NBA, corporate greed undermine our nation
We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the U.S. We will destroy you from within.”
Nakita Kruschev
Those of us old enough to remember the Cold War, and maybe even the time that the above quoted General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party said these words, remember the derision they received at the time. The United States knew who it was, and knew that it was important in preserving the American Experiment.
A half-century later, the United States of 2019, being at relative peace for about 40 years has turned itself inward, navel gazing. Elites, particularly those “educated” in Ivy League institutions, but not limited there, now condemn the civilization that gives them the very freedoms they believe are so much at risk. While they are willing to throw the word “fascist” at anyone who disagrees with their worldview, they are more than willing to excuse nations that have objectively worse records of human rights abuses.
That navel gazing, along with what has become a greed to open up large markets makes the late General Secretary’s words all that more frightening. There is no doubt the elites of academe have taken a “socialist” bent over the last several decades, beginning between the wars, and expanding in the last 50 years. Perhaps, that is what Kruschev meant when he uttered those words. Or, maybe he knew that corporate greed – the desire to make uncounted millions would be the dissolution of the nation, and the freedoms it enjoys.
The National Basketball Association’s recent behavior as it relates to China is an example par excellence. The NBA, which considers itself among the most “woke” of the professional leagues, is very quick to criticize, condemn and marginalize anyone that inches away from the liberal orthodoxy on any given issue. The two-week controversy over its relationship with China is at once disturbing and revealing.
It chastised an official of a team for siding with Hong Kong in its desire to maintain its independence from the Communist mainland. Then, it shutdown reporters, who asked questions regarding the policy, while ejected fans, who had signs supporting the island. Finally, it banned access to its players during its exhibition tour on the mainland.
The NBA isn’t the only culprit. While business owners and executives have complained vigorously about China’s predatory policies concerning patents and intellectual property, the investor class — as well as the foreign policy elites — has been reticent to move on the issue for more than two decades. This is not a new issue. Yet, the business leaders of the nation lament the Trump Administration’s hardline policy in trade talks.
In both cases, the reason for the behavior is money. The NBA sees the 1.5 billion Chinese as a large market to be exploited with new capital. There are many licensed items to be sold and shoe makers see a market for sneakers. The business investor class sees the loss of intellectual and real property as collateral damage in exploiting the burgeoning Chinese middle class.
Meanwhile, we disparage our own institutions, and condemn our history, all to the detriment of us as a nation. Perhaps Kruschev was right. The internal rot of academe and business will bring us down – if we let it.
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