Breakneck: America's Reckless Gamble with China
How two superpowers are more alike than they admit - just optimising differently
"We're not as different as we think. We just optimise for different things."
— Dan Wang
My Review
Wang reveals something profound: America and China are more similar than either admits. Both follow the same underlying principles 97-98% of the time - they just disagree on the 2%. One is a 'doing economy' (China builds, manufactures, makes) and the other a 'legal economy' (America litigates, regulates, financialises). This is niche differentiation at civilisational scale - two superpowers finding different expressions of the same fundamental drives.
Why It Matters
Understanding that apparent competitors often share 98% of their operating principles helps resolve conflicts. The disagreement is usually about implementation, not fundamentals. This applies to organisations, nations, and species.
Key Ideas
- America and China share most fundamental principles
- Doing economy vs. legal economy: different expressions of the same drives
- Industrial policy works (China proves it)
- Financial abstraction has costs that manufacturing doesn't
How It Connects to This Framework
The competitive coexistence concepts - differentiation enables parallel success.
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