Why the Cheer-leading for Russia and China?

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I read quite a few articles that circulate and are popular within the gold community. Some of these articles, especially those touching on the U.S. Dollar and its status as the reserve currency, seem to take a very positive view of Russia and China.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. You can even express your opinion in some places still, although governments around the world seem to want to stifle dissent by creating a massive surveillance state.

Having said that, I'm puzzled by much of the cheer-leading for China and Russia. Perhaps some of the enthusiasm owes not so much to those countries themselves as it is a protest against the United States. If so, I can certainly understand. The U.S. has done, and continues to do many things that I am opposed to.

My question is, for those who cheer on Russia and China is, "How is the world going to be any better under widespread Russian and Chinese influence?"

I'm not one of those people who say my country right or wrong, or my country love it or leave it. I think people should be able to live where they want to. Curiously, however, I don't see many who cheer on China and Russia moving to either country. I believe in free markets and that people vote with their money and their feet. So, why aren't more people picking up and moving to Russia or China?

It's a bit of a rhetorical question. To me, the reasons are obvious. Many of the people who serially write positive pieces about both countries, and others who make positive comments about them and the "ever pending" decline of the U.S. Dollar, don't want to live under Putin or under China's Politburu Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (the name certainly rolls right off the tongue).

The United States government certainly does it share of stupid things with regards to the economy. The Fed's incessant meddling isn't helping anything either. But the whole of China is, in theory, governed by a tiny communist committee. Russia is widely viewed as being controlled by a small group of oligarchs. A pretty good argument could be made that a pretty small group of people exercise control in the U.S. as well. I wouldn't argue against that view.

However, a few things come to mind. First, I don't think Russia or China come even close to the U.S. with regard to respect for property rights, innovation, respect for the individual, opportunity or freedom of expression. Certainly there are issues in each of these areas in the U.S. The U.S. is a very imperfect place.

But, for me, the question is would I trade this imperfect place for a life in China or Russia. The answer is clearly no. Would I trade the imperfect influence of the U.S. and replace it with the influence of China and Russia? No.

There are no blameless countries as there are no blameless people, but we all make choices what kind of people we prefer to associate with. Likewise, we all make personal choices about the country we live in as well. This doesn't mean I'm saying I will always remain in the U.S. But I am pretty clear that Russia and China aren't at the top of my list of alternatives.