Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History, Volume II

Description

For close to a decade, technology analyst Dan Wang求※a gifted observer of contemporary China§ (Ross Douthat)求has been living through the country＊s astonishing, messy progress. China＊s towering bridges, gleaming railways, and sprawling factories have improved economic outcomes in record time. But rapid change has also sent ripples of pain throughout the society. This reality求political repression
求is not a paradox, but rather a feature of China＊s engineering mindset.
In
, Wang blends political, economic, and philosophical analysis with reportage to reveal a provocative new framework for understanding China求one that helps us see America more clearly, too. While China is an engineering state, relentlessly pursuing megaprojects, the United States has stalled. America has transformed into a lawyerly society, reflexively blocking everything, good and bad
Blending razor-sharp analysis with immersive storytelling, Wang offers a gripping portrait of a nation in flux.
traverses metropolises like Shanghai, Chongqing, and Shenzhen, where the engineering state has created not only dazzling infrastructure but also a sense of optimism. The book also exposes the downsides of social engineering, including the surveillance of ethnic minorities, political suppression, and the traumas of the one-child policy and zero-Covid.
In an era of animosity and mistrust, Wang unmasks the shocking similarities between the United States and China.
reveals how each country points toward a better path for the other: Chinese citizens would be better off if their government could learn to value individual liberties, while Americans would be better off if their government could learn to embrace engineering求and to produce better outcomes for the many, not just the few.