Is It Time to Bail Out of the US?

RWS said:
BigBad correctly esteems American exports to be mostly popular music and film, in my opinion. I, however, don't see this as American imperialism, but, rather, as an indication of what pleases many a young person worldwide (after all, he or she could have chosen to read Borges or watch Strindberg).
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Actually, this is completely INCORRECT.
while film, music and other "cultural" products, are big, the USA is still one of the top 2 or 3 exporting countries in the world.
In 2008, it exported $1,826,596,000,000 worth of goods and services.
Yep, that over One Trillion dollars worth.
That would include 388 Billion in Industrial Supplies, 457 Billion in Capital Goods, 233 Billion worth of Autos and Vehicles, and lots more.
Its all right here-http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/2008pr/final_revisions/08final.pdf

Boeing alone exports more dollars worth of manufactured goods than the entire GDP of many countries. Caterpillar and John Deere both export Billions of dollars worth of machinery every year.
The single largest manufacturer of machine tools in the entire WORLD is the Haas Company, in Oxnard California- in 2007, they were selling over 1000 CNC machine tools a month, including 100 a month to china alone.

While the USA does not employ anywhere near as many workers as it used to in Manufacturing, it is still a huge manufacturer, and a big exporter.
 
I am not American, which allows me to see how great America is/was without having to suffer it, I know it's unfair. I was going to reply in detail to bigbadlupus but I've had too many of these kind of "debates".

Just a couple of points:

- Making a package deal of all empires as if the Golden Horde and the Roman Civilization were both comparable for being tagged Empires is prepostrous. While the American Republic has a lot in common with the Roman Republic (they both extended civilization to the overall if not sheer benefit of the natives), America has nothing in common with the Mongolians. This isn't a historical detail: Utopias don't exist, you may wish for one in the afterlife but god forbid someone try to impose (yet again) an utopia on Earth. In this context the Roman Empire in the 1st C a.d. and the American "Empire" in the 21st can both be regarded as inmensely beneficial for all, in comparison to the alternative that would or would have occuppied the void.

-Empire doesn't mean allocating peripherical resources to the Center. From Latin, Imperare, means to prevail. Allocating resources from the outskirst to A center is something that happens all the time, in all scales, it's called economy. Like when you buy raw edibles at different stores and then cook a meal with them at home. The only relevant catch is whether those transactions were made voluntarily or by coercion or fraud. In the spirit of this description may I say that America's worldwide influence has been the most uncoerced formed of influence history has seen.

-If America was dying (and I surely hope she isn't), then it'd be grossly unfair to revel in American accomplishments (public available internet, international travel, a certain standard of individual freedom now more or less accepted by most) while despising her at the same time. I get it, free minds tend not to be blindly patriotic, that's great, but when it comes to the best country in the world it's a very fine line.

- Finally, America is great for legalizing personal choice, for having writen in its Constitution that I am free to pursuit my own happines, and so are you. If that implies moving to Argentina, or elsewhere, then 1) you're keeping up with American values and 2) the World wouldn't be such a nice place to expatriate to if American values hadn't "won" last century's battle. I admit it, it was won paying the price of distorting those same values they wished to uphold. It's again a fine line.
 
'Too bad I can't post sounds, Matt! I'd applaud!

Thanks, from this fourteenth-generation American, for an assessment both kind and accurate.
 
Ries said:
the USA is still one of the top 2 or 3 exporting countries in the world.
In 2008, it exported $1,826,596,000,000 worth of goods and services.
Yep, that over One Trillion dollars worth.
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But the growth of its imports has been greater still. I don't have the full 2008 figures, but for 2007, exports were $1,162bn and imports $1,956bn. As an exporter, the #1 spot now belongs to China, with USA in 2nd place.

Boeing alone exports more dollars worth of manufactured goods than the entire GDP of many countries.
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Aerospace is jointly dominated by the US and Europe (Airbus).

