We must also consider, “How do we deploy AI in a way that makes people believe the future includes them?”
But if you do, you’ll be replaced by another company or CEO that is willing to screw over the people for a faster deployment. The answer has to be a government that enforces noblesse oblige.
Europe is in the process of actively screwing over its own people, independently of its corporations. It’s won’t be much longer before East Asians and Eastern Europeans begin repatriating on their own due to deteriorating economic and social conditions.
This is an excellent post, and explanation of the modern world of America and China.
It is also a great reason to live in Europe, like here in France where the motivation is fundamentally different - here it is about a better life for people and society, and business and technology are harnessed to that end.
For Americans,this post explains why they have been fucked by their own ruthless political and economic philosophy - the Chinese are much, much better at it! They are more ambitious, more innovative, more willing to work very hard, more educated, more analytical, more creative, and less burdened by feelings of entitlement and superiority!
Americans have lost the battle, and inevitably the war too - far too much ground to make up now. In the process they have also lost their reason to exist; as a nation, as an identity, as a philosophy. And perhaps even as individuals - how can an American come to terms with being a loser?
Thank you for the adds! That’s so true in your comparison with Target. I also noted a similar point that Zara is actually winning these days. Hope this helps too.
This was a wonderful and thought-provoking article. Thank you!
Thinking about it... I wonder if the chart is really more about perceived agency.
In the West, anxiety might reflect a sense that AI decisions will be made by billionaires, with gains (and profits) captured and no real way for regular folks to contest outcomes. Meanwhile in Asia, excitement might come from clarity: progress is visible and people can locate themselves within it, despite pack of democratic control.
So, maybe the fear tracks exclusion from the future more than fear of the tech itself. Also, if AI is a solvent, folks in the West have more to lose, most being several steps higher on the economic ladder as things equalize... at least for those who aren't billionaires.
This is an amazing add that you made here, Kenneth. Thanks a lot! I think the idea of perceived agency is everything. The perceived control of one’s destiny or at least collective destiny not in the control of just a small number of elites.
Very interesting analysis and explains the Anglosphere versus Asian divide. But what about the Europe (including Argentina and Chile) versus Anglosphere difference? Why is «Europe» less anxious than «Anglosphere»?
Great question! I am also thinking through this—there is something about regulations and the stronger determination to regulate American big tech perhaps causes the general population, those who are drawing salaries from non-tech industries feel a little less anxious.
I am still working this out… hope in the next post I have more to update! Thanks again. Happy holidays!
We will be speaking Chinese by 2040. The Chinese have skillfully played their hand, while the United States has eroded its middle class. Now, a generation of young people sees no hope. We travel down a cynical highway, torn apart by ideology. A nation divided against itself cannot stand.
Yesterday I was speaking with a scientist doing geology research here in the US. His biggest worry was the cutoff of research funding. To me, that’s another major concern on top of the crumbling infrastructure. The erosion of our knowledge lead would be incredibly hard to reverse…
I agree. It is happening across the board in every sector of society—the slow erosion of our knowledge base. The sad truth is, when did …mediocrity.,…become acceptable in American business and life?
This is basically Marx's insight. He had a lot of good things to say about capitalism as an economic system and capitalism's ability to get things done and motivate technological progress, which might surprise some people. Marx basically saw the economic problem as the "capitalist" not the capitalist system. In fact he said, I paraphrase, in order for capitalism to survive, the capitalist needs to change.
Brilliant ! And glad to read this at the end of the year - although i broke my promise to not put more books on hold from the library.
I read Apple in China ( during the week of many tariffs to bring manufacturing back to America . I quickly glanced at my notes while writing this and remembered how naive i used to be wondering why Kenyan universities were wasting time building a made in Kenya car - test this was an opportunity to grow skills in manufacturing and fabrication. I also wondered where are the experts of africa ( whose countries are missing from the graph ) and who would be relied on in future similar to experts about China for business strategy, leadership and growth
Let me recommend another book that also got me thinking - vulture capitalism by Grace Blakeley. I beloved it well connect your sentiment on the western democracies and how the few winners are also extremely protected by the state , which in turn has resulted in weakening of labor unions. I therefore wonder - who/ how will they rebuild trust that technology works for all of us - I don’t think this is going to be business leaders.
Finally, I was wondering how I was going to write up my reflections from the year and will be following this style.
I am so glad the piece reaches you! Oh yes, this piece has been hard for me to write, cause it also move a bit away from my usual swim lane. Thanks a lot for the recommendation! I always love to hear what others are reading and what they find helpful too. Happy holidays!!!
