Oh, the irony...

Vladimir Lenin once said "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them."
But it isn't selling things that got America into the current financial mess--it was buying things. Lots of things. Things we couldn't really afford and didn't really need. And who sold us most of those things? Why, communist China, of course.

China's brand of communism looks to be more successful than Russia's ever was. But in the U.S.:

One in 10 American homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments or were in foreclosure during the third quarter as the world’s largest economy shed jobs and real estate prices tumbled.

Meanwhile, all that cash we paid for lead-painted toys is finally finding its way back to us...

Chinese bargain hunters are preparing to descend on American cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, where homeowners have suffered some of the steepest price falls in the US.

SouFun, the biggest real estate website in China, is organising a trip next month to look at properties in California and possibly Nevada. Liu Jian, the company’s chief operating officer, said about 300 people had expressed interest in the idea in the three days since it was advertised, though the company would take only a small group on the first trip.

Good thing I like Mandarin oranges. Not so crazy about the prospect of having to learn Mandarin Chinese, though. For some crazy reason, the story about Jacob, Esau, and the selling of a birthright for a bowl of warmed over stew comes to mind...