China Caught Up—But America Can Still Lead. Here’s How.

US economic leadership through cooperation, not competition.

🚨 We’re Not Losing. We’re Awakening.

There’s a popular myth going around: that America is past its prime, and China is destined to dominate the future.

It’s a story driven by fear, not facts.

Yes, China pulled off a stunning 30-year transformation—but the story isn’t over. Not even close. America still has the edge, the resources, the talent, and the spirit to lead the future.

But it’s going to take a hard pivot. Not toward more competition, culture wars, or billionaire power plays—but toward something we’ve always been good at when we stop fighting each other:

Cooperation. Strategy. Shared purpose.

🧰 Competition vs. Cooperation: The Real Innovation Engine

Let’s break a dangerous myth: that competition is the engine of all progress.

It’s not.

According to a landmark meta-analysis by Johnson & Johnson (2005), over 300 independent studies found that cooperative efforts outperformed competitive or individualistic ones in over 80% of cases.

Of course there’s a need for self-reliance. That’s a part of “growing up.” But it’s not the answer to national problems. Worldcom, Enron,

The “competition is best” lie is only pushed by the people at the top who won. Those few people love to toot their horn about competition. Of course, they fail to mention all the people who helped them get to the top. And those they crushed or ruined on their merry way. (See: Psychopaths at the Top below)

For a no-BS survival guide on fighting back against authoritarian playbooks, see Trump and Vance: How to Fight Back.

In science, teams that collaborate learn faster, innovate more deeply, and make more sustainable progress. In workplaces, cooperation fuels morale, trust, and shared success.

Competition? It often breeds secrecy, stress, and a toxic hunger for domination. And worst of all—it selects for exactly the wrong kind of leader.

Case in point…

😈 Psychopaths at the Top

Studies suggest that 1 in 5 corporate executives show psychopathic traits—charming manipulators with zero empathy. Competition doesn’t just reward talent. It rewards those who are willing to cut the deepest, not build the strongest.

That’s how we get CEOs who lay off thousands for a bump in quarterly profits. That’s how we get presidents who value loyalty over ability.

And let’s be honest, shall we? An overwhelming number of studies show that humans choose leaders based on looks and charm. And in a world where paid media controls the narrative, what else do we have to go by?

How about a couple of politicians whose purpose is shown by their actions:

Kat Abughazaleh, candidate for the ninth district in Illinois who said during an interview on The Bulwark that: I keep telling people “You should be skeptical of me. I am asking to be your elected representative.”

Openness is really refreshing, isn’t it?

And Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who flew to El Salvador alone, and on his own dime, demanding to see Abrego Garcia, and refusing to leave until he did.

I like initiative and guts.

Both have demonstrated a rare quality in Democrats:

a willingness to stand up to Trump, and;
a belief that this is a fight we can and must win.

Meanwhile, cultures that rely on cooperation—like the Amish, the Quakers, First People, or cooperative business networks—produce resilience, shared prosperity, and stability.

When one family needs a barn, the whole community shows up.

That’s not weakness. That’s civilization.

🇨🇳 China’s Rise Was Strategic—and We Can Learn From It

Let’s get real: China didn’t stumble into success. They played the long game:

They acquired technology through forced joint ventures and strategic partnerships.
They reverse-engineered what the West had built.
Their acquisition of trade deals and natural resources through their: Belt and Road Initiative
And most importantly, they chose national strategy over ego battles.

They invested in entire industries (EVs, solar, 5G), not just companies. And now they’re rolling out humanoid robots like Iron, a machine with eagle-eye vision and supercomputer-level processing.

Critics say it looks suspiciously like Western designs—which proves the point: they studied what worked, copied it, and made it theirs.

They didn’t cheat. They executed.

And while we may not agree with their methods, we should absolutely learn from their strategic discipline.

For a deep dive on how BRICS+ is reshaping global power, check out BRIC Dominion: The Emerging Challenge to Western Supremacy.

⏳ The Problem Isn’t China. It’s Our Lack of Focus.

We don’t need a boogeyman. We need a blueprint.

China plans 50 years ahead. America flips every four.

When President Biden passed the CHIPS Act, Infrastructure Bill, and the Inflation Reduction Act, he laid the groundwork for national renewal. But instead of building on that foundation, Trump and his regime are obsessed with erasing it—not because it’s bad policy, but because it wasn’t theirs.

That’s not strategy. That’s sabotage.

To lead again, we must return to the long-term, collaborative mindset that got us to the moon, built the interstate highway system, and turned WWII vets into middle-class homeowners.

Ever heard of the Marshall Plan? This is what real leadership and cooperation looks like:

🔜 Why Art & Science Outpace Industry—and What That Teaches Us About Innovation

In science, researchers are expected to publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals. Why? So others can build on them, challenge them, or expand them. That transparency accelerates discovery.

In art, creators are expected to share their work with the public. It’s painful. It’s vulnerable. But it makes the art—and the artist—better.

And aviation? It’s the safest form of travel not because of competition, but because every crash is investigated and the findings are shared across the entire industry.

Imagine what our medical industry would be like if every time a doctor made a mistake, they swallowed their ego and admitted to it. And instead of assigning blame, an open investigation was made and the results, and how to prevent it from happening again, was shared with the entire health industry.

How many lives would be saved by that kind of cooperation?

We don’t compete to prevent crashes. We cooperate to save lives.

So, here’s the question:

🤔 Why don’t we share intellectual property (IP) the same way?

What if there were a national IP repository where publicly funded research was made universally accessible? What if private companies could access that knowledge—not to steal, but to build better and faster? An AI could be set up to help with searches, integrating various results, and suggesting additional IP results that the originator might not have thought of?

Think of the progress that cooperation rather than greed could make!

Think of NASA. Their publicly shared tech has given us:

Memory foam
Water purification
Wireless headsets
Insulation materials
Solar panel innovations
Pacemakers – ever have a loved one saved by that technology?

Imagine if NASA had kept that tech under wraps or behind secrecy screens. How many lives would have been lost?

Shared research builds the future. Hoarded knowledge just collects dust.

🌿 A Blueprint for American Renewal

If we want to stay ahead, we need to:

Fund industries of the future (clean energy, AI, biotech)
Share knowledge across sectors
Invest in the public good, not just private gains
Prioritize long-term national strategy – got any clue as to what Trump’s “strategy” is? Has he shown citizens the respect of sharing it if there is one?
Build a system that rewards service, not selfishness – John F. Kennedy got an entire generation to join the Peace Corps.
And let’s please rise above “not invented here.” More progress has been lost to that nonsense than a thousand bad ideas.

It’s not about becoming China. It’s about becoming the best version of ourselves.

The characters we love in the movies and on TV, who do the right thing, no matter what. That’s who Americans are when we are at our best!

Because the world doesn’t need another empire. It needs a new paradigm.

🛡️ Wolverine Watchlist: Builders of the Future

🟢 Visionaries

Joe Biden – For laying the strategic groundwork
Pete Buttigieg – Infrastructure with brains
Elizabeth Warren – Systemic reform with clarity
Gina Raimondo – CHIPS Act & trade savvy
Mark Cuban – Pro-market, pro-people innovation
Kat Abughazaleh – Running for Congress on a platform of accountability and openness, something rare on both sides of the aisle
The list could go on for days because there’s so much talent in our country, but hey, I gotta get this post up.

**Who would you nominate for this list?**

🔴 Problem Children (And Why We Outgrow Them)

These figures embody the immaturity of ego-driven politics—lashing out, tearing down, and clinging to attention rather than achievement. Every society has its problem children. What matters is that we grow up—and move on.