It’s all over. China is rising; the U.S. is falling. How do we know this? Tom Friedman sees all the telltale signs in the rundown Los Angeles International Airport:

Walking through its faded, cramped domestic terminal, I got the feeling of a place that once thought of itself as modern but has had one too many face-lifts and simply can’t hide the wrinkles anymore. In some ways, LAX is us. We are the United States of Deferred Maintenance. China is the People’s Republic of Deferred Gratification. They save, invest and build. We spend, borrow and patch.

I guess Friedman missed this headline from last week: “Los Angeles Airport to Spend $1.545-Billion for Building Amenities.” The project will “create a new world-class terminal,” which is only part of a larger “master plan” to “establish a new regional icon that embodies the character of Los Angeles and transforms LAX into the airport of the future.”

If “LAX is us” (arguably the silliest Friedman metaphor in a category packed with brutal competition), then we’re about to takeoff.