Because this news article discussing Trump reaching out to Jimmy Carter for advice on China from April of last year became extremely relevant with the events in Iran and at the Tesla Gigafactory this last week........
"In China, meanwhile, the economic benefits of peace were clear to the eye. "How many miles of high-speed railroad do we have in this country?" he asked. While China has some 18,000 miles of high-speed rail, the U.S. has "wasted, I think, $3 trillion" on military spending. "It's more than you can imagine. China has not wasted a single penny on war, and that's why they're ahead of us. In almost every way.....
Carter—who normalized diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing in 1979—suggested that China's breakneck growth had been facilitated by sensible investment and buoyed by peace. "Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody?" Carter asked. "None. And we have stayed at war." The U.S., he noted, has only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its 242-year history, making the country "the most warlike nation in the history of the world," Carter said. This is, he said, because of America's tendency to force other nations to "adopt our American principles.""
Jimmy Carter took call about China from concerned Donald Trump: "China has not wasted a single penny on war"
But China's policies are much more strategic than simply avoiding war IMHO. They have literally doubled down on their economic bet because at the same time China has also transitioned its focus towards 100% renewable energy and 100% adoption of Electric Vehicles.......further implementing China's integrated vision of "no need for wars because no dependence on fossil fuels."
When we visited China we saw the US in the rear view mirror while we watched renewable energy projects and exciting new infrastructure literally springing up all around us. Last night Tesla delivered its first vehicles to customers from their new Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai - a site that was an empty field only 1 year ago. And investment money for this project came from China.........not Wall Street. And now China may soon pass policy to end fossil fuel vehicle sales by 2030.
It is good to be reminded of Jimmy Carter while our elected officials on both sides of the aisle have just passed Military Budgets that are 50% larger than during the height of the Iraq War, and we are now at the tipping point with a war with Iran. For it was Jimmy Carter who put Solar Panels on the White House roof. And one of the very first actions of the Reagan Administration was to take those solar panels down and refer to them as "just a joke." In hindsight perhaps those solar panels were worth several $Trillion
