CHINERICA. Stand for America.?
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
This is a reprint of a newsletter published almost 15 years ago, 2010, reprinted now because of new Sino-American tensions. It was first published shortly after filing my now seminal privacy and trespass case against Google for Google's then-new Street View data-acquisition violations. [1 , 2 ]
The "new" issues now being raised regarding China's strategy have been evidenced openly by China for many years. It was always right there, no less than the evidence of Google's data collection trespass violations, and now the evidence of the risks predicted related to Tik Tok and QuickBooks [3 ] and Artificial Intelligence. [4 ]
In in the larger sense, it should be noted when reading that there is no suggestion in this article that China has done anything wrong in this World Game of power and self-interest, but to the contrary, China has done just about everything right.
There are sore winners and sore losers, and Americans should be neither.
~ Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
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[? 2010] *News Flash: The Chinerican Flag was approved by the United Nations to replace the American Flag [Resolution 9171787].
The relative size and placement of the national symbols represents relative national power. The period for correction, being now expired, all objections by Americans have been conceded. The U.N. has ruled it to be fair and balanced to both member nations in the context and will enforce implementation immediately.
The Chinese-American War
Within 35 years, America and China will be at war.?Within 100 years, Americans will be speaking Chinese.?是 Strike that statement.?Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you will disregard that statement.?
So, let us begin again with the Story of Amerio:
ONCE UPON A TIME...
There was once a man named, "Amerio." He was a strapping fine man, at 6 feet 5 inches tall, and 245 pounds of lean muscle.?God gave him his body, but he worked hard for his might and muscle.?
To supply that great frame of his, Amerio had to consume a lot of food.?But, Amerio was so busy enjoying his God-given gifts, he did not have time to do his own cooking.?So, Amerio ate out all the time.?It was expensive, but that was okay for Amerio.
One unusual benefit that Amerio had was that he owned a distillery.?He had the best spirits ever produced, and he was proud of them.?Amerio had it all. It is natural, of course, that others were envious of Amerio.?They said he imposed his greatness upon them with flaunts, but, in Beauty and the Beast Gastonian fashion, he said he just could not help it. He did not try to be great. Indeed, he just was great.
But, it came to be one day that Amerio overextended, injuring himself.?Now, he could not exercise as he did.?The calories added up, and he started to look a bit fat and bloated.?Amerio still loved to eat out, because it was his habit to do so.?
Ultimately, Amerio could not afford the money to buy all of the food he loved to eat, so he looked for a restaurant that would feed him anyway.?
Remember, he still had spirits that he could trade from his distillery.
Lo and behold, there was a new restaurant, called "Chino's."?It had a somewhat laughable reputation for its food, but the management was old-school solid.?In fact, very old school.
Amerio approached Chino's and asked if he could trade and borrow to buy food.?He could pay by trading his spirits, which, at the time, were of the finest quality. Chino's management went into the back room to consider the question.?
A few said, "Amerio's back will heal, and the conditions of trade will improve.?His spirits are the best."?Others countered, "No way, we don't trade our hard work for spirits."
Then the elderly owner, a man with wisdom, clarity, and foresight, stroking his long white beard, looked up and spoke thusly:
"We will do this trade for spirits.?Here's why: We have nothing right now, so we have nothing to lose.?If he cannot pay, we will loan the money. We will loan him money to buy the food we sell.?With each bite he takes to please his palate, we earn a profit from him. Not only that, but when we loan him money, we will also earn interest on that loan, and so we earn another profit from him.?
"We get two profits!?One profit as his manufacturer, and one profit as his lender.?We give these two profits to our employees to improve their lives.
"And, not only that, but, in selling him food, we learn more about what he wants and how to make it for people like him.?We will have the opportunity to improve our methods and to earn a reputation for quality.?We will continue to take our profits from Amerio and reinvest them into our equipment, infrastructure and marketing to others.?
"Amerio thinks short-term. We think ahead, long-term. And, in doing so, we will endure. We are working for pay. Amerio is paying for our effort."
A young manager brashly retorted, "But, we earn profits that we do not collect.?We do not eat with his traded spirits or his debt to us."
And the wise man, with his eyes blazing, continued:
"Then we do not eat!
"We are not stupid—we must learn.?Learn. Amerio grows fat, while we remain lean and hungry.?Dinner for us will come slowly, over many years, but dinner will come. If not for us, then for our children.?Do you see it??Amerio has some now, we will have more later.
"We are a culture that has endured for thousands of years.?We are strong and powerful too.?
"The difference is that we are quiet, disciplined and humble.
"Business is a game, a war.
"We limit our consumption during the period that we supply Amerio his dinner.?Ultimately, we will earn the ability and reputation to supply many others.?
"Think ahead!?In the end, Amerio will be indebted to us, and he will either repay to our profit, or he will become our slave.?All debtors are indentured slaves to their creditors. The more Amerio is in debt, the stronger our chains.
