Thoughts on Terrorism

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• • (Visitor)
  • Friday, Feb. 24, 2006 @ 09:06:58

  Good post - though America was a latecomer in our genocide perpetrated against Ireland, which goes back to Elizabethan times and was orchestrated by the poet/lapdog Edmund Spenser.
  
  See, http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/veue1.html
  
  Americans are insular, they have no national media as such and are loathe to leave their homeland. The American ruling elite knows just what it is doing though, at present, a change to the Yen or any other currency to replace the primacy of the dollar would bankrupt the country. Maybe that is what China hopes for.
  
  It is predicted that China and India will displace the USA by 2008 as the worlds new superpowers.

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• • OPC1D
  • Friday, Feb. 24, 2006 @ 09:54:37

  A very good point, the American inability to live within their means has resulted in huge parts of the USA being owned or mortgaged to, principally, the Japanese and Chinese.
  The Chinese are now the biggest purchasers of Dollars as this keeps the exchange rate of their own currency, the yuan, artificially low. America either doesn't understand or chooses to ignore the long term effect of this and are subsequently walking further and further into the trap.
  Once again the US fails to understand history, in my World of International Trade & Commerce, the period granted to a new investment to perform is at its shortest among the people with the shortest attention span in the World, the USA, where if a return is not happening in 6 months its all a disaster and must be closed down. The period gets longer as you go round the World in an easterly direction. When you get to China and Japan the period given to a corporate/ Governmental strategy can be 25 years.
  Remember that even before they started to flex their industrial muscle and become the workshop of the World the Chinese languages were the most spoken on the planet, by comparison English has the same status as Welsh
  The USA is already a spent force it just hasn't yet heard the click of the trap closing behind it.

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  • • (Visitor)
    • http://www.blog.co.uk/index.php/harshcanwrite
    • Friday, Feb. 24, 2006 @ 20:09:34

    But can we ever think of coming of China as a super power without United States' role as the primary market for world's goods and services? I do not know much about history, but I believe there was a similar hue and cry about United States' inability to compete when Japan was in the midst of its heady days of prosperity in the 70s and 80s. What happend later? Everybody knows!
    
    But one should not forget that, US is still, and probably will be the magnet for all the innovation and excitement in a globalized world. After all, the most excting things in this century have all been American, Google,iPod,Walmarts etc. Not to forget that China is NOT a democracy. We really do not know when the pent up aspirations of the chinese people will erupt like a volcano. In such an eventuality, I foresee all the wonderful economic achievements of theirs vanishing wtihout a trace. Well! as far as my country is concerned, it will be eternally struggling with its own internal problems. But still we would definitely be a more responsible power than the People's Republic.

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• • OPC1D
  • Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 @ 09:58:01

  You raise some interesting issues. I think we have to set all these things against the fact that change is the only constant. If we add the fact that all things have a natural life cycle then we see that whatever an individual does, let alone a nation, there is a certainty that it will eventually change and be replaced by something else.
  The ancient civilisations of South America, Rome, Greece, China, India, Egypt, the list is long, were all eventually swept away most aften by a larger less educated poorer competitor. Its very easy to motivate the population that has nothing to take it from the neighbour that has lots.
  America has given the World a great deal but its time is now passing, it dominant position is being taken by China and the one thats very quietly building itself a very interesting future, India.
  if we dwell on those 2 countries we see that it creates an interesting race between ideaology. India, a capitalist democracy and China which is, theoretically at least, a Communist state with rule by the people for the people. Its of course nonsense because its really a dictatorship where control is vested in a self serving ruling elite. Thats not to say that such an arrangement cannot be extremely effective, look at Singapores rise from nothing.
  Huge structural changes that both countries have to make are probably easier in the Chinese model because the Government doesn't need to consult or appease an electorate in the way that India does but the outcome is of a higher quality in the Indian model because of the democratic checks and balances.
  The West becomes over time just a bystander on the edge, if for no other reason than it is cursed by the fact that the higher the level of development and well being of the average citizen the lower the birth rate. While this is a problem for all nations it is at a stage of making real differences in the West.
  Its not the meek that shall inherit the earth its the poor and downtrodden they just need a cause to rally them, did I hear someone say, Islam ..........

