Will Nevada and the U.S. Bother to Learn What the World Thinks and Knows?

Las Vegas, Nevada and the United States have that chance this week as the Horasis China Meeting takes place this week-not in China, as one might expect, but in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel and Casino. This is probably THE most important opportunity to find out why and how China is taking the lead in virtually every aspect of economic development important to every human being on Planet Earth.
Horasis is a Swiss institution dedicated to “Inspiring the Future” by influencing governments, companies and people throughout the world to distinguish what policies produce results, to innovate, to be transparent and develop sustainable businesses and economies. It sponsors an annual “global” meeting in Portugal and individual meetings in different nations every year about India, China and Asia.
Last year’s China Meeting was held in Ukraine and the report on that meeting is replete with references (from experts all over the world) to 1) China’s achievements in transforming the lives of its citizens (800,000,000 in 40 years) as a result of focusing on the well-being of everyday Chinese; 2) its emphasis on building a labor force capable of excelling in industries of the future and 3) its efforts to replicate that domestic success in willing countries all over the world. As one can imagine, some speakers who support China’s win-win approaches contrasted these with  lose-lose tactics of the U.S. government.
The Horasis Chairman, Frank-Jürgen Richter pointed out in his description of last year’s China Meeting that “among the many subjects discussed…were  the destabilizing aspects of the U.S. President’s sanctions spreading not only in the U.S. and China but also upon intermediary traders who are hit by secondary sanctions, and how this so-called Trade War affects the global economy.” He contrasted that with “the progress of the Belt and Road (B&R) initiative [serving as an] almost global phenomenon by helping develop innovation hubs in Asia, Africa and the Middle East — into Europe’s fringes, including Ukraine and even into the Caribbean and South America.”
Perhaps Mr. Richter and the dozens of commentators and panelists can be forgiven for failing to point out that China’s progress since 1979 is due to Deng Xiaoping’s tossing out the socialistic “iron rice bowl” upon which every Chinese citizen depended, in favor of adopting the (by-then mythical) free enterprise, entrepreneur-based American system.
While China continues to reinforce its traditional values of hard work and no excuses, it is adapting to and adopting traditional American values of free enterprise, risk-taking, individual responsibility, while we, as Nevadans and Americans, are throwing these away in favor of excuse- making, rewriting standards and demanding that the
government take care of us.
Is it any wonder that we have more citizens living in poverty today than we did in the ’60s when the War on Poverty was declared; that we are creating businesses at half the rate of 20 years ago; that our government is $22 trillion in debt; that wages have not increased since 1971; that the lower 50 percent of our population has half the percentage national wealth it had in the 1970s; etc., etc., etc.? Should  anyone be surprised that much of the rest of the world wants to emulate China’s economic successes?
Las Vegas, Nevada and the United States have that chance Monday and Tuesday, October 28 and 29, to learn what most of the rest of the world thinks and knows at the Venetian Hotel right here in Las Vegas. Congratulations and thank you to Sands Corporation for paying for and bringing this event to us.
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