This is the english pronunciation of a Chinese phrase that literally means, “paper tiger.” This is an ancient phase, with a long history and origin. However, we know the phase in reference to a slogan used by Mao Zedong during WWII to describe the some of the participants, namely the United States. The view is generally that paper tigers are powerful but are prone to over extend themselves and ultimately lead toward a sudden collapse. A government, not connected to the people that are superficially powerful, but will fail in sudden collapse. This criticism proved to be true with Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan.
Of course the U.S. may have been viewed a a paper tiger, but at the end of the day the deployment of their nuclear ambitions proved to be more than just a threat. So perhaps this criticism was not so easily used to cast toward the U.S. once the war was over. I bring this up, because the concept came to mind when I started thinking about my attempts to improve and take on problems larger than myself.
Am I Zhilaohu? I make a lot of noise, but in reality do I have what it takes to deliver on my promises and/or threats? So I started trying to figure out how I could change that. How can I get to the point where my threat is real? Interesting thought.
Guy Reams
