Submitted 10 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to economics@lemmy.world
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/12/china-trade-trump-tariffs-beijing.html
KEY POINTS
China has spent the last fifty years building themselves into an industrial powerhouse. As a result, they are a vital part of the global economy, and that has put them in a position of considerable power. The US has decided we don’t like that so we’re going to try to weaken them, or at least slow their ascent. But now we’re discovering that we’re not as powerful or influential as we used to be. We have severely neglected our country and our people, and the quality and capability of our leadership has declined significantly, and we are paying the price.
Unfortunately, most Americans still can’t correctly identify the problem. Those who even recognize that there is a problem still think it’s Donald Trump, and that he is largely just an anomaly. But by now they should see that Trump is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. The real problem has been our failure to invest in our own people, leaving them pessimistic about their economic future, and, critically, poorly educated and completely lacking in critical thinking skills. Having been essentially abandoned by their leaders, they have been left to construct their own solutions to any perceived problems, without the skills necessary to construct viable ones. As a result, they’ve taken to deluded thinking, conspiracy theories, and even superstitious and supernatural ideas. Without anyone to guide them through reality, they’ve been left to form their own ideas about America. Trump is one result of that.
At this point, I don’t know if the US can be fixed. A part of me thinks it’s a lost cause, largely because fixing it would take radical action that I think most of our leaders are unwilling, or unable, to take. The collapse of the US may be inevitable at this point.
The US didnt fail to invest in their own industries, its more that most of the US’ industries decided to hand all their manufacturing to China - and not just the primary industries but the secondary and a large part of the tertiary too, all because labour was somewhat cheaper for the corporations, and the health/environmental costs could be ‘externalized’. A lot of side-impacts too - they took all the IP they were given, and stole any more they desired: counterfeit products have never been more rampant.
As the US traded away its blue collar industries, and left blue collar workers in unsteady times, it found that the only things China wanted in return were high quality US food imports and raw materials - relatively inexpensive exports. So a fairly large trade deficit built, and with all the excess capital, China purchased US treasury bonds and property, etc. The largest foreign owner of US debt in the world is China and has been for some years.
Even as economic power ceded, for a long while the US could still exert power through its 50-100 years banked institutional power and goodwill, and US controlled organizations that operate throughout the world, but Trump and Elon have been sabotaging them openly intentionally as fast as they can. The soft power is now all but gone too with world leaders now leaving the US out of major geopolitical discussions - unthinkable just a year ago.
There is no turning the clock back on globalization, but perhaps the first big step for America is getting money out of politics with strong legislation and harsh penalties for those that break it - overturn Citizens United, no more SuperPACs - prise the power away from corporations to dictate law and pick leaders, because they have crafted every issue you speak to. I’m not sure what hope the US has with that in the short term though, you’re living through the second Trump presidency - and he just accepted a $400million bribe gift from the Saudi govt, which his been A-OK’d by his mentally vacant Attourney General. Who knows though, even MAGAs are starting to get pissy with the outward corruption.
The US didnt fail to invest in their own industries
I didn’t say that we failed to invest in our industries, I said we failed to invest in our people. We left our people to their own devices, behold the result.
perhaps the first big step for America is getting money out of politics with strong legislation and harsh penalties for those that break it - overturn Citizens United, no more SuperPACs - prise the power away from corporations to dictate law and pick leaders, because they have crafted every issue you speak to.
Perhaps it’s possible that a majority of the American people will eventually, spontaneously coalesce around these goals, but I don’t think the chances are high. Given enough time, it might happen, but I’m not sure the US won’t collapse (similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union) before then.
Its gotta break first, people almost as a rule won’t fix something thats still working, because a barely working system is less scary than the unknown. People still have homes and food and savings accounts.
Everyone with half a brain knows China won the battle. Unfortunately, most Americans can’t come up with half a brain between three of them.
skozzii@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
It was at this moment, the US realized they F’d up and are no longer the world’s power.