A centuries-old puzzle, sometimes used as a practical joke, is the Chinese finger trap.  It’s a simple woven bamboo tube into which an unsuspecting victim puts both index fingers but then cannot release themselves from the tight bondage of the tube, no matter how hard he pulls.

This brings to mind the "one belt, one road" project advanced by China all over the world, especially in Africa, South America, and the poorer parts of Asia. 

A poor country, grateful for Chinese aid, readily accepts the offer of a road or bridge.  After completion, China asks for payment as per the vague agreed upon terms that were presented more in terms of goodwill and helpfulness than tit for tat.

Now the debtor country may have a new road or bridge, but new money did not come with it.

China demands payment of some sort, and the poor country, still bankrupt, often pays with a naval base or a port, perhaps an airport, or key factory, or mine — whatever is advantageous to the Chinese.  Threatened and intimidated, the poor country reluctantly agrees and loses an important asset.  The Chinese dragon sinks its fangs and talons into the hapless country in prelude of swallowing it whole, gaining yet another foothold in a different hemisphere or region, sometimes ours.  Perhaps "stranglehold" is a more accurate term.  Surprisingly, the conundrum is that many such countries haven’t learned that there is no such thing as a free lunch.  China has no compunction about lying to achieve their objectives.

Not long ago, Kenya lost an important commercial port to this scheme.  A few years ago, Ecuador lost control of nearly all its oil.  Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Montenegro — they all fell into the trap.  Luckily, a few countries are wising up and are working to contain China.  Japan, Australia, and India were never in hock to China, but they are in this group.

The U.S., not so much.

A different form of this Chinese finger-trap trick is used on greedy politicians, individuals, corporations, and even supposedly benevolent organizations such as the National Basketball Association and World Health Organization. 

Nike and Apple look the other way as their products are being manufactured by slave labor while genocide is taking place. The NBA sees a vast new audience. Quickly they find there is no simple way out of this financial quagmire even if they wanted out.

And there certainly is no shortage of American politicians and many diverse corporations on the take. 

China had surmised in recent years that a nuclear war, or even a conventional one, with the U.S. would be impossible to win (although with its aggressive military buildup, there seems to have been some rethinking), so in this logic, the way to conquer the U.S. was to basically purchase it.

The one brave man, President Trump, wise to the Chinese's plan and willing to stand up to them, had to be removed even if it took a pandemic and eminent world depression to accomplish, in tandem with questionable election results achieved, no doubt, with Chinese help, to top it all off.

China has seeded our educational system with its communist ideology, has spread heavy doses of propaganda via social media and Hollywood, and may have bought off politicians, judges, and their families, et al. 

And they have been quite successful at it, as demonstrated by our current government.

The world is both bewildered and amused by what is happening in the United States while most of us are simply sickened.

We have a different but very effective form of the "one belt, one road" project, one perhaps even more lethal, as it is based on human greed, being applied.  Our country is moving toward socialism and communism every day.  We have elected officials openly hostile to our system and way of life, disdaining our history, sullying our traditions and heroes, and ignoring settled law.

Our capital is surrounded by fencing and troops, a slap in the face to all that is American.  China presents "one belt, one road" as a return to prosperity for all countries involved, just like the good old days of the Silk Road.  But in reality, it is only for China’s benefit, as always these things are.

So what is the secret of the Chinese Finger Trap?  How does one find a release from its bondage?  You must push the ends toward the middle where the woven construct is freer in size, large enough to escape its grasp.  To try to run from it by yanking your fingers in opposite directions will not undo the trick, but only tighten its grip.

We must all gather toward the middle as one force and push the ends together to escape what's going on here, which includes China’s grasp. 

That means all those on China’s payroll must exit from office or position.  Products made by slave labor must remain unpurchased.  Propaganda films must stay unwatched.  Career politicians need to become extinct.  The brainwashing must stop.  Colleges and universities on the take need to be shunned, school systems teaching un-American courses must be purged of leftist teachers and leadership.  The 1619 Project must be scrapped and President Trump’s 1776 project introduced.  Citizenship, civics, patriotism need to be taught again.  American values are paramount to our survival.  We must push toward the middle.

Pride in country and oneself are priorities, and there is no shame in being who you are, no matter what your color, including white.  Family ties, religion, and all the things that made America great need to be revived and the dark scourge of socialism scrubbed away.  We must have the rule of law for everyone without exception.  Law and order is not a disgusting term, as it has been made to seem.  A lawless society cannot flourish, any more than Somalia, Libya, or any of a number of such countries can.

We need to be self-sufficient, not beholden to anyone or anything for our vital supplies of energy, medication, minerals, and food.  Our borders must be controlled.  We must take care of our own, our veterans, our homeless and those addicted, before we add more un-vetted people who just dilute our resources and add to illegal vote counts.

And most of all, we must be careful, very careful, before we allow ourselves or anyone who speaks for us, to ever again insert our collective fingers into a trap.

Image: Carol via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5, CC BY 4.0.

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