The most useful way to think about American competition with China is not through the language of moral theater, which is how almost every domestic political question is now presented, but through the older and less flattering language of power. Civilizations rise because they accumulate capacity, and they decline because they lose it. Capacity means…
Tag: COVID
Judging At Your Worst
I woke up with the distinct feeling that my skull had shrunk during the night and was now squeezing my brain like a lemon. My throat felt like I’d gargled glass, my nose was clogged like someone had crammed a sponge up there, and the pressure behind my eyes was so intense it felt like…
COVID Patience
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were the epitome of patience. The government’s narrative often seemed detached from reality—origins in a wet market were implausible, and makeshift masks were more about a false sense of agency than real protection. Despite this, we extended the benefit of all doubts. Perhaps, we speculated, there was an undisclosed, underlying…