Why Donald Trump is the only viable candidate

[Reeve]

Arming your competition isn't wise. More should have been done to keep our industry at home. The west still makes a better product.

We have lots of industry in the US still. We're at $2 trillion in industrial output per year, and still growing.

https://www.aei.org/publication/char...g-output-2012/


2012 is the most recent year of data I could find. But you can see that our manufacturing sector is doing just fine. We don't have as many manufacturing JOBS as we used to, due to increasing automation, but we're still a nation that makes stuff. A LOT of stuff. Good quality stuff.

[Adam Jensen]

#feelthebern imo.

Indeed.

Whether or not he has a chance to succeed, Bernie is the only one running who I think actually cares about the US. I'm not excited about Hilary and I'm certainly not excited about any of the GOP candidates (especially Trump.) Bernie actually wants to save this country from the elites who are ruining it.

[Nadiru]

I seriously doubt that the amount of products sold there rivals the number sold in both EU and US. In any case it is possible that it was a factor, however are you really going to sit there and argue that the average work force cost in china is on par with what we have here.

Would be interesting to see actual numbers on this, anyhow will check back in the morning.

China's a huge market for the iPhone.

[primalmatter]

Sure if you want to lower the standard of living again in your nation, i am however not okay with that.

The only way to really bring jobs back and not lower our standard of living is to form one big clump with the US and EU and go full protectionism against cheap labor countries therefor removing all competition between all states and nations by making the cost of your workforce the same and if it's produced outside of those groups it only gets imported under certain quota.
So all in all no solution is realistic to this 'problem' (if we see it as a problem, i don't since if it's not cheap labor in less developed countries it's going to be automation that will kill manufacturing jobs off) it will never happen.

People need to learn that service jobs are the future, and service jobs is a broad term. The guy coming to your house to fix your internet is also in the service sector, the guys that perform maintenance in buildings also service jobs. We can and should fully strive to service industries as we do not need manufacturing and things from the 80's like the car manufacturing jobs, all those jobs are only staying here because governments are giving them so many tax breaks and subsidies that all that money would be 'gradually' over time better invested in other things. The good thing about service jobs and this might be a false observation is that we no longer have to look too much to "big" companies supplying jobs for a whole region, a lot more smaller companies can do that, what creates more stability looking at how the giants created social blood baths in both the US and EU.

Social media also brought forth a whole new type of industry that creates chaos among the older ones, with all those applications and services (not to be mistake by service jobs)

It is my opinion that if you keep looking backwards in an economy you are always going to be losing out, being it you as a person or you as a government.

I don't really see where you are coming from... Even if we did things your way (as foolish as it would be to merge with the collapsing EU). How do you believe service is a more sustainable economic path compared to production?

If you constantly ship out your wealth overseas you will just dig yourself into a hole deeper and deeper. As for standard of living... it doesn't change that much. The items we are talking about here are already for the most part luxury goods. Yes they will increase in price but it is really the only realistic way we have of continuing forward unless we want to adapt china's position of using effectively slave labor,

You plan to keep servicing things other countries sell us... how exactly does exporting the bulk of our wealth help us.

Service can only survive on the back of a thriving production industry otherwise it collapses in on itself fairly quickly.

[Vyxn]

All "human forms of communism" have been some variation of Stalinism, which is a specific heirarchical concept within communism. It isn't even reflective of Marxist-Leninist communism, let alone other forms.

Marxist communism is a theory that when applied in reality it requires an authoritarian government

[Adam Jensen]

And yet, somehow, we've managed to go 70 years without any being used in hostile action. So you'll excuse me if I don't jump on your fearmongering bandwagon.

Particularly as, again, I've lived through an actual conflict between nuclear powers, so your wild fantasies about a possible future conflict just comes across as delusion.

People should learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis. The US and the Soviets got very close to a war, and yet the threat of oblivion still caused both to pause and stand down. The US removed their missiles in Turkey, the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba. Nuclear war is a very scary thing and despite all the saber rattling and warmongering, no one wants it to happen. No one. Nuclear powers will do anything and everything to avoid launching a nuke in anger.

