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America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

noahpinion.blog

11–20 of 32 posts

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#11
post #6
post #4

There are many things to criticize about China but they are absolutely to be admired in how they focus on building for the future . The problem is that American industrial policy is based on quarterly earnings and not long term health of the republic as a whole. Biden's IRA program was effectively a step in the right direction but has been erased. We need our economic incentives to be aligned with long term growth an…

> The problem is that American industrial policy is based on quarterly earnings and not long term health of the republic as a whole I think it's even worse than that, the country's industrial policy is based on emotional appeal to the past. Gas cars, coal mines, etc etc, they are as much cultural touchpoints as they are economic factors.

Another big issue is that policy is based on politicians trying to get (re)elected. Their focus is doing things that make them look good, rather than actually doing good. There isn't a ton of long-term planning because elections happen so frequently. Politicians are also often old and not educated about technology.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#12
post #9

Is this just a PR piece for Elon Musk? As for the title, we already are going to fall behind, the only question is how far are we going to allow ourselves to fall behind before we change our economic policies. Or alternatively, how far can we fall behind before American hegemony becomes impotent and can be completely ignored by the rest of the world? Unfortunately I think we may just keep blindly worshiping all the w…

American hegemony is already in the process of collapsing. It is not about preventing it any more, only about how quickly America chooses to halt it, or not. I'm betting not.

Why not speed up the collapse? That would Effectively Accelerate our current timeline.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#13
post #4

There are many things to criticize about China but they are absolutely to be admired in how they focus on building for the future . The problem is that American industrial policy is based on quarterly earnings and not long term health of the republic as a whole. Biden's IRA program was effectively a step in the right direction but has been erased. We need our economic incentives to be aligned with long term growth an…

> We need our economic incentives to be aligned with long term growth

Isn't that asking for more TSLAs? I don't mean Tesla the company. I mean TSLA the stock. People hold it because they want to bet long on the future.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#14
post #4

There are many things to criticize about China but they are absolutely to be admired in how they focus on building for the future . The problem is that American industrial policy is based on quarterly earnings and not long term health of the republic as a whole. Biden's IRA program was effectively a step in the right direction but has been erased. We need our economic incentives to be aligned with long term growth an…

No they aren't. F*ck China and its genocidal dictatorship.

And the last time I checked the international news it was all about a shooting of an unarmed women in Minneapolis by paramilitary police who clearly did not run over or intended to harm anybody.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#15
America is too stupid and greedy to think past the next quarter. Our culture is so toxic and broken, we deserve to fall behind.

Maga will eventually consume itself and it will end. We'll spend the next 20 years rebuilding. That generation, will have the first chance to set us on a better path, becuase the path we are on now is fixed for the time being, and its not progressive or forward thinging in any way.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#16
post #12
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American hegemony is already in the process of collapsing. It is not about preventing it any more, only about how quickly America chooses to halt it, or not. I'm betting not.

Why not speed up the collapse? That would Effectively Accelerate our current timeline.

Quick collapse, slow collapse, the results will be vastly different, I think, with other parties taking advantage of the chaos whichever degree it will be.

Our timeline is moving on with or without the US. Electrification is going to happen, the US will just slow down how fast the number will go up. The world isn't reliant on US innovation anymore I imagine so it'll go up regardless.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#17

America is too stupid and greedy to think past the next quarter. Our culture is so toxic and broken, we deserve to fall behind. Maga will eventually consume itself and it will end. We'll spend the next 20 years rebuilding. That generation, will have the first chance to set us on a better path, becuase the path we are on now is fixed for the time being, and its not progressive or forward thinging in any way.

> America is too stupid and greedy to think past the next quarter.

And yet American business leaders are placing bets measured in the tens of billions dollars that don’t pay out for a decade or more.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#18
post #12
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American hegemony is already in the process of collapsing. It is not about preventing it any more, only about how quickly America chooses to halt it, or not. I'm betting not.

Why not speed up the collapse? That would Effectively Accelerate our current timeline.

Well mainly because it sucks living under the Trump Administration, even if supporting them is objectively the most accelerationist move.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#19
Once again, partisan politics is holding back progress. Annoys me as a centrist.

Democrats should avoid policies that promote central control and increases in national level regulations. They should specifically avoid subsidies and encourage private funding.

Republicans should ease off reactionary politics, and work to remove subsidies for entrenched oil/coal/hydrocarbon producers (but only where the cases where the oil is burned, one of the most ridiculous ways to use a resource).

Both sides should agree on removing subsidies for their respective "favorites" as a de-escalation and act of good faith.

All players should encourage nuclear within the above framework, as this is a potential win-win situation for all sides: reduces carbon emissions, promotes domestic industry, and many others.

Re: America must embrace the Electric Age, or fall behind

#20
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No they aren't. F*ck China and its genocidal dictatorship.

The fact that a country is doing a holocaust does not negate the fact it's building infrastructure for the future and raising living standards (for non-victims) faster than any other country.

Exactly. That's why I specifically led my comment with:

> There are many things to criticize about China

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