Polymatter

China is Not a Socialist Utopia.

The transcript draws a parallel between Boris Yeltsin's 1989 astonishment at the abundance of a U.S. supermarket and a modern American's potential awe at China's high-speed rail system. Yeltsin, then a future Russian president, was struck by the normalcy of a well-stocked grocery store, concluding that Soviet citizens' lack of choice would fuel a revolution if they witnessed it. Fast forward thirty years, the narrative suggests the tables have turned. China, a country comparable in size to the United States, boasts an extensive high-speed rail network of 31,000 miles, exceeding the rest of the world combined. This infrastructure allows for comfortable travel at speeds of 200 miles per hour, enabling journeys like Beijing to Shanghai in a mere four and a half hours, bypassing typical air travel hassles. In contrast, the comparable U.S. journey from New York to Chicago takes significantly longer by car or train.