, an Accounting Major spoke out that he saw little relevancy to American Business in talking about China's role in History.

The next day the Wall Street Journal published an article about the Chinese Science Exhibit then opening in Toronto, Canada, titled, "Did the Chinese Invent Just About Everything?" The student had the courage to openly apologize to both his teacher and fellow students.

China, of course, had an enormous impact on what we call "The Enlightenment" in Western Civilization, and when Alexis de Tocqueville later saw its result on the bureaucratization of French government and schooling, he called it "the Chinese System."

Well, folks, China is back, and the "the Chinese System" is alive and well throughout our emerging, centralized, Global Civilization.

So, for today's assignment, "Go brush your teeth!"



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