The coming age ...in America

EJinVA · Subject: Re: The coming age ...in America Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:35 pm

Kind of fun to say eah? Very Happy

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LL · Subject: Re: The coming age ...in America Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:51 pm

Wet Dottle wrote:

LL, I'm not addressing the supremacy of the American Empire nor its decline (I sure wanted to use a lot of quotes in this sentence). Neither was it ever my intention to imply that America is superior to other countries. All I have posted had the specific purpose of addressing the nature of the negativity of the speech in your first post, in particular the issue that seems to be the capitalization of the current state of discontent with our economy. When you asked, I tried to explain why I have such a firm believe that we have what it takes to get back on track. That is why I said that I have History on my side: because the US has been met with much bigger crisis and has always been successful in overcoming them, even when there were other much bigger Empires dominating the World.

But, LL, I admit that my view of things may be somewhat uncommon. For example, what you call rhetoric is actually based on my life experience, having lived in Africa and in several Western European countries before settling in America. It is my empirical observation, not the result of a deep theoretical study based on a Brobdingnagian understanding of the complexities of World economics and politics (of which I know little or nothing about). Smile

P.S.- I recently learned the word “Brobdingnagian” and have been looking for an opportunity to use it. Thanks, LL. (Brobdingnagian: unusually great in size, amount, extent, or scope; related to the imaginary country of Brobdingnag.)

OK. Let's back up. Abandon all oratory, and examine the nuts and bolts of the situation.

The bottom line:

Every time America has been faced with a Crisis of Change concerning its economy---and make no mistake, a country's might/status/etc. is its economy---there's been an obvious "next step."

When the Industrial Revolution put vast numbers of farmers out of business (at that time America was 75% farmers), the same machines gave those workers factories to replace their land.

A century later, when off-shore factories and cheap labor laid off 90% of the factory workers, digital technology gave them information to replace their machines.

Today, off-shore IT is deja vu-ing the factory exodus all over again... (I love mangling cliches Laughing

)

The difference this time is there is no next rung on the ladder. Nowhere for the displaced workers to go. No new trade or technology to migrate to. We evolved into a consumer society that lived off its know-how, not its production of Stuff, and now that is rapidly disappearing. We have damn few secrets left, and do few things better than many other Western countries.

THAT is the crisis: Where do we go from here?

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Wet Dottle · Subject: Re: The coming age ...in America Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:59 pm

LL wrote:

Where do we go from here?

Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it? scratch

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LL · Subject: Re: The coming age ...in America Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:07 pm

Wet Dottle wrote:

LL wrote:

Where do we go from here?

Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it? scratch

That is indeed the question. The fact that none of our society's leaders or thinkers can answer it is cause for the gravest concern.

How will America's make money in the 21st century?

Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?

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puros_bran · Nightrider Number of posts: 4159 Registration date: 2007-12-11

We could always just start selling excessive legislation. We have an abundance of it, and with our Twin Partys up in DC it is a renewable resource.

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Frost · Subject: Re: The coming age ...in America Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:26 pm

Couple ideas right off the top of my head (which of course means I have not thought them through at all):

Legalize pot and prostitution everywhere. I don't particularly care for either myself, but I think the majority of the problems with these two things are mostly a result of a lack of regulation since they are...you know, illegal. Two whole new taxable industries and jobs to go with them overnight. Also be a big bump for tourism. Start exporting the pot to other places also.

Space exploration, colonization of the moon and mars. Multitude of new industries and jobs, new land and resources. Move prisons there, free up some space. Also move the white house there...just to get rid of them.

jhuggett · Subject: Re: The coming age ...in America Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:05 am

Technology and renewable energy are two big ones. Those are to very broad areas with huge potential in many different sub areas. Position ourselves to be energy producers instead of extreme consumers reliant on countries that don't like us very much.

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Frost · Subject: Re: The coming age ...in America Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:19 am

Indeed. Really the problem isn't figuring out where to go from here, but more along the lines of actually getting anyone to go there.