31–40 of 144 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it is the “fall of Rome moment”, I’m not exactly worried. It took nearly a millennium for Rome to fall — and even that depends on whether or not you consider the Holy Roman Empire or the Ottoman Empire to be true successor states.
I think the Ottoman Empire cannot be considered a successor of Rome - did you mean the Byzantine Empire? (aka Eastern Roman Empire)
I wonder if the onset of globalization and offshoring US factories to China on top of Citizens United will be remembered as the US's "Fall of Rome" moment. The US essentially allowed the government to be bought and paid for by foreign entities and is relying on said countries for most manufactured goods. So now the other country can essentially say "Our laws are your laws otherwise we're not going manufacture your go…
If it is the “fall of Rome moment”, I’m not exactly worried. It took nearly a millennium for Rome to fall — and even that depends on whether or not you consider the Holy Roman Empire or the Ottoman Empire to be true successor states.
"Promoting a China-free supply chain will inevitably result in a decline in China's demand for U.S. products and American companies loss of market share and revenue in China," Something that China had been pushing for years now…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The underlying question is why? Surely this activity could have started in 1950,1920, 1890 or any other year. What change occurred that seemingly has removed any long term/societal concerns from the minds of leaders?
Getting off the gold standard and going to a fiat currency, and going into exponential debt ever since. It stagnated the middle class due to inflation and wages not keeping up (which would have caused more inflation). We needed cheap labor to make goods cheaper and more affordable for the stagnating middle class, so we made favorable trade deals that wiped out manufacturing, which exacerbated the problem. It's just a…
I wonder if the onset of globalization and offshoring US factories to China on top of Citizens United will be remembered as the US's "Fall of Rome" moment. The US essentially allowed the government to be bought and paid for by foreign entities and is relying on said countries for most manufactured goods. So now the other country can essentially say "Our laws are your laws otherwise we're not going manufacture your go…
Mark my words, those jobs are never coming back to American human workers. And that's fantastic, they sucked. Society needs to prepare for the future where there's more people than work to be done.
I don't understand why America, long a champion of immigration, doesn't open the floodgates back up. We could onshore factories and staff them from all over the world. Pay workers wages comparable to what they would get from working in factories at home (ie. not "US wages" since we can't compete on cost with China, Vietnam, etc.), but give them decent hours, a housing stipend, education for their kids, and a promise…
America has never been a champion of immigration, and honestly I don't really remember a time that the 'floodgates were open' so to speak, and it's not even a partisan issue. The last major immigration tightening was Bill Clinton with IIRAIRA in 1996 while the last amnesty was Reagan in 1986.
Don't take my word for it, here's what Benjamin Franklin, founding father, had to say.
"Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant Stupid Sort of their own Nation, and as Ignorance is often attended with Credulity when Knavery would mislead it, and with Suspicion when Honesty would set it right; and as few of the English understand the German Language, and so cannot address them either from the Press or Pulpit, ’tis almost impossible to remove any prejudices they once entertain." - Benjamin Franklin, 1753.
Tell me that's not a highfalutin 1700s take on "they're not sending their best, folks."
> We could onshore factories and staff them from all over the world.
That doesn't need people, it needs robots. The factories of the future have zero people inside.
I wonder if the onset of globalization and offshoring US factories to China on top of Citizens United will be remembered as the US's "Fall of Rome" moment. The US essentially allowed the government to be bought and paid for by foreign entities and is relying on said countries for most manufactured goods. So now the other country can essentially say "Our laws are your laws otherwise we're not going manufacture your go…
In my opinion the US not capitalizing on China taking the undesirable, low-skill labor is the miss. The inescapable future of humanity is full automation of low-skill (and potentially higher skill) jobs, especially manufacturing. Rather than lament China taking these on before the robots could get to them and pining for a long-departed past, America could have used this huge head start as an advantage and shaped soci…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my opinion the US not capitalizing on China taking the undesirable, low-skill labor is the miss. The inescapable future of humanity is full automation of low-skill (and potentially higher skill) jobs, especially manufacturing. Rather than lament China taking these on before the robots could get to them and pining for a long-departed past, America could have used this huge head start as an advantage and shaped soci…
Chinese ports are automated. American ones much less so. China has much less resistance to automation from unions.
Of course all else being equal unions are going to look out for their members and their members jobs. It's that or the unemployment lines. However, the society of the future simply won't have those jobs. It will require some new and different social contract. UBI perhaps is an alpha.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The underlying question is why? Surely this activity could have started in 1950,1920, 1890 or any other year. What change occurred that seemingly has removed any long term/societal concerns from the minds of leaders?
Its quite simple. With the advent of globalisation the self-interest of the elites is no longer in alignment with the national interest. They can make money far more easily by employing Chinese workers, growing Chinese industry, than they do local. And of course, anyone that pushes back against this is (conveniently) a "xenophobic, racist, white supremacist, Trump-voting blah blah blah...".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think both Citizen's United and the allowance of asymmetric trade with China (e.g. China's currency manipulation, IP theft, restrictions on companies operating in China, etc.) are both symptoms of a much larger problem. The U.S. is being dismantled by the capitalist / owner class for personal profit. Very few decisions are made in the government that promote the long-term health of the system. This trend spans the…
The underlying question is why? Surely this activity could have started in 1950,1920, 1890 or any other year. What change occurred that seemingly has removed any long term/societal concerns from the minds of leaders?
But I think the reason we are seeing this more front-and-center now is because the effects are starting to become noticeable, and because globalization has made it easier for the rich to not really care as much about their home country's economic success; they'll profit regardless, as long as they've made the right investments in the right places.