About a year ago, an acquaintance and I engaged in spirited banter about whether or not China was poised to achieve world domination within the next 30 years.
His argument can be summed up in three words: One billion people. “The Chinese are hell-bent on taking over the world and there’s one billion of them. They’ll gobble up the Earth’s resources. They’ll surpass the US economically. They’ll have an irreproachable military. The US will have no influence over the Chinese government, and we’ll have no choice but to bow to their will.”
My counter-argument can be summed up in two words: Squat toilets. “The greatness of Chinese civilization cannot be denied. However, I do not accept that a culture of squat toilets can be superior to Western civilization. Squat toilets are squalid, indecent, unhygienic, devoid of etiquette, and symbolic of how China is not only decades behind, they’re centuries behind. It’ll take decades to modernize their toilet infrastructure, let alone achieve world domination.”
But today’s announcement of Beijing’s new 1000-stall palatial public toilet has me a little apprehensive. Said one Chinese official, “We are spreading toilet culture. People can listen to gentle music and watch TV… After they use the bathroom they will be very, very happy.” Chilling.