This all boils down to engineers vs lawyers. China’s run by people who build things fast and make the benefits obvious to everyone—hence the optimism. We’re run by people obsessed with process, veto points, and extracting rents at every layer. As Klein puts it, we’ve become a nation that prioritizes endless consultation and compliance over actual results.
Look no further than our own backyard: California's high-speed rail, promised cheap and fast, now ballooned to over $100 billion with endless delays from lawsuits, land fights, and reviews—barely a usable mile after decades. Or the IRA's grand plans—EV chargers stalled by equity mandates and paperwork, "Solar for All" programs where admin layers eat most of the funds, and that $27 billion EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund slammed as a slush fund rushed to connected nonprofits tied to insiders, with critics saying billions go to overhead and allies while little hits the ground.
Western governments act just like that Amazon analogy: tollbooths everywhere extracting rents for bureaucracies, consultants, NGOs, and activists whose gigs depend on complicating things, not delivering. So billions get soaked up, pennies on the dollar reach the ground, trust collapses, and people get nervous about any new tech. Until we shift back to valuing outcomes over procedural perfection, we’ll keep falling behind.
very insightful. You keep impressing me with your writing. Wow. Leaves me thinking. A lot! Something needs to change in our society, it’s not just US, we see it here in Europe as well.
We need to let people know that there are alternatives and invite them along, not the Chinese way but we can borrow some ideas, a society for humans and for everyone.
Thank you for highlighting and the analysis.
Final note, agree, power and progress is an amazing book, should be on most people’s reading list.
Thank you so much, Michael. That really means a lot!
And I completely agree with you. This isn’t just a U.S. story. Europe is wrestling with the same question of whether progress still feels inclusive.
I like how you put it: not copying China, but being open enough to learn where visible progress and shared benefits still matter. That's all. Nothing more than that.
This is your first article that I read, and I admit - I’m deeply touched by it. By the tone, the depth and the underlaying optimism it brings.
Some of your thoughts I’d print and frame and put it on the wall of leadership meeting rooms. Imprint on my head, so everyone who looks at me - can read them.
Thank you for this brilliant piece. Written by human. For humans.
This is a great end of year posting by Howard Yu. It provides us with some insights into the state of our now multi-polar world with the US and China. It sheds some light on how the world is changing as new technology emerges, including AI. And, critically it explores the humanity of what is happening around us.
For business leaders, it poses some important questions to reflect on. Do you have a purpose other than wealth creation and what will be the glue that sustains your business? What are your responsibilities and goals for the different stakeholders in your business – customers, employees, investors, value-chain participants, etc.? Where do you sit in the societies and frameworks of the countries you participate? Are you built for the future?
You’re exactly right. At the end of the day, AI and geopolitics are almost a backdrop. I’m especially glad you highlighted the stakeholder lens. That, to me, is where future readiness stops being an abstract concept and becomes real actions. Thanks again for reading and for engaging so deeply.
Howard, currently in Singapore, I can see both sides of this coin. China is in a place where gains from robotics in manufacturing, and their vast command of the global supply chain, put them in a place where technological advancement offers opportunity.
This is what the Singapore of the 1970s through the early 2000s looked like. Light labour intensive manufacturing to highly skilled and automated industries, to tech and R&D.
On the other hand, the Anglosphere has priced itself out of producing, and has become dependent on immigrant labour for the bottom and even the mid tiers of service, tech and sales "production" that powers the economy.
When AI threatens to reshape these and take jobs away, the hollowing out is tangible, and in Singapore there are segments of displaced PMETs who feel the same way too.
However, the entrepreneurial - influencers, one-person boutique consultancies, community builders - these are the people seeing opportunity.
At the top of the GDP ladder, capitalism becomes the game instead of labour, so those who have spent their lives in labour are disoriented and disillusioned by the economic ladder of labour going away.
Thank you for this, Hwei Yi. I love how clearly you describe Singapore as a bridge between these worlds.
Your point about the Anglosphere pricing itself out of production is spot on. And you’re right that the people feeling opportunity tend to be those who’ve already stepped outside the traditional job path...
Really appreciate you sharing this perspective. Happy Holidays!
It’s better as is. We are not civilized. I can only imagine what will have without 20 federal agents along for the ride.
I wonder if that is charting the average fellow on the street or the elites in their nice offices and political positions.
We must also consider, “How do we deploy AI in a way that makes people believe the future includes them?”
But if you do, you’ll be replaced by another company or CEO that is willing to screw over the people for a faster deployment. The answer has to be a government that enforces noblesse oblige.
Thanks for the call out! Will try in the next piece to track if Europe might stumble another model.
Europe is in the process of actively screwing over its own people, independently of its corporations. It’s won’t be much longer before East Asians and Eastern Europeans begin repatriating on their own due to deteriorating economic and social conditions.
