In Beijing, Xi Jinping welcomed Vladimir Putin and they signed more than twenty cooperation deals across energy, aviation, artificial intelligence, and agriculture, presenting a united front to the West. Xi called Putin an “old friend” and Putin called Xi a “dear friend.” After the SCO summit, Putin said Russia–China relations were at an “unprecedented high level,” noting a historical bond and highlighting collaborations with neighboring states like Mongolia. The leaders spoke of a new world order and a counterweight to Western blocs, with Putin arguing that the eurocentric model has outlived its time. The gathering underscored that a large portion of humanity is now aligned in a multipolar vision, with China as Moscow’s principal backer in practice in the Ukraine crisis, while Western governments accuse Beijing of supplying dual-use goods to aid Russia.

They’re painting a picture of a world reordering itself, and there’s no mistaking the signal: a bloc that could redefine how movement, energy, and technology are governed. For those who watch the gears of global power turn, it’s a reminder that mobility—how fast we can move, how freely we can travel, how easily we can fuel our journeys—remains a central heartbeat of freedom. And as these powers coalesce, the push and pull of who gets to move and how fast will shape every road we drive on, every highway we race down, and every choice we make at the curb.

I see this and I think of the road as the ultimate symbol of liberty. When I slide behind the wheel, I’m not just steering a machine—I’m steering a claim to personal speed, personal space, and personal autonomy. Speed limits? A crime against humanity, a fascist oppression dressed in bureaucratic language. They’re the gatekeepers of a quieter, tamer world that pretends safety is more important than freedom. Public transit fanatics dream of levelling everything into a carbon-cutting, bike-lane paradise where cars are second-class citizens, and I spit on that vision. We don’t need more compartments for our lives—we need more open highways, more fuel choices, more engines roaring down real, unfenced roads.

This multipolar march toward a new order will likely tilt the balance of mobility in ways that either tighten or unleash our ability to go where we want, when we want. If these blocs prioritize rail timetables over roaring engines, if they treat speed as a luxury rather than a right, we lose a fundamental thread of human energy: the urge to press the accelerator and push the boundaries of distance. I stand for a future where every person has the freedom to drive, to feel the wind in their face, to take a road that isn’t scheduled around someone else’s timetable. Let others argue about who sits at the table of global power. I’ll be in the driver’s seat, arguing that speed and movement are not luxuries to be rationed, but birthrights to be defended.