Are we slowly becoming Great Britain? Options

[Hartmann]

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Is...id=oid%3A494048

My girlfriend sent me this link after I told her about a conversation I had with a co-worker. We were talking about China and the slow takeover they are making. We are in debt to them and they aren't willing to call our bill because they like the money that is coming in and are using it to build cities.

It's like they are ignored problem. They have nukes, they are losing natural resources, they've bought up most of Africa and Australia for their natural resources and pretty soon something is going to snap and Japan will become China's Puerto Rico.

[Hartmann]

impala, all of your comments are based on the assumption that the U.S. is a de facto power in the world. In truth, the U.S. is slowly moving out of that role, much like Great Britain no longer being the dominating power it was before WWII.

China just sent a "police force" into Sudan and other peacekeeping elements into other parts of Africa. So they can do that and understand it.

International economics yes, so it's quite simple, they want their money just as much as bartender. They are getting paid just enough now to keep them happy, what happens when they aren't happy anymore? We are financing their growth but what happens when they want food? It's a great motivator to takeover land. Just look at history. Why did Japan invade China? Why did Germany go after Russia and the Ukraine (besides genocide)? Why did the Romans invade the surrounding areas (and yet leave the governments in place)?

As China and India suck up natural resources and start competing against each other for food sources (since China is expanding into its ag area) they're next step will be to buy food (till they get tired of paying for it), then they are going to forcefully look for land to supply their population.

[impala454]

impala, all of your comments are based on the assumption that the U.S. is a de facto power in the world. In truth, the U.S. is slowly moving out of that role, much like Great Britain no longer being the dominating power it was before WWII.

we're moving out of that role?!?!? coulda fooled me. short of a world war, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess we have more bases in other countries than anyone else by a long shot. hell we're putting anti-nuke missles all over europe! i don't see how we're not the 'de facto' power in the world. especially military wise.

China just sent a "police force" into Sudan and other peacekeeping elements into other parts of Africa. So they can do that and understand it.

i'm not saying they can't do it or don't understand it, they just don't. at least not nearly to the extent that we do. they do seem to be up and coming and kind of stepping it up to help in these areas, which i think is great. that's what the other superpowers should be doing. but them stepping up that kind of aid and policing doesn't knock us down, or mean we're 'turning into great britian'.

International economics yes, so it's quite simple, they want their money just as much as bartender. They are getting paid just enough now to keep them happy, what happens when they aren't happy anymore? We are financing their growth but what happens when they want food? It's a great motivator to takeover land. Just look at history. Why did Japan invade China? Why did Germany go after Russia and the Ukraine (besides genocide)? Why did the Romans invade the surrounding areas (and yet leave the governments in place)?

yeah and what happened to all of those invading countries? do you see japan ruling over china? is germany ruling over russia? are the romans still covering half the eastern map? and in none of those cases were nuclear weapons available, which changes the whole story.

As China and India suck up natural resources and start competing against each other for food sources (since China is expanding into its ag area) they're next step will be to buy food (till they get tired of paying for it), then they are going to forcefully look for land to supply their population.

and where are they going to find said land?

according to wikipedia, we're importing ~200 billion in goods from China per year, but we're also exporting 57 billion in goods to China. we also have more overall exports than China. China's biggest imports come from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and us. Their biggest exports go to us, Japan, South Korea, and Germany. Do you think China would go to war and shift their entire economic structure to military spending, so they could break all of these relationships, lose nearly a trillion a year in exports, as well as get their packed in like an anthill asses smartbombed into submission?? There is nothing in it for them, which is why they'll never do it.

I know you guys think I'm some pompous american asshole, but it's not pompous it's the truth. as long as we got our fingers on the triggers there aint a damn thing any other country has on us. our pilots yank & bank better than anyone. our navy outnumbers the next biggest navy by 300%. our bombs are bigger, they can hit a target the size of a shoebox from 80,000 feet. until these kinds of things change, we are the biggest, most significant world superpower.