The pleasures are enjoyed by the few, while the pain is shared among the many. It is hard to think of a less desirable outcome.

Mark Gilbert, Complicit (2010)

I had decided that day to teach my six-year-old son to play checkers and so picked up a set at Wal-Mart for a mere $4.99. Life seemed good, we happily set up the game, and all was going well until he declared his red pieces able to"throw bombs" at my black. A rout ensued. It was only afterward, while cleaning up the widespread carnage, that I noticed the"Made In China" emblazoned on the box. It was then I had my epiphany.

China, I finally realized, has officially replaced Japan as the"economic threat" to America’s well being. Japan, come to think of it, is so Duran Duran at this point. Their heyday was years ago, their best economic export since 1990 has been Ichiro, and his baseball career is nearing its end. The Red Dragon of China has taken center stage in America’s Pantheon of Bogeymen. Congress appears suitably frightened. Should I be?

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