I am not sure i have enough facts yet but with China getting ready to bail out EU nations, and Obama coming to India to seek US jobs, another set of data is coming to light: Turkey, which has long been waiting to join the EU, is now in far better economic shape that many of the member states. It is a healthy economy with a lower deficit than the EU. It already has pragmatic working relations with both the Arab world and Israel. It will have a free trade zone with Jordan as of March 1, 2011.
Two years ago, the prospect of China bailing out the EU or India providing jobs to the US would have been laughable. But with this trend, is there a possibility of Turkey returning to its traditional role as a major arbiter between East and West? If the EU weakens further, will individual EU nations seek help from Turkey? Stranger things have happened in the last few years . . .
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Is the US moving backwards as fast as China advances forwards?
Is the US moving backwards as fast as China advances forwards?
Whether asking Democrats or Republicans, Conservatives or Liberals, Independents or RINOs (or any other pejorative you can think of), multiple polls ranging from the New York Times to New Media sites show that over 75% of Americans agree on one thing: we are going in the wrong direction.
Which is not surprising: Sarah Palin places cross-hairs on a Democratic congresswoman's district and she is later shot by a kook. The President, no less, threatens that if the opposition brings a knife, he would bring a gun. The poor middle-class voter finds that no one is truly working on the issues: the financial crisis, unemployment and general sense of unease are still there, two years after the last election.
Not surprising, after all. We vote for who is going outdo the other in rhetoric and who is going the attack the illegal farm worker harder. After all, stock market swaps and financial bailouts are just too hard for us to understand.
Keep this going and all we are left with is an unkempt yard, neck-deep in foreclosure while JP Morgan laughs all the way to their own bank.
All this while, the real competitor, the Chinese juggernaut, moves further and moves faster. America should applaud and leverage China's economic rise but oppose its military growth that threatens all of Asia. The question is: do we have any strength left to do so?
To get back in the right direction, we need to go back to the principles that made this country great:
Small government--our government is huge--and still cannot fix the economy!
Low taxes--we pay through our noses--and still cannot stop corruption and bailouts
Strong Defense--if we still cannot beat a bunch of guys in the Afghan caves, what will we overcome? The Chinese stealth fighter?
What are we doing wrong?
1. Fighting with civilian farmhands rather than dangerous terrorists over illegal immigration--there is a difference. As a corollary, we are also keeping out legal skilled immigrants--for the first time in many years, the H1 quota went unfilled showing that skilled Indians, Russians and Chinese scientists would rather stay home or go to other countries than America. To clarify again--we need talented Chinese (and other) people in America--our concern is the Chinese government, not the Chinese people.
2. Not holding the big banks accountable--that won't happen because too many politicians are beholden to their funds.
3. Not holding the politicians accountable for making us the first generation whose standard of living is lower than that of our parents. But that is our own fault, because we don't vote that way.
Aah, then, it looks like we have met the enemy and it is We, the People. Maybe we deserve what we get. Whether the Chicago machine wins or the Wall Street machine wins, one thing is clear: the American people lose.
Whether asking Democrats or Republicans, Conservatives or Liberals, Independents or RINOs (or any other pejorative you can think of), multiple polls ranging from the New York Times to New Media sites show that over 75% of Americans agree on one thing: we are going in the wrong direction.
Which is not surprising: Sarah Palin places cross-hairs on a Democratic congresswoman's district and she is later shot by a kook. The President, no less, threatens that if the opposition brings a knife, he would bring a gun. The poor middle-class voter finds that no one is truly working on the issues: the financial crisis, unemployment and general sense of unease are still there, two years after the last election.
Not surprising, after all. We vote for who is going outdo the other in rhetoric and who is going the attack the illegal farm worker harder. After all, stock market swaps and financial bailouts are just too hard for us to understand.
Keep this going and all we are left with is an unkempt yard, neck-deep in foreclosure while JP Morgan laughs all the way to their own bank.
All this while, the real competitor, the Chinese juggernaut, moves further and moves faster. America should applaud and leverage China's economic rise but oppose its military growth that threatens all of Asia. The question is: do we have any strength left to do so?
To get back in the right direction, we need to go back to the principles that made this country great:
Small government--our government is huge--and still cannot fix the economy!
Low taxes--we pay through our noses--and still cannot stop corruption and bailouts
Strong Defense--if we still cannot beat a bunch of guys in the Afghan caves, what will we overcome? The Chinese stealth fighter?
What are we doing wrong?
1. Fighting with civilian farmhands rather than dangerous terrorists over illegal immigration--there is a difference. As a corollary, we are also keeping out legal skilled immigrants--for the first time in many years, the H1 quota went unfilled showing that skilled Indians, Russians and Chinese scientists would rather stay home or go to other countries than America. To clarify again--we need talented Chinese (and other) people in America--our concern is the Chinese government, not the Chinese people.
2. Not holding the big banks accountable--that won't happen because too many politicians are beholden to their funds.
3. Not holding the politicians accountable for making us the first generation whose standard of living is lower than that of our parents. But that is our own fault, because we don't vote that way.
Aah, then, it looks like we have met the enemy and it is We, the People. Maybe we deserve what we get. Whether the Chicago machine wins or the Wall Street machine wins, one thing is clear: the American people lose.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The assassination attempt on Rep Giffords is a watershed
The assassination attempt on Rep Giffords is a watershed in modern American life; the tangent on the curve; the American equivalent of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, or any other hyperbolic analogy of your choice.
We may not physically have a civil war in the country but we certainly do, in the hearts and minds of our people.
We may not physically have a civil war in the country but we certainly do, in the hearts and minds of our people.
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