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

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Change is scary.

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"promote the general welfare, not provide the general welfare"

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

All that is happening is countries are further-specializing. As simplified as it may sound, it all comes down to oppurtunity cost / efficiency. Growth is often painful, but it must happen.

Oh, and by the way, all those factories in China and Taiwan, its robots, its distribution, procurring, and logistic systems were probably designed in America or Western Europe.

Juan

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Whenever I text "Barack," my phone suggests the word "Capable." I guess my my phone IS pretty smart.

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Mike F
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Actually, most of that sort of technology was designed in Korea and Japan.

It's not just the manufacturing that is shifting to other places, but the research and development is too. If you go into some of these great American universities, you will find that most of the students studying in areas like Science and Engineering are foreign students who will then go back to their countries after they graduate. Most of the computer technology is now being developed in places like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.

Another area where the US has always been a world leader is in Medicine. But in recent years, even that is starting to disappear as we continue to fall down the list of industrialized countries in areas such as infant mortality and life expectancy. Western Europe is now purchasing more medical supplies from Cuba than they are from the United States, and even American drug companies are doing more and more of their research overseas.

As a whole, there has been a "dumbing down" of society in this country, and it is affecting us on all levels. If there is any kind of transition going on here, it is that we are falling from our spot as the #1 world economic leader. The only thing today that keeps us a world power is our military. And if you study history, you will find out what happens to countries who lead the world in military but not much else. That will be our fate as well...

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my experience on X5world when I spend too much
time posting in political threads in the lounge...

Huh?? So let's see which part of the country no longer has any reason to exist. Could that be Arizona?, Maybe Montana? Or could it be Ohio? Pardon me if i say I'm confused.

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"What you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy. “The jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication.”
Harmony happens whenever different parts get to form a whole by means of congruity, concord, symetry, consistency, conformity, correspondence, agreement, accord, unity, consonance…….

Yeah, aerospace, NASA, the internet, satellite systems, mass production, the M1 Tank... all invented in Japan or Korea. I had no idea.

No, military power is not the only thing that keeps us the lonely world superpower. An $11 TRILLION Dollar economy does. An economy that is FAR more efficient than Japan's or Germany's, and one that still has plenty of natural resources. American workers work longer hours, and accomplish more than any other worker in the world. The average American works 45 hours a week; the average Japanese works 36; the average German works 37. We also actually have a positive birth rate. In some 25 - 30 years, Germany and Japan will have more people NOT working than working. China is worse off. There are five men for every one woman. In some 25 years, you'll have a select "lucky" man who are married, and hundreds of million of Chinese men without mates. Do the math... China also has huge infrastructure, poverty, and corruption problems.

All I'm saying is that the whole "made in <fill in the blank>" is way overrated when one considers the fact that we have become a services economy. Where something is built is of less relevance now in a world economy. Where the brainpower is locate is far more important.

Juan

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Whenever I text "Barack," my phone suggests the word "Capable." I guess my my phone IS pretty smart.

China is worse off. There are five men for every one woman. In some 25 years, you'll have a select "lucky" man who are married, and hundreds of million of Chinese men without mates. Do the math... China also has huge infrastructure, poverty, and corruption problems.

Juan[/quote]

We were just discussing this with friends this evening...very true. The female infantcide and one child policy will have some challenging consequences.

PS: Just finished stringing the last of the made in China Christmas lights last night when I saw the Space Shuttle take off...talk about a contrast in technology.

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