This is an excellent post, and explanation of the modern world of America and China.
It is also a great reason to live in Europe, like here in France where the motivation is fundamentally different - here it is about a better life for people and society, and business and technology are harnessed to that end.
For Americans,this post explains why they have been fucked by their own ruthless political and economic philosophy - the Chinese are much, much better at it! They are more ambitious, more innovative, more willing to work very hard, more educated, more analytical, more creative, and less burdened by feelings of entitlement and superiority!
Americans have lost the battle, and inevitably the war too - far too much ground to make up now. In the process they have also lost their reason to exist; as a nation, as an identity, as a philosophy. And perhaps even as individuals - how can an American come to terms with being a loser?
Super! Glad the message resonates. It also possible for Europe to demonstrates a third way.
When people stop believing progress will be shared, every new tool arrives already guilty.
That seems to be the emotional difference the chart is picking up.
I think that’s it. It’s not a rational thought it picked up. Like you said, it’s the emotional feel that the general population is expressing.
Shein is an example of observation bias. The seemingly overnight success is nearly 20 years in the making. Checkout my work here https://open.substack.com/pub/ecommercelogistics/p/shein-and-temu-arent-winning-because
Thank you for the adds! That’s so true in your comparison with Target. I also noted a similar point that Zara is actually winning these days. Hope this helps too.
https://howardyu.substack.com/p/the-battle-for-fashions-soul
This was a wonderful and thought-provoking article. Thank you!
Thinking about it... I wonder if the chart is really more about perceived agency.
In the West, anxiety might reflect a sense that AI decisions will be made by billionaires, with gains (and profits) captured and no real way for regular folks to contest outcomes. Meanwhile in Asia, excitement might come from clarity: progress is visible and people can locate themselves within it, despite pack of democratic control.
So, maybe the fear tracks exclusion from the future more than fear of the tech itself. Also, if AI is a solvent, folks in the West have more to lose, most being several steps higher on the economic ladder as things equalize... at least for those who aren't billionaires.
This is an amazing add that you made here, Kenneth. Thanks a lot! I think the idea of perceived agency is everything. The perceived control of one’s destiny or at least collective destiny not in the control of just a small number of elites.
Very interesting analysis and explains the Anglosphere versus Asian divide. But what about the Europe (including Argentina and Chile) versus Anglosphere difference? Why is «Europe» less anxious than «Anglosphere»?
Great question! I am also thinking through this—there is something about regulations and the stronger determination to regulate American big tech perhaps causes the general population, those who are drawing salaries from non-tech industries feel a little less anxious.
I am still working this out… hope in the next post I have more to update! Thanks again. Happy holidays!
Looking forward to that
We will be speaking Chinese by 2040. The Chinese have skillfully played their hand, while the United States has eroded its middle class. Now, a generation of young people sees no hope. We travel down a cynical highway, torn apart by ideology. A nation divided against itself cannot stand.
Yesterday I was speaking with a scientist doing geology research here in the US. His biggest worry was the cutoff of research funding. To me, that’s another major concern on top of the crumbling infrastructure. The erosion of our knowledge lead would be incredibly hard to reverse…
I agree. It is happening across the board in every sector of society—the slow erosion of our knowledge base. The sad truth is, when did …mediocrity.,…become acceptable in American business and life?
I feel you. I don’t even know when the unthinkable becomes acceptable… So true.
This is basically Marx's insight. He had a lot of good things to say about capitalism as an economic system and capitalism's ability to get things done and motivate technological progress, which might surprise some people. Marx basically saw the economic problem as the "capitalist" not the capitalist system. In fact he said, I paraphrase, in order for capitalism to survive, the capitalist needs to change.
That’s so fascinating! Never made that connection but you are right!
Brilliant ! And glad to read this at the end of the year - although i broke my promise to not put more books on hold from the library.
I read Apple in China ( during the week of many tariffs to bring manufacturing back to America . I quickly glanced at my notes while writing this and remembered how naive i used to be wondering why Kenyan universities were wasting time building a made in Kenya car - test this was an opportunity to grow skills in manufacturing and fabrication. I also wondered where are the experts of africa ( whose countries are missing from the graph ) and who would be relied on in future similar to experts about China for business strategy, leadership and growth
Let me recommend another book that also got me thinking - vulture capitalism by Grace Blakeley. I beloved it well connect your sentiment on the western democracies and how the few winners are also extremely protected by the state , which in turn has resulted in weakening of labor unions. I therefore wonder - who/ how will they rebuild trust that technology works for all of us - I don’t think this is going to be business leaders.
Finally, I was wondering how I was going to write up my reflections from the year and will be following this style.
