[Torie]

That's interesting. I will take your word for it. Protectionism will cause America to lose its edge. The planet cannot afford that. That is the primary reason I am so passionate on this issue, beyond the inevitable overall degradation in the standard of living of Americans vis a vis a protectionist regime. America has unfinished business to do on this planet.

[ninenot]

IMHO, protectionism will NOT cause US to 'lose the edge,' and you only have to survey the last 100 years of industrial/technical progress to determine that.

Virtually all the technological development in that timeframe was done here. Major exceptions: BASIC rocketry, by Nazi Germany (perfected here;) the diesel engine, Germany; --there are others.

But manufacturing prowess: all invented here (some exported to Japan, then re-imported under duress...); electronics smarts, guidance systems, software for manufacturing, all done HERE.

Reason: we compete internally, all the time. You developed a specialty practice and compete against Big Downtown firms...right?

And "protectionism" is one thing--but maintaining a standard of living is another thing entirely. That calls for judicious, flexible tariffs, not cut-offs or shut-offs, EXCEPT in the case of war.

Another thread: (run FR search on "Losing China" Again by title) contains a thread-head article which proposes that Red China is more than a little bellicose toward the USA, although they are masking it for the time being. I think it deserves some serious consideration.

BTW, the article simply goes into further detail on what some of us have been saying for quite a while--that PRChina is deliberately and carefully stealing our industrial base for purposes that have very little to do with "empowering the masses" in China.

Not by co-incidence, X42, who will be remembered as the highest-ranking traitor in US history, was the single most significant proponent of "make nice" to PRChina, after Kissinger, whose motivations were always doubtful--that is to say, never clearly patriotic.