Overview
James Fallows is The Atlantic Monthly’s national correspondent based in China. His book, Postcards from Tomorrow Square, is a collection of twelve articles that he wrote between the summers of 2006 and 2008. In this book, Fallows attempts to describe the people and the policies that make up one of the largest countries in the world, in both its population and its economy. China is quickly growing into one of the world super powers. Fallows tries to describe the growth and development of China in a way that is both accessible and informative to the average reader.
Fallows’ main goal in writing Postcards from Tomorrow Square is to explain that while many of us have preconceived notions of the people and policies of China, there is no one perception that can truly encompass all that China and its people are. In a sense, it is very much like the U.S. in regards to the huge amount of diversity seen in the people and the landscape. Due to its vast resources, large population, and growing economy, China is on the verge of becoming a modern nation. With this comes a sense of the vast potential for growth and prosperity. Fallows poses the question: How can we as outsiders, as well as the Chinese people, begin to tap this apparently limitless potential that lies within that country?
Relevance
Fallows readily identifies China as having the potential to become the next great super power. Recently, China’s economy has grown to be the largest in the world. It is very important for us as Americans to understand what this change in the power dynamic means for us. Fallows is quick to explain that the current system and policies that China enacts has been beneficial to both the U.S. and China up until now. By keeping their currency artificially low and maintaining a high savings rate, China is able to keep up demand for its production services all over the world. It is no secret that most manufactured products are produced in China. At the same time, increased industrialization and urbanization of China has allowed its inhabitants to maintain a standard of living that is better than any era before it. And it keeps getting better. One key concept to Fallows’ book is that the potential for additional growth in China is almost limitless. China has the resources and the man power to establish itself as a dominant force on the world stage.
In addition, China’s current policies have created many benefits felt here in the U.S. By keeping their currency low, China is able to provide U.S. consumers with cheap manufactured goods. Also, China’s policy of investing economic surpluses into the U.S. dollar has helped to keep our economy going in the face of some troubling and tumultuous times. Without China’s help, American consumers would find themselves living in a very different world than the one they experience right now.
But there are also risks and concerns associated with the explosive growth that China is experiencing. For one, how long can China continue to keep the level of their currency artificially low? In doing so, China is directly inhibiting economic growth of their own population. Can China continue to limit the potential for their own citizens before they demand a change? Eventually their currency will reach its natural levels, increasing the cost of goods sold around the world. When this happens it will be very important to understand how this will affect consumers both us here in the U.S. and in other countries. Also, it is important to understand how much reliance the value of the U.S. dollar has on the policies of China. What would happen to the U.S. economy if China decided to pull, or even slow the rate of, its investments in the U.S. dollar? Some have described this situation as an end of the world type scenario. It is important to understand these concepts in order to be prepared for them and to begin to identify now possible plans of action.
Where Fallows Excels
Overall, I think that Postcards from Tomorrow Square was very well written and easy to understand. The author uses and very approachable and easy to follow style that really drew me into the China that he was trying to describe. The language he used made me feel more like I was having a conversation with the author rather than reading a book. I think this is very important when trying to expose new readers to region of the world that most people do not have much experience with or already have some preconceived notions of. I think it can be very easy for a reader to lose interest in a topic like China that can seem so far away and distant to the everyday routine of our own life. I think Fallows style, however, made the information he was trying to describe more accessible to the everyday reader by not drowning the concepts and stories in formality and jargon. The informal style that he uses really helps in his goal to introduce to the casual and uninformed reader the change that is occurring in China.
One of the greatest strengths of Postcards from Tomorrow Square is its use of many varied examples and stories to illustrate the author’s main point, that there are many faces to China and that no one notion of what the country is like can encompass the circumstance of the entire country. I liked that he drew on a multitude of examples from all sectors of life to help him describe the differences in how the Chinese live. Being able to see how Chinese policy and cultural norms can shape so many aspects of Chinese life was very interesting to me. I like that the author was able to give insight into how the changing landscape of China’s society was affecting not just to the super rich, but also to young Chinese professionals and the poor. I also liked the fact that the author used examples from many areas of life, including television, gambling, and the internet. It was very interesting to read his interpretations on how all of these varied examples all tied into China’s business policy and goals for the future. I thought it was very smart of him to look at so many different aspects of Chinese life to help describe how their business policy is shaping their growth and development throughout the nation.
The topic that I found most interesting and relevant while reading Postcards from Tomorrow Square was found in the chapter titled “The $1.4 Trillion Question.” In this chapter, Fallows describes the Chinese government’s policy of investing in the U.S. dollar, and the possible implications that it may have. I could not help but feel a sense of fear in the situation that he describes. In my mind, I can’t help but think how we can be so short sighted. How can we, as a country, continue to keep our heads in the sand and just ignore that fact that our way of life and the things we buy are being subsidized by the Chinese government? I was shocked when I read that on average, each American is in debt to the China for $4,000. As I continued to think about it, what actually shocked me even more, as well as angered me, was why I hadn’t been aware of this situation before.