The single largest manufacturer of machine tools in the entire WORLD is the Haas Company, in Oxnard California- in 2007, they were selling over 1000 CNC machine tools a month, including 100 a month to china alone.
Click to expand...

Unlike years past, the USA is now #7 in machine tool exports (the top four positions are now held by Japan, Germany, China, and Italy; more here). In fact there has been some talk that the US machine tool industry might disappear from the map altogether if trends are any indicator, but I can't locate the relevant article at the moment.

Postscript: There is a useful analysis of the demise of the US machine tool industry by Rand over here. The causes listed are often the causes of the demise of other areas of US manufacturing as well. Except in the protected military-industrial sphere and perhaps in aerospace, it's difficult to think of any area of US manufacturing which is not under pressure, which has not been in decline.
 
It's been months since I last signed in and I'd forgotten subscribing to this thread. It is rich -- and in particular I salute you, BigBadWolf, for your very real-world comments in it. Please PM me if you care to. RWS is not bad either!

IMHO, virtually all politicians are scum, and that is the best summary I can give of the ameriKa's situation (I'm still in SC USA, anticipating my 1st South American foray within months). ameriKa's politicians are the dregs of the scum, certainly among those on the loose in the "free world". They are simply plunderers and genocidal maniacs and the people just keep taking it on the chin in crisis after avoidable man-made crisis, assault after assault on our liberties, raid after raid on our money and property, "war" after totally fraudulent and cowardly "war" on countries weaker than ourselves and phantom enemy factions. The pols get up every morning looking forward to more cannibalism, and if the sheeple here really have another revolution in them, I'll be pleasantly surprised. The frog has cooked to a perfection in the crock pot (set on "low"). The destruction of borders is the destruction of nationality itself. Any fool could have told you that before the TV age!

The above is the master plan for every country, folks -- don't doubt it! So far I don't (thank God) detect any mania for a "new" world order in Latin American dialectics though I don't personally think clubs like MERCOSUR area good sign at all.

I have no illusions about the pols in Latin America and they seem to get bad reviews, although in many cases they appear to be moving at a snail's pace compared to ameriKa's -- in some cases aping them, alas. Belize instituted an income tax at ameriKa's urging; other countries whore it up for los EEUU in varying degrees, others are most regrettably los EEUU's rape victims.

I would like to point out the obvious factors that make a country successful and viable, but I've caused enough wars in my time and so am at this time going to play the good little socially-proper housebroken rootless TV-addicted amerikan boomer and not be "controversial".
 
Just do the math, employment in the IOUSA is still going up. Malls are closing down, more people are losing their homes, and the second bubble is on the horizon. Just what is the second bubble? Similar to the first but even biggar. And the deficit continues to grow to the point where it is impossible to repay. Yet Senor Obambam still accepts the theory all is ok according to Helicopter Kid.
China seems to have created there own currency and the UN is calling for a new international currency since no one has any faith in the greenback.
Course all this must can be taken as a thought since I have no degree to back this up.
However much of what I have said has come to pass. And the Canadian dollar is getting stronger, while the greenback is teetering.

As I said before, want to come out on top, then buy what China needs.
Gold, Silver, Water, Iron Ore, Rare Metals, and food
I apologize if is have offended any Americans, it's the politics that put all of us at there mercy. Bush included, May he end up in the same hotel as the Taiwan ex-president
jed
 
America doesn't have anything for me anymore. After you've owned all the cars, gone to all the colleges, and eaten all the pizza, there isn't much in the way of culture unless shopping is all you live for. The standard of living is very low and few have access to good health care. If you have no money, then you're invited to the laboratory of Dr.Frankenstein for your health emergencies.

If "the greatest country on earth" can't figure out cheaper transportation inside cities, reasonable deliveries on education and health care, then sorry, you have lost me as a customer.

Bye Bye America.
 
Oh HDM you are so witty and so charming and a writer are you for Rupert Murdoch ?
 
Exactly the opposite of Rupert Murdoch and his kind. If you think about it, you would see how obvious that is.
 
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