What the first post does not mention is that though all those things may be
made elsewhere, they were surely
designed in
America or in
Western Europe. Now, in the long run, what would you rather have? factories (low-skill labor) or intellectual property? Just off the top of my head, without much thought, here are some of the things intellectual property has brought us:
- space travel
- satellite systems
- computers
- computing networking
- internet (Google, Amazon, Yahoo, eBay, just to name a handful)
- one of the most respected college systems in the world (again, to name just a few, Harvard, Yale, MIT, UC Berkley, Michigan, UNC, Columbia, I can go on...). ALL of these schools, by the way, conduct some serious research.
- arguably the most advanced medical and health care system in the world.
- the most successful aerospace industry in the world.
- the most advanced military system in the world.
- oh yeah... though less than perfect, a democratic government system that has peacefully and un-interruptedly served this country for over 225 years.
Again, this is a quick, off-the-top-of-my-head list. ALL intellectual property that belongs to, or was created by, America.
Sri Lanka, Singapore, Taiwan, and China can keep their factories. We'll stick with engineering, medicine, and overall inventing things...
Juan