China's narrative of national success is contradicted by a significant diaspora of its citizens—from millionaires and creatives to ordinary workers. This flight of human capital seeking stability and freedom abroad signals a fundamental precariousness within the authoritarian system that pure economic growth cannot solve.

China's immense state capacity allows for rapid infrastructure development but also enables disastrous national policies like the one-child policy or Zero-COVID. Unlike the deliberative U.S. system, China's efficiency means that when it goes off track, it can go catastrophically off track before any course correction is possible.

Despite being governed by the Communist Party, China exhibits a higher Gini coefficient—a measure of wealth inequality—than any of the G7 capitalist nations, including the US. This stark paradox highlights the deep economic disparities that have emerged, challenging the country's nominal political ideology.

Despite developing the world's cheapest solar power, China remains addicted to coal for political, not economic, reasons. Countless local governments in poorer regions depend entirely on coal mining for revenue and employment. This creates a powerful political inertia that the central government is unwilling or unable to overcome, prioritizing local stability and energy security over a complete green transition.

China's "engineering state" mindset extends beyond physical projects to social engineering. The Communist Party treats its own people as a resource to be moved or molded—whether displacing a million for a dam or enforcing the one-child policy—viewing society as just another material to achieve its objectives.

A study on a Chinese policy providing free coal heating north of the Huai River, but not south, created a natural experiment. This revealed that the resulting increase in particulate pollution caused residents in the north to live, on average, five years less than their southern counterparts.

The American suburban ideal of a yard, a dog, and local control is impossible in China. The Communist Party's need for social control and policies mandating food self-sufficiency near cities ensures dense apartment living remains the norm.

China incentivizes its regional leaders by allowing them to personally profit from the economic growth they generate. This corrupt system, while flawed, aligns their interests with increasing their region's productivity, making them more effective planners than their counterparts in other systems.

While China's rapid, state-directed build-out of nuclear and renewable energy appears formidable, history shows that such "by decree" projects in communist countries often fail. They can become dysfunctional, obsolete, or result in a failed state, despite looking terrifyingly effective in the short term.