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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 9, 2023

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Should we surrender to the Han Chinese, once the Chinese Middle Class is wealthier than ours? We may eventually have to speak Chinese and surely we will all eventually have a Han Chinese genetic infusion. Would this be the correct choice implying China is wealthier than us? Invite them to conquer us?

Every economic projection of note, within a time span relevant, suggests this not going to happen and that China will plateau before catching up to the US.

So an obvious no.

Was Ancient Israel in the wrong for revolting against Rome? From a purely material standpoint, ancient Israel would have been more prosperous under perpetual Roman occupation, and all they would need to do is worship the emperor and the Roman pantheon. There would probably be no Judaism left as a result. How many Jews would say this was actually the right choice? Instead the Jews fought back; they were defeated but continued their religion; 1800 years later they have their own nation again. And they rejoice at this fact that, though they were in the wilderness, they held faithfully to the promised land. The Palestinians, of course, are also the descendants of the ancient Jews.

It was a stupid decision, given that the Romans beat the snot out of them. If you don't expect to win the revolution, don't bother.