"But, we shall keep it quite, because we are a strong, humble and disciplined people.?Being such, we have existed as a people for thousands of years.?We must keep it quiet.?It will take restraint.
The young manager giggled, and they kept it quiet.
And, so it was for many years that Amerio happily ate Chino's food with Chino's continuing to accept Amerio's spirits in trade.?With each delicious bite, Amerio smiled.?At the end of every sale, the Chino's employee said, "Yes, Sir.?Thank you.?Will you have another serving???I am your servant.?Can I do anything to make the food better??I want to please you."
Amerio was flattered with the treatment of a king.?Amerio grew fatter and more indebted to Chino's.?
Over time, Amerio became so indebted to Chino's that Amerio became unsure that he could ever repay Chino's.?Amerio was so fat that he could no longer rely on this muscle and might, and he did not know how to cook.
All Amerio had left was his distillery for trade.?But, alas, even the distillery was now operating at capacity.?How could Amerio continue to buy his food, as well as to repay the loan for yesterday's pleasures?
Amerio was not stupid.?Since his distillery was at capacity, what did he do??Right!?He began to water-down the spirits with which he repaid Chino's.?At first, it was just a few drops of water, then more and more.?Amerio even brought in some very smart and educated people to give him bright ideas on how to formulate the watering down of Amerio's spirits.
Amerio thought:
"Wow.?What an advantage that I can water-down the means with which I repay my debt!?No one else can do that!?I bought food yesterday for one bottle of my spirits, but I repay today with less than one bottle because it is watered down.
"Sure, I am watering down my own spirits, but, I owe Chino's so much that they are absorbing a large part of my debt to them.?Perfect."
And Amerio giggled, and he kept it quiet.
But, Chino's management was old-school, rock solid.?They knew that Amerio was watering down the spirits of his repayment, but Chino's business plan was still working: Amerio's consumption and Chino's production.?So, Chino's continued to endure the relationship with disciplined quiet restraint.
Now, it came to be that customers at Chino's began to complain.?Amerio's spirits no longer had their essence.?Too much water.?The Amerio spirits became too thin.
Chino's management went into the back room to consider the question.?A few said, "We must stop trading with Amerio.?Does he think we're stupid??He owes us his pure spirits, not his watered-down half-spirits."?
The elderly owner, as I said, was a very wise person.?He spoke:
"We will continue this trade.?Here is why: We must distinguish the battle from the war.?Some battles are lost to serve the war.?Amerio is still buying a lot of our food.?We still earn a double profit at his expense.
"If we crush him now, our production infrastructure cannot sustain.?We do not yet have enough customers to sustain the machinery.?We have not yet completed building our restaurant infrastructure.?When our restaurant supply is nearly matched to our customer demand—sustainable internally from ourselves and customers other than Amerio—then, and only then, do we foreclose.?
"We must keep up appearances, for a time.?So, like a parent to a prodigal child, we will naturally issue some warnings to Amerio about his continued consumption and repayment methods, but we will let it continue.?We are starting to prosper extremely well, and Amerio's health is failing.?We are now positioned for self-sustaining internal operations.?
"Amerio will be indebted to us, and he will either repay to our profit, or he will become our permanent slave.?All debtors are indentured to their creditors.
"Do you see it now? Just a little more time."
The young manager, now older and wiser, did not retort this time.?This time, he just giggled for the wisdom.?And, they all kept it quite.
Within 35 years later...
Chino's built up its restaurant and its reputation.?In fact, Chino's was now producing superb quality food, recognized world-wide.?Chino's no longer needed Amerio's business.?Amerio was now old, fat, soft and weak [5 , 6 , 7 ]
Chino's now had so much extra money that Chino's started purchasing its spirits from others, for others had fine spirits that were yet pure.
Now that Chino's did not need Amerio as its customer, it stopped providing loans to Amerio for his unabated consumption.?Amerio's spirits production was at capacity just trying to pay back Chino's for yesterday's consumption, let alone producing enough to support his current living requirements.?
The elderly wise owner of Chino's was now dead, but that young manager had learned well and was now the wise old leader, and thus he spoke:
领英推荐
"Now, we foreclose.?Now, we and our children will eat.?It is time for our dinner.?We served long enough; now we will be served.?We have worked and waited. We earned it!"
And, so it came to be that Chino's called in the loan and demanded payments of pure Amerio's spirits.?But, Amerio simply could not comply.?Amerio's spirits now tasted more like spiced water.?And Amerio defaulted.
But, there is no bankruptcy available in this story.?Amerio cannot go bankrupt. Chino's never agreed to allow a bankruptcy for Amerio.
So, the manager of Chino's called Amerio and said:
"Amerio, Chino's needs to foreclose on your homeland, your security for your debt to us.?You pledged your homeland as you took our services and food for your pleasures.?Chino's did nothing wrong!?You ate and ate, and you borrowed and borrowed.?
"We served your every request, even managing to serve you with other items, such as clothing, building materials, automobiles and countless other conveniences and luxuries!?Chino's simply did its job! We did everything you requested!?We did exactly what you asked us to do.