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  • • (Visitor)
    • http://www.blog.co.uk/index.php/harshcanwrite
    • Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 @ 11:08:45

    Well, it is easier to play safe and say that China and to a lesser extent India will eventually become developed following the footsteps of UK/France and rest of W Europe, US, post war Germany, Japan and South Korea. I find it a little hazardous to extrapolate this way. One should understand that the western nations and Japan had the luxury of using the world’s natural resources with impunity. Now when these two big Asian countries having a third of humanity between them try to replicate the west in becoming economic power houses, I cannot even imagine the kind of consequences we will be facing. Our entire race is dependent on fossil fuels and we still discard more than what we consume. I would be sounding a little clichéd, but still this is a matter of grave concern. This makes me wonder if these countries indeed become developed, it would be at what cost?! In my own short life I am seeing some incredible changes, some good,some bad and some down right ugly. Good that I am earning more than what my Father earned in his entire lifetime thanks to globalization. Bad that at this crucial stage, the left parties in India's lower house have put a spanner to 'real' development i.e., lifting millions of Indians out of poverty. Downright ugly, becuase India's economic development is environemtally unsustainable. Not that I am a green fascist a la the Greenpeace, I only feel sustainable devlopment is not in the realms of public discourse in India.
    
    As far as the United States is concerned, even after taking into account the rise of China, I still believe that it will remain the world’s pre eminent nation. Demography will not be a concern as immigration will offset the effects of a graying work force in the US and eventually in rest of the developed world. I am a strong believer in the power of brands and I feel no one can beat the American brand image. The institutions of free wheeling capitalism, the centers of learning like Harvards and the MITs and the strength of American corporations cannot be built over night, or even in half a century. Chinese adopting English will only accentuate America’s numero uno status. The only difference later will be that US would cease to become a white protestant country (this has already happened to an extent and will only accelerate) and would become even more multi ethnic. On a lighter vein I would say that at a time when China turns English, US itself would have turned Spanish!
    
    

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• • OPC1D
  • Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 @ 18:48:22

  This is becoming an interesting discussion, I agree it is dangerous to extrapolate what happened in history and assume automatically that it will happen again.
  
  China & India will hold an influencial position due to the sheer weight of numbers as between them they will be the majority of mankind.
  However I do not believe that it is by any means certain that this will mean a state of affluence similar to that enjoyed in recent history by Europe and the USA. That affluence was built by selfishly grabbing and exploiting the Worlds natural resources. The opportunities to do this in the same way are very limited. There is a short term gain for both Nations in grabbing what could be described as a modern equivalent which is the jobs of European and American workers. Witness the huge growth a IT related job transfers to India and manufacturing jobs to China.
  This may well be beneficial in the short term in improving the profitability in the West while improving the prosperity of the East but is not without huge potential pit falls.
  
  What happens when the savings derived from outsourcing have been used and the spending power of the local consumer has been destroyed because they no longer have employment. Who then buys the goods and services offered by the new provider.
  
  Who would have predicted 30 years ago that General Motors would be brought to its knees by a Japanese car manufacturer, but its happened
  
  I watched during the 80's and 90's while just one example, Seagate, hard drive manufacturers, moved their manufacturing facility to lower costs. first from the USA to Scotland, then from Scotland to Singapore, then to Malaysia. Basically following the availability of incoming job creation schemes paid for by the local Governments. In each case as soon as a cheaper alternative was found they moved on.
  
  While all this is happening the poor old World is groaning under the abuse heaped on it by an uncaring and unfeeling mankind.
  
  I fear humanity while very clever is not very bright. Even the smallest bird knows not to foul its own nest
  

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  • • (Visitor)
    • http://www.blog.co.uk/index.php/harshcanwrite
    • Monday, Mar. 06, 2006 @ 06:57:47

    Very true!
    
    But Mr. Higgins, it would be great if you could write more .
    I am slightly disappointed that you do not write often enough.
    
    People like me are waiting to consume more of your thought provoking and brilliant write ups!
    
    

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