Breakneck

There's a chapter about the Zero Covid lockdowns, and it does really convince of the trouble that an Engineering State causes when it tries to manage social issues.The chapter seems like a real record-scratch tone shift, but later you see what Wang is doing. And then the birth control chapter is horrific.

Noted on January 20, 2026

A ‘here’s what’s up in China today’ overview book, thru the lens of the idea that China is an Engineering State, compared to the US which is a Lawyer State. A very convincing lens, and definitely the way I'll think about it.

It's a convincing case that we should care about and learn from China, like yesterday. Readers of Wangs annual letters will already get this, and it does feel like an expanded version of those letters, a bit. But I’d like all the US leaders to have read this! Really anybody expressing an opinion about politics or technology globally.

Noted on January 20, 2026

A ‘here’s what’s up in China today’ overview book, thru the lens of the idea that China is an Engineering State, compared to the US which is a Lawyer State. A very convincing lens, and definitely the way I'll think about it.

It's a convincing case that we should care about and learn from China, like yesterday. Readers of Wangs annual letters will already get this, and it does feel like an expanded version of those letters, a bit. But I’d like all the US leaders to have read this! Really anybody expressing an opinion about politics or technology globally.

Noted on January 20, 2026