Foxy, thanks again for your lecture.

But please, dont bother.

Mr O, I would not bother.

Unless you are part of the elite, I dont think some here will pay you any respect.

You and I have been deemed simpletons.

Apparently, a graduate, and a university researcher which I was, are supposed to think a certain way.

Mr O, it is not about ideology, it is about objectivity.

And sadly, we have told, we have no such capacity.

I am wiping away the tears now after being told the truth.

Hilarious stuff.

Foxy,

The Soviet Union fell apart in the 1980s because Ronald Regan sent its economy into a downward spiral by making the Russians match the US dollar for dollar with the Star Wars program, being the ultimate challenge in the arms race.

Are you saying the US will attempt to do the same to China?

Mr O,

No. What I am saying is that China will crumble eventually
in the same way that the Soviet Regime did. It will come
the people.

Dear Chris,

Nobody is calling you a simpleton.

All that is being asked of you is that you as a possessor
of knowledge in the 21st century take the responsibility
to dispel ignorance and not be like the fundamentalists
who are certain that they possess the absolute truth.

It's this certainty that can lead to represent bigotry,
racism, fanaticism. And surely that is not something you want or we need.

Foxy,

Its obvious you don't understand what happened to the Soviet Union to bring it unstuck.

Probably because you are a poet not a historian or sociologist.

Mr O,

I am as much a historian and sociologist as you are.
My studies have also covered those two areas.

It was as you should have known -
Gorbachev's decision to allow elections with a multi-party
system and create a presidency for the Soviet Union that
began a slow process of democratization that eventually
destabilized Communist control and contributed to the
collapse of the Soviet Union.

China is also now irrevocably embarked on the path to
industrialization and modernization. The "old guard"
don't like it. And - therefore of course China has
a long way to go. It is still determinedly socialist and
authoritarian.

It will therefore be interesting to see how far the
country will stray from the socialist path and whether
economic liberalisation will in turn lead to political
democratization. Given China's size and potential its
economic future will be of world historical significance.