Re: Maoheads

What aspects of Chinese culture is America actually benefiting from? The Sun will always rise and set. Love will always exist. I would still have electricity, running water and plumbing without China. Is it for our benefit that we share these things with them, or for theirs? And what exact good will the blueprints do for them? What exactly do I "owe" to China?

 

Besides $4.99 for my Kung Pao Chicken?

 

If they want to collect the banker debt so bad, then I would tell them to come on over and work for it.

 

I'm not the authority but to be brief I'll give my opinion as if it were fact while admitting up front that its my opinion at the moment.

Its a good question, and the religious reasons are that this will benefit posterity, the next generation or two of children -- maybe many more. The secular, more immediate reason, is that complex economic ties between the two huge nations is a discouragement to war. The USA's immediate motivation is to promote peace in the immediate or near future as well as economic stability in the world (foremost for its own benefit). The immediacy places it in the secular realm. "Lets avoid world war at all costs," followed by the religious "won't it be great to have warm relations between us and the Chinese? Imagine the shear potential 50 years from now!"

Religion deals with the idea of posterity, putting off the immediate for some future or dream . (Social Security is a 'Religious' plan in this sense, whose immediate secular purpose was to ease retirement of seniors but whose religious purpose was to make retirement for all a reality.) Religiously, we are giving up certain immediate economic advantages, but secular-ly we are stabilizing the sphere. I know this discounts all immediate concern as non-religious and classifies previously religious material as secular, but I've got to draw a line somewhere. Now is secular, and the future is religious. And that's why we want good relations with China.

 

You seem to be suggesting that the sun, love, electricity, water and plumbing are things that you may or may not choose to share; a truly bizarre notion.

 

Eclectic - you do not seem very familiar with the priciples of macroeconomics. If we did not pay them the debt that they are owed, the U.S. would go the way of Argentina's hyperinflation/default, or what you are starting to see with the European debt crisis (which will get worse as Greece gets closer to what is a probable default). No one would lend to us, and therefore our interest rates would skyrocket and could possibly set forth a wave of hyperinflation as the dollar would weaken tremendously.

I'm not saying we shouldn't ever default on our debt, it may eventually be the lesser of two evils. But it would have tremendous negative impacts on our economy and way of life.

You would not be so cocky if you truly understood the potential ramifications of your statement...

 

China sit on about $1.5 T of out national debt (File:Composition of U.S. Long-Term Treasury Debt 2005-2010.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
There are about 312,000,000 US citizens (http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html).

That means each man woman and child in the US owes about $5,000 to the Chinese gov't.

Yes, we could "default" or not pay it. But if you think things are bad now, OMG, you have no idea how bad they coulod get. As an example, every percent interest you pay now you could pretty much multiply by 10. Every bank account you have now, you could pretty much divide the interest by 10 (oh, and the balace by about that).

The 10s are based on what happened in post WWII France and Italy when they defaulted... since we are the world's biggest economy (say 100 times bigger than France or Italy when they defaulted), Those 10s above could easilty be 100s or 1000s.

This is nothing to laugh at.

 

Yes we Americans, own most of our debt, China owns a fraction, and we should appreciate that...their portion along with everyone elses is keeping us afloat in our global scheme right now.

But a real reason we like China? They are buying more and more of our stuff...we are getting more reliant on their imports of american goods...



Who needs who more is anyone's guess...

 

Do we actually manufacture goods that China is interested in purchasing?

 

"Do we actually manufacture goods that China is interested in purchasing?"

--> Ony a few. I live in a large manufacturing/shipping town in China, and I am very familiar with the situation. (A thousand long-bed containers of foreign-bound goods depart this city everyday.)

The only thing Chinese people want from America are high-tech items, such as American cars, American computers, etc. GM sells more cars in China than it does in the USA (but this is not nearly enough to shift the trade imbalance.)

And the cars and computers are not manufactured in America anyway.

 

China imports a good amount of agricultural products, mostly raw grain and processed meat.

Iowa alone does quite a bit of business with China.

 

This is sers biz? I'm shaking in my boots.

 

The war between America and China is coming.

 

Your OP didn't seem humerous?

 

Plz, one war at a time.

 

for the curious:
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time

metta,

~v

 

For those of you interested, should I post relative incomes and tax rates? Makes a pretty good case for Obama vs "Class Warfare"

Pax et amore omnia vincunt.

 

"Plz, one war at a time."

 

Makes a good case for a flax tax, IMHO. 15% across the board, get rid of all the deductions and exemptions. Then there would be no complaining about income on dividends vs. wages. All income would be taxed 15%, everyone would be on a level playing field and would contribute to society equally, whether you're Warren Buffet or the secretary. Like the Incas used to do, everyone contributes the same % of their life energy as "taxes".

 

Let me think about that. Probably the biggest disagreement is on Taiwan. I don't understand Chinese opinion about Taiwan. What is so offensive about it?