Happy holidays
I am so glad the piece reaches you! Oh yes, this piece has been hard for me to write, cause it also move a bit away from my usual swim lane. Thanks a lot for the recommendation! I always love to hear what others are reading and what they find helpful too. Happy holidays!!!
This all boils down to engineers vs lawyers. China’s run by people who build things fast and make the benefits obvious to everyone—hence the optimism. We’re run by people obsessed with process, veto points, and extracting rents at every layer. As Klein puts it, we’ve become a nation that prioritizes endless consultation and compliance over actual results.
Look no further than our own backyard: California's high-speed rail, promised cheap and fast, now ballooned to over $100 billion with endless delays from lawsuits, land fights, and reviews—barely a usable mile after decades. Or the IRA's grand plans—EV chargers stalled by equity mandates and paperwork, "Solar for All" programs where admin layers eat most of the funds, and that $27 billion EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund slammed as a slush fund rushed to connected nonprofits tied to insiders, with critics saying billions go to overhead and allies while little hits the ground.
Western governments act just like that Amazon analogy: tollbooths everywhere extracting rents for bureaucracies, consultants, NGOs, and activists whose gigs depend on complicating things, not delivering. So billions get soaked up, pennies on the dollar reach the ground, trust collapses, and people get nervous about any new tech. Until we shift back to valuing outcomes over procedural perfection, we’ll keep falling behind.
This is the best summary. I couldn’t have formulated this better. Thank you so much!
very insightful. You keep impressing me with your writing. Wow. Leaves me thinking. A lot! Something needs to change in our society, it’s not just US, we see it here in Europe as well.
We need to let people know that there are alternatives and invite them along, not the Chinese way but we can borrow some ideas, a society for humans and for everyone.
Thank you for highlighting and the analysis.
Final note, agree, power and progress is an amazing book, should be on most people’s reading list.
Thank you so much, Michael. That really means a lot!
And I completely agree with you. This isn’t just a U.S. story. Europe is wrestling with the same question of whether progress still feels inclusive.
I like how you put it: not copying China, but being open enough to learn where visible progress and shared benefits still matter. That's all. Nothing more than that.
Happy holidays!
This is your first article that I read, and I admit - I’m deeply touched by it. By the tone, the depth and the underlaying optimism it brings.
Some of your thoughts I’d print and frame and put it on the wall of leadership meeting rooms. Imprint on my head, so everyone who looks at me - can read them.
Thank you for this brilliant piece. Written by human. For humans.
Thank you Andrei. This really meant the world to me. I am just grateful there are readers like you who are keeping me going. Happy holidays!
This is a great end of year posting by Howard Yu. It provides us with some insights into the state of our now multi-polar world with the US and China. It sheds some light on how the world is changing as new technology emerges, including AI. And, critically it explores the humanity of what is happening around us.
For business leaders, it poses some important questions to reflect on. Do you have a purpose other than wealth creation and what will be the glue that sustains your business? What are your responsibilities and goals for the different stakeholders in your business – customers, employees, investors, value-chain participants, etc.? Where do you sit in the societies and frameworks of the countries you participate? Are you built for the future?
You’re exactly right. At the end of the day, AI and geopolitics are almost a backdrop. I’m especially glad you highlighted the stakeholder lens. That, to me, is where future readiness stops being an abstract concept and becomes real actions. Thanks again for reading and for engaging so deeply.
Copying over from LinkedIn:
Howard, currently in Singapore, I can see both sides of this coin. China is in a place where gains from robotics in manufacturing, and their vast command of the global supply chain, put them in a place where technological advancement offers opportunity.
This is what the Singapore of the 1970s through the early 2000s looked like. Light labour intensive manufacturing to highly skilled and automated industries, to tech and R&D.
On the other hand, the Anglosphere has priced itself out of producing, and has become dependent on immigrant labour for the bottom and even the mid tiers of service, tech and sales "production" that powers the economy.
When AI threatens to reshape these and take jobs away, the hollowing out is tangible, and in Singapore there are segments of displaced PMETs who feel the same way too.
However, the entrepreneurial - influencers, one-person boutique consultancies, community builders - these are the people seeing opportunity.
At the top of the GDP ladder, capitalism becomes the game instead of labour, so those who have spent their lives in labour are disoriented and disillusioned by the economic ladder of labour going away.
Thank you for this, Hwei Yi. I love how clearly you describe Singapore as a bridge between these worlds.
Your point about the Anglosphere pricing itself out of production is spot on. And you’re right that the people feeling opportunity tend to be those who’ve already stepped outside the traditional job path...
Really appreciate you sharing this perspective. Happy Holidays!