Model Train Journal

I ran across this video that I thought was quit interesting. Not political and I'M not making it that way.

It is massive and apparently runs on fossil fuels I can't see how we are going to get away from fossil fuels for a very long time in the future


Why Global Supply Chains May Never Be the Same | A WSJ Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KtTAb9Tl6E

How the West invited China to eat its lunch
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59610019

The American people don't have a clue how badly they screwed themselves wanting cheap goods

Yet few know it even happened, let alone its date. China's admission to the World Trade Organization changed the game for America, Europe and most of Asia, and indeed for any country in possession of industrially valuable resources, such as oil and metals.

The promise, suggested by the likes of former US President Bill Clinton, was that "importing one of democracy's most cherished values, economic freedom", would enable the world's most populous nation to follow the path of political freedom too.

But that strategy failed. China began its ascent to its current status as the world's second biggest economy - and is on a seemingly inevitable path to becoming the world's biggest.

Indeed the US trade representative responsible for negotiating China's WTO deal, Charlene Barshefsky, told a Washington International Trade Association panel this week that China's economic model "somewhat disproved" the Western view that "you can't have an innovative society, and political control"

"It's not to say that China's innovative capacity is enhanced by its economic model," she added. "But it is to say that what the West thought were incompatible systems may not be necessarily incompatible systems."

As is typical with government decisions, the long term affects were never understood or presented or they were flat out lied about. It makes you wonder how all the highly paid economic experts in that sector of the government ever got there? Or was this the purpose of the decision from the start?

Hard to understand how bad decisions like this are allowed to happen, when even the bubba's in the street understood the possible long term affects of allowing manufacturing to move out of the USA. China was treated as a 3rd world economy leading up to inclusion in WTO and had favored trading status like many REAL 3rd world nations; China was never a 3rd world country.

HONDO74 wrote:How the West invited China to eat its lunch
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59610019

The American people don't have a clue how badly they screwed themselves wanting cheap goods

Yet few know it even happened, let alone its date. China's admission to the World Trade Organization changed the game for America, Europe and most of Asia, and indeed for any country in possession of industrially valuable resources, such as oil and metals.

The promise, suggested by the likes of former US President Bill Clinton, was that "importing one of democracy's most cherished values, economic freedom", would enable the world's most populous nation to follow the path of political freedom too.

Even at the time, I viewed Clinton's treatment of China to be less altruistic and more self-serving. Few people recall that the Clintons have strong ties to Sam Walton (Walmart). And that Walmart's rise to dominate the retail environment was spurred China's Most Favored Nation trading status and the retail chain's access to cheaply manufactured goods. Walmart's advantage killed both small businesses and seriously damaged American manufacturing. And the Chinese did contribute $$$ to Clinton's re-election campaign. They were caught, but how much money was not detected? And NAFTA, which Trump trashed (thank you!) gave another big middle finger to American workers.

When looking at the actions of the Clintons, the following apply:

• No act of theirs is altruistic; things are done for their own gain - always
• Follow the money - who's contributing? (We know who's collecting)
• Follow the corpses - you'll know who tried to do the right thing, or became expendable, or "went against the family" (like Fredo)
• If there are any questions, just check one or more of the above.

Bill traded a nation's economic power for his own gain.

Hillary traded national secrets for her own benefit.

Matching blindfolds and a firing squad would be real justice, but I know we'll never see that.

George

That is why my post is flavored with innuendo's of a purposeful decision at that time, that threw the American people under the bus for financial rewards. It goes way higher than the Clinton's. I'm afraid we will never know the truth, as the "big boys" own the media today and tell us what they want us to think.

up148 wrote:As is typical with government decisions, the long term affects were never understood or presented or they were flat out lied about.

It's always been short term -- until the next election so that's as far out as our Gov't has ever looked at anything. So start and end there.

It makes you wonder how all the highly paid economic experts in that sector of the government ever got there?

Highly paid? No. They could make lots more working for the banks and Wall St. They got there by being appointed by whoever won the election and exited with the next Gov't coming in - there is no long-term planning possible with our Gov't. Everything is done to further whoever is in office and smear whoever just left.

Or was this the purpose of the decision from the start?

See above.

Hard to understand how bad decisions like this are allowed to happen

See above.

when even the bubba's in the street understood the possible long term affects of allowing manufacturing to move out of the USA.

Big maybe there......understanding anything long term by the majority of this country is limited to generally blaming someone else for their own self-inflicted poor decisions and then believing the lies that they are fed.

Very few are able to look beyond their own thriving on the lies and blame game to actually look forward long-term and at the big picture at the same time. Fewer still are willing to accept that the problems reside within our own system and are then also willing to accept the sacrifices that are necessary. It's all about me, me, me, and mine, mine, mine and stop the other guy even if it makes no sense at all.

We are our own worse enemy.

G3750 wrote:

HONDO74 wrote:How the West invited China to eat its lunch
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59610019

The American people don't have a clue how badly they screwed themselves wanting cheap goods

Few people recall that the Clintons have strong ties to Sam Walton (Walmart). And that Walmart's rise to dominate the retail environment was spurred China's Most Favored Nation trading status and the retail chain's access to cheaply manufactured goods. Walmart's advantage killed both small businesses and seriously damaged American manufacturing.

Amazon has followed in the same footsteps And there are those who think it's great, Well maybe not those who work in the distribution centers. Have to wait and see what will happen when they go UNION...