Douthat: Only America can save the future

Every new year, Dan Wang, a technology analyst with an East Asia-based economics research firm and a gifted observer of contemporary China, writes a long, reflective letter about the year just past, mixing analysis with personal experience. In this year's letter, the most memorable element is a single piece of Chinese slang: "rà¹n." The term means exactly what it sounds like: "Chinese youths have in recent years appropriated this word in its English meaning to express a desire to flee." Initially, it could just mean escaping the expectations of parents or the big city grind. But after years of zero-COVID…