Are we living in the Chinese Century?
February 1, 2008
Can America stay ahead of China? My inclination is to say yes, however many powerful trajectories indicate that America needs to wake up fast or find itself far behind before we know it.
Ever the optimist on the topic, I became seriously concerned while shopping for a new laptop. At Best Buy, not only was I unable to find a laptop NOT made in China - forget about one made in America - I could not find ANYTHING made in America. Nothing. Nothing in BestBuy is made in America!
It’s not just Best Buy. I challenge you to find ANY consumer electronics made in this country. Forget TV’s and the like, we not making comptures, cell phones, Ipod’s…nothing at all.
Well what do we make? We make cars, although the Big 3 loose market share daily and barely stay out of bankruptcy, we make planes, even as Boeing is outsoursing much of the actual manufacturing abroad, but aside from these, what are we really making in terms of hard goods? I don’t know.
We make movies and cheeseburgers - no one can touch us there. We also make software which is important. We are totally dominant in internet applications and developing new products, like Ipods, which, in turn, are produced in China.
How can we remain on top if we can’t make anything?
Therein lies the issue. It’s not that we can’t, it’s that we’ve made a deal with the devil. We have chosen to allow our markets to be flooded with artifically cheap Chinese goods in the phiryic hope of “engaging” China. We have “engaged” them and they have hollowed us out.
The question for the moment is whether we have the WILL to renew America as a first rate power. It’s not a question of CAN we, but WILL we.
