As much as I hate to agree with Grok's basic attitude toward
capitalism, I would like to suggest that several decisions, based in
the rules of capitalism, will eventually lead to the total destruction
of this approach, at least in the form practiced by the US.
The evidence can be most clearly seen in the fact that China has now
captured 95% of the world's supply of the rare earth elements. This is
important because modern technology is uniquely dependent on these
elements. For example, super strong magnets cannot be made without
neodymium. In 1985, farsighted people in the Chinese government saw
the growing importance of these elements and set out to insure a good
supply for their country. At the same time, the US companies allowed
the supply available the US to slowly decrease to near zero, including
selling the ability to process the materials to the Chinese, in order
to make an immediate profit. As a result, we are now dependent on
other countries for these essential elements just like we became
dependent on other countries for oil. However, this time, no
substitutes exist.
The difference in approach between the US and the Chinese rests on
farsighted people making long range decisions regardless of immediate
profit, in the latter case. In contrast, the US makes decisions based
on making a profit in a short time. As even a cursory experience with
the media demonstrates, the US lives in a world of illusion created by
the need of companies to make an immediate and growing profit. We
were encouraged to go into debt to buy things. This advice had the
easily predicted consequences. Now we are encouraged to believe that
Obama can fix the mess if we would only spend more, with the
government taking up the slack. This belief contains just as much
illusion as the belief that personal debt would have no consequences.
In other words, the US keeps looking only a few quarters into the
future while the Chinese are planning for decades. We seek to win
isolated battles at great cost in countries that have no importance to
our survival while the Chinese intend to win the economic war of the
future. I don't know if any of you play GO, the great Chinese game.
If you do, you can see how this game is being played out on the world
stage by China. Bush played poker and lost. Now Obama is playing Chess
and is also losing. Meanwhile, we have to stand back and watch our
country being brought down by short-sighted ignorance.
Ed
- [Vo]:China vs US Edmund Storms
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