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That's what the chinese thought in the 18th century :).

A fun quote for the europeans here:

"Our land is so wealthy and prosperous that we possess all things. Therefore, there is no need to exchange the produce of foreign barbarians for our own." - The emperor at the height of Qing China



This was in fact so true that the Brits forced the matter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars


There are a few centuries and a lot of decline between those.


If your lesson from history is that hubris works, then that's very interesting.


That is the point - the Brits were able to force the matter. If you aren't up-to-date on technology, specifically military tech, you're going to have matters like this forced upon you. Que the Ukraine giving up the nukes (and later getting rid of even non-nuclear missiles).


Ironically, the most drug liberal places in the world, i.e. Silicon Valley, are the source of what this article talks about, productivity gains!

You just need the right drugs, in this case, Psychedelics.


The Emperor is not necessarily the guy to go to for the man-in-the-street view from China.




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