They’ve been at drawn daggers with the PRC since 1948. That suggests that they are in it to win it. But if they should fall to China regardless of their dedication to such abstractions as “freedom,” America is screwed. It will take the microchip factories currently under construction in the US years to go on-line. In the interim, 80% of all chips are made in Taiwan, and 100% of sophisticated electronics use those chips. If Taiwan falls under China’s hegemony, America will be eclipsed, and whatever is done a few years down the line to alleviate the chip shortage will be too little, too late. Yearn to breath free later. Right now, yearn to keep functioning tech.
Yes, I know all that.
Now, does it change anything?
First of all, do you think this administration could manage
a dust up with China? I submit this administration would
put our men out there to be slaughtered to diminish this
nation even more.
We have enough Chinese sympathizers to kill any nation.
China would know our every move days in advance.
The era of the carrier fleet might come to screeching end.
The era of our domination over the rest of the world
could be jeopardized either way, go in or not.
We’ve been doing damage to this nation for thirty years
now. It has certainly paid off for China, and has put
us in a grave situation.
China had no way of conquering Taiwan back 1948. It is true
that they have been at odds, ever since Chiang Kai-shek
led the old government off the mainland.
It’s only in the last 10 to 20 years that there became the
possibility down the road of a Chinese Mainland remedy to
this situation, by force.
I don’t think I’d term that a resounding demonstration of a
will to survive. I would agree that some hard liners are
probably still very animate at retaining their sovereignty.
The others, maybe yes, maybe no.
Certain people will always be home-sick for the old
country. They let the romanticism take hold, perhaps some
family considerations too, and they loose any contact with
what reunification would truly mean.
What the percentage break-downs on this are, I have no idea.
Yes, the microchip situation is dire. This day was coming
and we allowed it to get to this point. We have operated
like a third world nation for the last 30 years. If it
wasn’t for our legacy from the 20th Century, we would be
an even more also-ran nation than we are now.
Take a look at old photo of one of China’s larger cities
from the 1980s. Then get a photo of that same city from
today.
Then take a look at our major cities from the 1980s, and
another from today.
Guess which nation will show a broken down decay of a
society.
Along with manufacturing went research and development.
Along with manufacturing followed capital. We can’t keep
our schools, highways, city streets, and other government
programs financed. Our business environment isn’t as rosy
as our leaders would have us believe.
We changed the way we gauge inflation. We gamed it, so that
the things we actually need to survive aren’t in there.
This allowed our government to make it seem like things were
going great.
I submit the GDP has been gamed in the same manner. I don’t
think our GDP figures are worth a darn.
They try to make us think that we still have massive
manufacturing. We don’t. Much of what we “manufacture”
here has actually been 90% done overseas. We get the parts
here and put them together.
I bought a Mercury Mariner in 2006. I bought it because
it was manufactured in the USA. In truth all the
components were put together in China and Mexico. The
different combined components were then delivered to the
plant in Kansas City, where the car’s construction was
finalized.
I’m sure our government considered the value of the car
to have been derived from the labor of U. S. Citizens.
What a joke. That’s how it goes clear across the
spectrum.
We have made no headway whatsoever toward moving away
from China. Even in the lead up to a war-time footing,
we just can’t pull the trigger to leave China behind.
In essence, the battles have already been won.
We didn’t win.