[Ol Scratch]

2012 is the most recent year of data I could find. But you can see that our manufacturing sector is doing just fine. We don't have as many manufacturing JOBS as we used to, due to increasing automation, but we're still a nation that makes stuff. A LOT of stuff. Good quality stuff.

I was in agreement with you til you hit that point. The United States does not make a lot of "good quality" stuff. They much prefer cheap, flimsy stuff that sells in bulk.

[Felya]

Marxist communism is a theory that when applied in reality it requires an authoritarian government

There is a huge difference between requires and has resulted in. As an example, if Lenin were not shot or Troski not forced to flee Russia, the odds of Russia resulting in an authoritarian regime would be far lower than with Stalin. What you are saying is no different than those who claim capatalism requires a plutocracy.

[Kujako]

I seriously doubt that the amount of products sold there rivals the number sold in both EU and US. In any case it is possible that it was a factor, however are you really going to sit there and argue that the average work force cost in china is on par with what we have here.

Would be interesting to see actual numbers on this, anyhow will check back in the morning.

China is one of the largest markets for iPhones. And again, tariffs on products made outside of China VS no tariffs on products made outside of the US. Last I checked, it was a 42% tariff if Apple wanted to make iPhones outside of China and import them. Since we charge no tariffs on goods imported from China, why wouldn't Apple make the phones there if they want to sell to the Chinese market?

[Vyxn]

There is a huge difference between requires and has resulted in. As an example, if Lenin were not shot or Troski not forced to flee Russia, the odds of Russia resulting in an authoritarian regime would be far lower than with Stalin. What you are saying is no different than those who claim capatalism requires a plutocracy.

is it just a coincidence that every were that communism was applied it was done so under an authoritarian government?
communism requires an authoritarian government it isn't a coincidence

[Kraenen]

is it just a coincidence that every were that communism was applied it was done so under an authoritarian government?
communism requires an authoritarian government it isn't a coincidence

would you consider christian or hippie communes to be authoritarian governments?

[Endus]

is it just a coincidence that every were that communism was applied it was done so under an authoritarian government?
communism requires an authoritarian government it isn't a coincidence

To begin with, you're either operating from a position of ignorance or dishonesty, because your claim here is flat-out untrue; there have been communist societies without any authoritarian government. Anthropologists pretty much all agree that early hunter-gatherer societies were some form of primitive communism.

Second, you're trying to artificially restrict the viewpoint here to the 20th Century communist regimes, which are all explicitly Stalinist in derivation, and Stalinism emerged as a response to Marxist-Leninism theory, it is not an example thereof. Pretending that Stalinism is what all communism is like is just grossly false, and demonstrates that you either don't understand communist theory at all, or again, you're being deliberately dishonest about it.

It isn't a "coincidence". It's due to Marxism-Leninism emerging and evolving, and then being deliberately shoved aside by Stalinism, from which all the modern regimes sprang. Your argument here is like saying that democracy requires that you speak English, because look at all the Democratic countries speaking English. It's just patent nonsense.

[buck008]

To begin with, you're either operating from a position of ignorance or dishonesty, because your claim here is flat-out untrue; there have been communist societies without any authoritarian government. Anthropologists pretty much all agree that early hunter-gatherer societies were some form of primitive communism.

Second, you're trying to artificially restrict the viewpoint here to the 20th Century communist regimes, which are all explicitly Stalinist in derivation, and Stalinism emerged as a response to Marxist-Leninism theory, it is not an example thereof. Pretending that Stalinism is what all communism is like is just grossly false, and demonstrates that you either don't understand communist theory at all, or again, you're being deliberately dishonest about it.

It isn't a "coincidence". It's due to Marxism-Leninism emerging and evolving, and then being deliberately shoved aside by Stalinism, from which all the modern regimes sprang. Your argument here is like saying that democracy requires that you speak English, because look at all the Democratic countries speaking English. It's just patent nonsense.

I told you. Faulty, Cold War logic is rampant.