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Post by bl00k on Aug 22, 2008 14:41:42 GMT -7
Enjoy. ;D
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Jackdruid
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Post by Jackdruid on Aug 22, 2008 14:47:26 GMT -7
The thing that scares me is the emerging global economy - it's not just the U.S. calling the shots anymore. China especially is going to steamroll us as far as GDP. Can we compete in a global economy? Are Americans really as lazy as we are stereotyped as? We have fewer manufacturing going on here; so can we, as a nation of service providers (rather than creators of goods) provide anything of the rest of the world will want?
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p00p
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Post by p00p on Aug 23, 2008 14:03:10 GMT -7
The thing that scares me is the emerging global economy - it's not just the U.S. calling the shots anymore. China especially is going to steamroll us as far as GDP. Can we compete in a global economy? Are Americans really as lazy as we are stereotyped as? We have fewer manufacturing going on here; so can we, as a nation of service providers (rather than creators of goods) provide anything of the rest of the world will want? Global Economics is the answer to world peace. (no, seriously.. it is.) Your fear is what gives me the most hope for the world than any other thing. A true global economy would solve many a crisis. I'm at a bit of a loss as to why some people think that we have to build stuff and that services is some form of illegitimate GDP income, so i'm not going there until asked. Services is all about making manufacturing better. As long as the world is making something, there will be a need for services. If China relies on us as their biggest market for goods and services, we win. And so does China, big. The more trade you can create in between countries the stronger adhesion they start to have with each other and in turn, makes it less likely to have any kind of struggle because it would offset the individual country economy. So we'd be friends, and anyone that disrupted trade.. well, they wouldn't be our friends. Basically in my perfect world, core competencies would rule. screw tariffs and protectionism. Africa can produce more wheat and corn than the US at FAR FAR higher efficiency rates. We should buy their corn and quit subsidizing the farmers that cannot compete with them. They're not improving anything, they're just sucking up government monies. If you cannot compete, find something you suck less at to do. Same thing with Steel. Japan and Europe make it much more efficient than we do, yet we subsidize so the union workers can continue to produce offspring that follow in their same footsteps of mediocrity. The US is the most advanced nation on the planet and it's due to having to compete and evolve. Protecting us from other markets only hurts us as it makes us grow complacent and somehow makes us believe that government owes us a living rather than us having to innovate and work for one. /whew
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p00p
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Post by p00p on Aug 23, 2008 14:07:39 GMT -7
.. but if anyone doesn't agree and think the economy/govenment and business (the man).. or pretty much anyone with any sense of authority, is just keeping you down.. here's some koolaid for you (I've shared this site before.. i keep watching it because it's amazing how many people subscribe to similar mentality): NSFW (language and ineptitude) submedia.tv/.. seriously, what a bunch of idiots. Against everything and for nothing. Beautiful.
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Jackdruid
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Post by Jackdruid on Aug 25, 2008 6:38:24 GMT -7
Africa can produce more wheat and corn than the US at FAR FAR higher efficiency rates. We should buy their corn and quit subsidizing the farmers that cannot compete with them. They're not improving anything, they're just sucking up government monies. If you cannot compete, find something you suck less at to do. Same thing with Steel. Japan and Europe make it much more efficient than we do, yet we subsidize so the union workers can continue to produce offspring that follow in their same footsteps of mediocrity. The US is the most advanced nation on the planet and it's due to having to compete and evolve. Protecting us from other markets only hurts us as it makes us grow complacent and somehow makes us believe that government owes us a living rather than us having to innovate and work for one. Man, you're making me second-guess my decision to do a CS degree instead of economics... Some of those points you make (quoted above) are what make me worry. I think we are certainly capable as a nation of competing and thriving - but will we, with this sense of entitlement the last two generations have had? I have seen all the asian students here at the 'U' who come from out of the country and proceed to get their PhDs in everything under the sun. How can we compete if we (collectively) are not willing to work as hard? Thanks for your comments on services vs. goods. After I posted that, I thought about how it's the people who use their brains who make the most money, why would that not be true on a global scale. Although, wouldn't that set us up (in a 'service-based' economy) to be more vulnerable to economic fluctuations? I have a friend who works in advertising. Twice now he has been laid off (in '02 and this year) because of people not utilizing his companies services - advertising became less of a priority when money got tight.
