World Order

China Will Replace The United States As The Next Superpower

On September 1, 2025, I wrote an article titled: “America First; America Alone”.  https://iexposed.blog/2025/09/01/america-first-america-alone/

I opened with:

In 2022 I wrote an article that suggested that the United States of America was on a downward glide path and was destined to become a second tier country like France and the UK.  I saw China as the next world’s superpower.  I saw this happening in the next 50 to 100 years.

Today I still think the US will become a second tier nation but since Trump 2.0 took the stage, I now believe China will be the next superpower in less than 20 years.

I recently started listening to a new book titled “Breakneck: China’s Quest To Engineer The Future” by Dan Wang.  I have only listened to the first two chapters but it provides specifics on why America’s future is not bright.  It is not a story about politics.  It’s a story about China’s characteristics and the US’s characteristics and why they put China in a stronger position. 

I think everyone 25-50 years old should read this book because they will live through the transition.   Old people, like me, will also find it interesting.

I am closing by reprinting the first few paragraphs:

Silicon Valley can be an amazingly drab place. The peninsula south of San Francisco has natural beauty with rolling hills and coastal views, but you strain to see them beyond so many corporate parking lots. Mountain View and Menlo Park are bizarrely full of rug shops, so when I walk through the towns that host the headquarters of AI leaders and some of the richest companies in the world, I often find myself wondering, is this the beating heart of our technologically accelerating civilization?

Each time I flew from California to Hong Kong or Shanghai, I felt almost unnerved to encounter functional infrastructure. Going from the airport into a subway, rather than an Uber, is an outstanding way to be welcomed to Asia. I would take a moment to savor a clean station, brightly lit, with trains running every few minutes, which would drop me off at a downtown filled with vibrant commercial areas, another feature that San Francisco lacks.

Life in the Bay Area, an economic dynamo in America’s richest state, can feel awfully dysfunctional. San Francisco has been unable to serve its homeless population, and even many wealthy people have to keep a generator for their extraordinarily expensive houses because the state can’t keep the lights on. The contradiction of the Bay Area, this red-hot center of corporate value creation that is surrounded by dysfunction, fuels the inquiry of this book.

When I departed from Silicon Valley for China in 2017, it felt clear that the United States had lost something special over the past four decades. While China was building the future, America had become physically static, its innovations mostly bound up in the virtual and financial worlds. Looking at these two countries, I came to realize the inadequacy of twentieth-century labels like capitalist, socialist, or, worst of all, neoliberal. They are no longer up to the task of helping us understand the world, if they ever were.

EastTexasExposed.com

P.O. Box 721 – Scottsville Tx 75688

How Low Did He Go

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How Low Did He Go — The Case History of Dale Watson

By Ron Munden – 11/4/2024

This is the follow up to the article I posted titled: “How Low Can He Go” which I posted last week on my website and social media.  click here to read the first story 

Again, I want everyone to know these are my personal opinions.  No one associated with Boogie Woogie Marshall is aware of the content of this article.  I do hope everyone in Marshall, including people associated with Boggie Woogie, will read this article. It will be available on social media and the website – EastTexasExposed.com
  

As a reminder,  Mr. Watson threw a temper tantrum after hearing that he would be sharing the stage with Wes Jeans and Daryl Davis at the Boogie Woogie fundraiser. Mr. Watson announced he wanted nothing more to do with Boogie Woogie. Mr. Watson quit the Boogie Woogie Marshall project.

At that point I never thought I would write another word about Mr. Watson but the public reserves to know about Mr. Watson’s conduct during this year’s Boogie Woogie  Festival.  So here is another chapter in “The Case History of Dale Watson.”

On Friday, the first day of the festival,  Mr. Watson parked his bus facing the entrance to the festival.  The message crawler on his bus read, “FUCK BOOGIEFEST”.  Some people were offended by the sign and the police were called.  The Chief of Police and City Attorney discussed if this was a “freedom of speech matter.”  Since the bus was parked on a public street and people were objecting, they decided this was not a free speech issue.

The police contacted Mr. Watson’s wife.  She said Mr. Watson was not available.  The police said since people were complaining, they would write a citation for posting obscene material and put it on the bus.

Mr. Watson’s wife said she could turn off the “FUCK BOOGIEFEST” that was displaying on  Watson’s bus.  She did turn the sign off.

Dr. John Tennison is a practicing psychiatrist but he is also a music historian.  It was his research that led to the designation, “Marshall Texas, Birthplace of Boogie Woogie.” He is a big supporter of Boogie Woogie Marshall.

Why would Dale Watson do a thing like – bad mouth Boogie Woogie Fest?  

I contacted John by email and asked his impression of Mr. Watson’s actions during Boogie Woogie Fest 2024.  His reply addressed the topic far better than I could ever do, so I decided to make it part of this article.

John Tennison wrote:

If I am cited in your article, I would like it to be clear that I was not “outraged”.  However, I was disappointed and perplexed, in that the scrolling graffiti (“FUCK BOOGIEFEST”) on Dale Watson’s bus came across as if it was being directed globally at everyone who was participating in the 2024 Boogie Woogie Fest — artists, fans, volunteers, etc. 

 I have only heard theories as to what grievance Dale Watson might have had regarding the Boogie Woogie Fest.  It seemed to me that such a global and non-specific expletive being expressed from Dale Watson‘s bus, which was parked directly beside and with the graffiti facing the festival, could only hurt Dale Watson’s own reputation. The fact that someone would have such a strong reaction towards the festival would make many people curious and want to go to the festival all the more.  Ironically, the scrolling graffiti was probably good publicity for the festival.  For this reason, I decided to make a video of the scrolling graffiti. 

 I hope Dale Watson will make a public statement in which he specifically clarifies what he was so upset about, and I hope that Dale will publicly apologize to participants of Boogie Woogie Fest 2024, who have in no way wronged Dale; gave freely of their time or bought a ticket to be there; and were there that day only to celebrate Boogie Woogie, the most influential musical genre ever to have originated in Texas.  

I have decided on a title for my next Boogie Woogie album.  It’s going to be called “FUN BOOGIEFEST”.  Let’s Make Boogie Woogie Fun Again!

The above all happened on Friday.  However, the Watson family was not through trashing Boogie Fest 2024.

On Sunday this appeared:

Mr. Watson’s wife posted the  “Feel bad…” statement on her social media.

One of the performers, Dona Oxford – known as “The Queen of Boogie Woogie” made a quick response. She said:

“It was a great festival with great people and great musicians!  No haters there! Can’t wait to go back next year!!”

I attended the festival all three days.  I talked to lots of people.  Everyone I talked to was excited by the quality of the talent.  I only heard positive comments from the performers.  All of my social media accounts reflected positive comments.

Ms. Watson’s comment demonstrates one thing – evaluating a festival with a pair of binoculars from a second floor window one block away may not be the best way to detect the pulse of the event.

Dona Oxford is correct.  Boogie Woogie 2024 was a success.  There will be a Boogie Woogie 2025 – with or without the Watson’s looking on.

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Final Thought

In my opinion,  if Dale Watson tells you he wants to give you a helping hand – approach with extreme caution, he may just give you the middle finger.