"Indeed, Chino's even quietly endured, and did a great favor for you, by accepting your watered-down spirits for so long.?
"Please, we humbly ask you to give us your American land now.?You promised.?Please, be just, true, fair and honorable, as you have always professed for yourself and others, Amerio.
"We seek only justice and to be paid for our work, exactly as you agreed."
Amerio knew Chino's was correct. Chino's did nothing wrong, but Amerio did not care.?
So, Amerio said, with a hubris long unjustified, "Come and evict me from my homeland, if you can."
"So be it," said Chino's manager, "We are not stupid, we've prepared for that response, too."
AND SO IT WAS, EVER AFTER.?是
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Business is war.?War is chess, a system of moves for the purpose of achieving an objective.?The person who thinks ahead, and thinks ahead more moves than the opponent, has the advantage. It takes discipline, as much as wisdom and courage. Do we see it now? This article is intended simply to expose the game of business that is a function of moves that not everyone sees.
There was a time that Americans wanted to have a standard of living for which we did not pay full value.?We bought that great shirt for half-cost by outsourcing the manufacturing to a country where the people could make it for half the cost.?We proudly looked into the mirror and smiled at ourselves [8 ], and then we bought another, and another. Yes, we received the two shirts for the price of one, while the overseas manufacturer learned to make two shirts for the price of one.
Big Business executives are awarded fat bonuses for increasing profits, meeting stock market guidances, by killing American jobs and manufacturing overseas. By endorsed social policy, we've voluntarily conceded our manufacturing and self-assurance, which does not sustain a business, or a country.?
Like Amerio, we are now overextended, diluting our money supply like his spirits.?
We print watered-down dollar bills to pay back China, who loans us more money, so that we can pay our welfare and unemployment compensation because we voluntarily conceded manufacturing.?They've made it easy for us. Then we take our welfare and unemployment compensation checks to buy television sets and automobiles made in China.
China makes twice the profit, which they take and then buy us out of our homeland.?Perhaps there is irony as we remember our American History, ala, giving the Native Americans alcohol or the Chinese Opium Wars . Just insert a high-definition television set into the formula. Dependency by addiction.
We are not stupid.?Do we see it now??For ourselves, do we see it?
Our government cannot say it, it would create a trade war.?Our government gives a tax break to buy automobiles, and we buy foreign-made goods.?Our government cannot tell us to buy a GM or a Ford [8 ]
Yesterday is past.?Today and tomorrow, ask "Is there an American-made option?"?Ask and keep asking, and try.?Just try.?We have to pay back the debt, so it may be that the American option is more expensive.?Or, maybe we have to make more trips to service department for a GM.?What a pain that is for us.
But, the pain is going to come either way.?The wealth piled by the bondsman's fifty years of unrequited toil must be sunk somehow. [10 ]?That pain is going to come either way.?[11 ]
We must think ahead.?Standing together [12 ] Enduring together.?
In our capitalist economy, our liberties are directly tied to the strength of our economy.
Competitive self-interest may tier up or tier down, but it remains. There are those who will justify flying the Chinerican flag, saying that it's made in America. And, yet, it is a Chinerican flag. Who will take up the bright idea and clever argument that we are now a world-inclusive economy??Perfect.
How does that world-inclusive Chinerican Flag look??Shall we add more red to it? Sure, if we do not start to think ahead, our sons and daughters will put a lot more red into it. A lot more red. 是
~ Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
Such as above in the preface, it is noted that this article was written as an exposition of strategy and implementation of tactic regarding entrepreneurial competition in an every-present game of self-interest. One can lose a game and still have the greatest love and highest respect for someone with an adverse self-interest.
How singular is the thing called pleasure, and how curiously related to pain, which might be thought to be the opposite of it; for they are never present at the same instant, and yet he who pursues either is generally compelled to take the other; their bodies are two, but they are joined by a single head.
And I cannot help thinking that if Aesop had remembered them, he would have made a fable about God trying to reconcile their strife, and how, when he could not, he fastened their heads together; and this is the reason why when one comes the other follows.
[13 , 14 ] Pleasure and pain. When one comes, the other follows. We reap what we sow [15 ], but the pain comes either way .
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[5] https://youtu.be/lsmijFQMUWo , Disney, "Did America Make You Soft?"
[15] ?One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus , cf. ONE:609 [L6:38]
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*?Gregg Zegarelli , Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli , Esq.,?is Managing Shareholder of?Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC .?Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups,?INC. 500, and publicly traded companies.?He is author of?One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus ,?and?The Business of Aesop ? article series, and co-author with his father,?Arnold Zegarelli , of?The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers .?Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.?
?? 2010 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. ?Gregg can be contacted through?LinkedIn .
The statements or opinions made in this article are solely the author's own and not representative of any institution regarding which the author is affiliated.
Stand for America? is a series of publications written by Gregg Zegarelli intersecting philosophy and traditional American values published by Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group. Printed or reprinted with permission.
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