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Post by Mathazar on Aug 25, 2008 13:33:40 GMT -7
@ p00p; /agree @ Jack; You're exactly right, will we compete is the question. We've spent far to long letting the lazy live off the scraps of the hard working that it's become not only a way of life but an expectation. Go read the the Black Panthers list of demands some time as an example. The "I have a right to __" culture is killing this nation. Also I'd recommend reading The Worldly Philosophers. I found it to be a big help in understanding why so many of the things I was taught in HS econ are just wrong.
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p00p
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Post by p00p on Aug 25, 2008 14:40:19 GMT -7
Jack, seriously.. you're right. I think we have good reason to be scared a little when it comes to competing in a world market. Like Mathazar and you have pointed out, we're lazy. .. so yeah.. you're right we should be a little scared at the thought of competing on a global scale.
As far as services go.. yeah again, i think you have a really good point, but i think it's just the same as any other industry. When things get rough, you trim workers. If an industry dies or struggles, those that service it loose their jobs and have to re-skill as well. BTW, marketing is usually the first to go and it's the most cut-throat since it's really just glorified sales (yet it's generally what makes and breaks companies as well imo).
looking into that Worldly Philosophers book, that does look interesting.. too bad i don't read. It's almost 2010 and we're still reading books!!? i just want an sd slot embedded in my head.
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Jackdruid
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Post by Jackdruid on Aug 25, 2008 20:12:49 GMT -7
@ Mathazar; You were not kidding about the Black Panthers. I thought maybe it would be kind of a 'gray area' of reasonable requests that could be taken the wrong way. I was wrong, you guys have to see this to believe it: www.blackpanther.org/TenPoint.htmMost ridiculous is after they demand all of these items from the government, they finish point 10 by lifting from The Declaration of Independence! How can you demand ongoing sustenance from someone one minute and then declare the complete and utter dissolution of that relationship the next?
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Post by b0lg on Aug 26, 2008 9:47:27 GMT -7
A global economy would be a big change, for some it would be great and other it would be bad. But as a whole it would be better for the human race...
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p00p
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Post by p00p on Aug 26, 2008 9:48:18 GMT -7
@ Mathazar; You were not kidding about the Black Panthers. I thought maybe it would be kind of a 'gray area' of reasonable requests that could be taken the wrong way. I was wrong, you guys have to see this to believe it: www.blackpanther.org/TenPoint.htmMost ridiculous is after they demand all of these items from the government, they finish point 10 by lifting from The Declaration of Independence! How can you demand ongoing sustenance from someone one minute and then declare the complete and utter dissolution of that relationship the next? WTF holy crap.
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r1kk1
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Tell them they'll all soon be as dead as O'ren.
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Post by r1kk1 on Aug 26, 2008 11:25:30 GMT -7
Yeah, I just read the Ten Point thing on the black panthers site. Do I qualify as oppressed, since I'm Mormon, and my "people" were killed and/or driven from their homes and towns 100+ years ago?
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Jackdruid
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Post by Jackdruid on Aug 26, 2008 13:07:26 GMT -7
It makes me wonder if anybody has ever seriously proposed something like that.
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Phr0st
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Post by Phr0st on Aug 26, 2008 15:09:39 GMT -7
TLDR
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Jackdruid
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Post by Jackdruid on Aug 26, 2008 19:27:01 GMT -7
I almost posted the whole thing in my post instead of putting the link for the very purpose of avoiding a TLDR. I guess sometimes it is unavoidable.
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Post by bl00k on Aug 26, 2008 19:59:58 GMT -7
That is some crazy shiznat. And by crazy, I mean retarded.
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