This is Ju Zuo’s first travelogue to Southeast Asia.
The content of the travel notes has little to do with tourism. Instead, it is a summary of what I have seen and learned, combined with the industry, to form in-depth thoughts. This is also a new attempt for me.
Arrived in Kuala Lumpur last night and chatted with the driver on the way.
His ancestral home is in Guangdong, and he is the fourth generation of immigrants to Malaysia. At that time, China was in chaos, and this place was still a British colony.
When talking about the situation here, he mentioned that the number of Chinese coming here has increased significantly in recent years. Ju Zuo thinks it may be due to the masks and the economic downturn, which has led more people to go overseas to seek opportunities.
During the conversation, I learned that the Chinese and the locals have a divide-and-rule mentality.
The Chinese control the local industry, commerce and economic lifeline. For example, the sugar king, shipping king, rubber king, etc. are all Chinese, while the locals control the political system. Therefore, the locals account for a high proportion in the government system and have a higher voice.
This is also good, it is a delicate balance. Chinese people who go abroad do not have too much desire for power in a foreign country.
This reminded Ju Zuo of some things he saw some time ago about Chinese people going overseas, and all of a sudden they connected the dots.
Over the past few decades, we have been continuously building China and enjoying the dividends brought by China's rapid development, but now the Minsky moment has passed, and it is difficult for rational people to bear the losses of the downward trend after the turning point.
They are like savvy cryptocurrency traders who, when they see a trend break, simply sell out and look for the next investment.
Just like now, the whole world is crowded with Chinese people.
They come out to travel, but they also come out to look for opportunities, just like me.
This is actually in stark contrast to our past cognition. Since childhood, we have been taught to love the Party and the country and to serve the motherland. However, when we grow up, we find that those who have truly benefited from the dividends of reform and opening up and economic development have changed their hearts. This is really sad.
Just as Ju Zuo asked the soul-searching question in his article a few years ago: Is a fish that has come ashore still a fish?
They are unwilling to accompany their motherland through a period of relative lows, just because they have reaped the benefits of continuous rapid development over the past few decades and have taken such high dividends and high returns for granted.
The profit-seeking nature of capital will drive them to look for the next high-return target, the next high-return region, or even the country.
So we can see that many people went to Southeast Asia, and after a hundred years, there was another wave of going to Southeast Asia.
Some people go to the Middle East to develop the market, just because 8 rich users there can support a game's annual recharge turnover of tens of millions.
Some people choose to go to South America because the population base there is large. As long as the economy develops a little, it will become a very large incremental market. In their eyes, Brazil has the potential to become the next China.
Some people go to Europe and use more Chinese-made products as substitutes to take over the local market. Although the quality may be a little worse, the price is really good.
Of course, there are also people from the cryptocurrency circle here. They go to the United States to mine, and in Canada, they use the heat from building greenhouses to grow tomatoes while mining, and they sell well.
Investors and entrepreneurs all over China are looking for the next China.
People in the entire cryptocurrency circle are also looking for the next Bitcoin.
Juzuo has made its position clear. Bitcoin is no longer suitable for ordinary investors. It is more like a long-term financial product prepared for high-net-worth individuals.
Ordinary investors would rather accept 10,000 U of air coins going to zero than accept 10,000 U of Bitcoin falling by 30%.
This isn't about return on investment; it's about whether or not you can turn things around.
In their opinion, the possibility of loss of 10,000u air coins is much greater than Bitcoin. They also know that even if they buy Bitcoin at 70,000u, they will not lose money in the future. However, Bitcoin cannot satisfy their desire to turn things around or even complete class transition.
Air coins can’t do that either, but at least they give people hope – you see, someone has made another coin and this time the profit has increased 100 times.
Uni is, Sol is, Pepe is, People is, various doge is, and even the recent pizza is. In recent years, wealth myths continue to emerge in an endless stream.
Just think about it, how many years ago was the last similar story of wealth myth where someone made a comeback through Bitcoin?
Everyone is only concerned about one thing now: Who is the next Bitcoin?
And when a certain currency performs well, everyone will say: XX is the real Bitcoin.
In fact, no one cares who the real Bitcoin is. They just care which coin can bring them the same value return as Bitcoin.
Whether it was the Europeans who searched the world for the new golden continent,
Or maybe the Chinese are looking for the next market that will grow as fast as China once did.
Or will people in the cryptocurrency circle look for the next cryptocurrency that can bring high returns like Bitcoin?
The essence behind this is not a penny different, it is all human nature driven by capital.
And human beings never stop pursuing money.
As for the concept of nation, it will only become increasingly blurred in the future.
It doesn’t matter which country you are from, what matters is which class you belong to.
In troubled times, having wealth is the most important thing.
The wheel of history rolls forward, only crushing corpses as it goes.
