During Ping Pong Diplomacy, the American national ping pong team’s trip had culminated in a visit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Zhou congratulated the players on opening “a new chapter in the relations of the American and Chinese people” and received an unexpected question from Glenn Cowan, the American player who had boarded the wrong bus and set off the historic chain of events.
Wearing a floppy yellow hat and tie-dyed jeans, Cowan*,* asked the Premier what he thought of the American hippie movement. A surprised Zhou thought for a moment and replied “Youth wants to seek the truth and out of this search, various forms of change are bound to come forth. When we were young it was the same, too.”
And so I hope the future generations will travel to distant corners on Earth deemed safe by the State Department wearing sneakers, flip-flops, worn out jeans, I hope they will interact with the local people, experience the regional music and cuisine, and I hope they will gain perspectives, share perspectives, and seek the truths, among them—whether the world can live as one.
Posted by not_zero_sum
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Thanks for all the support and those who shared feedback with me in good faith. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with me, I hope that you will find the opportunity to travel the world and draw conclusions based on your own experiences.
For the last time – following the same larger premises as before:
1. US-China is not zero-sum, Chinese American = living proof.
2. The US model where people from around the world come together to build a thriving society could be the model for the world (before the 2024 election anyway).
3. There’s a divergence between the self-interests of political leaders (Trump/Putin/Xi) and the aspirations of ordinary people, and the latter should have more influence on the trajectory of the world.