Up until my enrollment in the MBA program I have had very little exposure to China and their dealings with the U.S. Yes, I would see a news article every now and again about what China’s future holds, what their plans are, and how it affects us here in the U.S. But what I never heard about was how much our everyday lives are being propped up by the Chinese government. Why was I not aware of this? Why doesn’t the government want us to know how much our currency is being subsidized by the Chinese and what are the dangers this reliance imposes on us as a country and on the standard of our living? What can we do to reduce the risks and rebuild the strength of our own economy internally? These are all questions that I began to ask myself. But in the end, what really bothered me was the fact that this was not being talked about more openly here at home. This just reminded me of all of the things that have been kept from us, the American people, by our government in the recent past. It reminded me of all the things that should receive attention but are instead being swept under the rug. The most recent example of this here in our own country I experienced just this last Thanksgiving. While at home, my mother informed me of some information about our involvement in the Afghanistan War that really struck me at my core. November 26, 2010 marked the nine year and fifty day anniversary of the involvement of the U.S. in Afghanistan. This is an important milestone as it marks the exact length of time that the former Soviet Union was involved in their failed occupation of the same country. Many economists and political analysts identify the Soviet Union’s failed involvement in Afghanistan as one of the key factors that led to its decline and eventual collapse. What then, will become of us? I believe that our economic and political foundation is stronger than that of the former Soviet Union, but how much can we really take? With two wars going on, growing national debt, and an increased reliance on China to support the U.S. dollar, how long can we as a nation continue down the same path? How long before these problems reach their breaking point? What concerns me most is that lack of dialogue about China. If we don’t know about the problem, how can we do anything to curb its effect on our economy?
This helps to identify another of the strengths that Fallows exhibits in Postcards from Tomorrow Square; the ability to link the happenings in China to our lives here in the U.S. A key strength of the book is being able to show in very simple and easy to understand ways how Chinese policy affects our life here in the U.S. I thought the example he used in following the money that is used to buy and everyday product here in the U.S., in this case an electric toothbrush, was very effective. He was able to show how U.S. dollars were being spent here in America, moving to China, and then being reinserted into the American economy. Fallows was constantly making a point to not just show how business and society has been developing in China in these recent boom years, but also how these changes in their economy and policy affect us here at home. By doing so, he is able to explain the relevance of China’s growth in a way that draws us in.
Where Fallows Falls Short
While overall I enjoyed the style in which Fallows wrote Postcards from Tomorrow Square, I thought his use of side comments and insertions to be distracting and disruptive to the flow of the book. Fallows was constantly inserting side comments in parenthesis throughout the book. While some of them were funny or interesting, most were not necessary. For me, they acted as disruptions to the thought that he was trying to convey. I understand his writing style is very informal which makes his writing more approachable, but a little more formality would be nice when dealing with topics such as China’s political and economic growth. It got to a point where I felt that I could expect a random comment from him on almost every other page, and I found myself while reading the book looking ahead and seeing when the next disruption was going to come. I thought that their inclusion was unnecessary and distracting. If there was relevant information to be shared, I think that Fallows should have found a way to incorporate it into the text in a better way than just inserting side comments in the middle of his own thoughts.
While I enjoyed most of the stories and examples that Fallows uses to illustrate the change happening in China, I thought that in certain areas he went into too much detail and depth. Overall, I thought his stories were relevant and entertaining. However, in the chapter titled “The Connection had been Reset” I found myself not caring about the specifics of his example. In this chapter he tries to explain how the Chinese government actually monitors internet use, and identifies all of the ways that people in China can get around the government’s monitoring in great detail. He describes the technology used and the cost to acquire it. But in all honesty, none of the specifics of how the monitoring is done interests me. Why do I care to know about the router the government uses to monitor traffic? Why should I need to know about the different error messages that are displayed when content is blocked? What does interest me, and falls more in line with the focus of the book, is how this monitoring and control affects the growth and development of China both economically and socially. While Fallows does try to identify these things, his explanation gets lost in the details. Throughout the rest of the book, Fallows does a good job in maintaining a “10,000 foot view” of China and its inner workings while still using specific examples. In this chapter, however, I felt he got lost in the details and focused too much on the technology, rather than the effect of its use on Chinese life.
Another, somewhat minor, criticism of Postcards from Tomorrow Square arises from Fallows’ use of the Olympics throughout his book. In many instances, Fallows identifies the preparation for the Olympics as a major source of progression and change in China. While I am sure that at the time of his writing the impending Olympic Games had a huge influence on what was happening in China, it would have been very nice to see a follow-up article discussing the effects the games had on the country now that they have passed. He identifies the Olympics as a way for China to show the world how much it has progressed. I would very much like to read Fallows impressions of the effect of the Olympic Games on China today, now two years removed from that spectacle.
Closing Thoughts
In closing, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, Postcards from Tomorrow Square. I thought the author, James Fallows, did an excellent job of describing his interpretation of how China’s development was proceeding as well as how this would have an effect on the rest of the world. I would definitely recommend this book to others who are interested in learning about how China’s progress fits into global policies. Because of his informal style, Fallows is able to make this information and his views accessible to all and this reading does not require an extensive background on the subject. In addition, he did an excellent job of conveying his main point, that China is vast and has varying circumstances throughout the country. His use of examples and stories from all areas of Chinese life showed how different life in China can be depending on the circumstance.
I thought this book was a perfect choice for our first real insight into the workings of China. It was easy to read, but really got me thinking about how China’s emergence as a world power influences my everyday life, as well as getting me to think about my own government and its policies in relation to China. As I had stated before, I have not had much exposure to China or its policies before entering into the MBA program. Before reading this book, I had very little interest in what was going on in the other side of the world. But now, I feel that Fallows was able to show the importance of studying China and understanding how its growth will affect my own life.
