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The reason why China is spending a lot more on infrastructure than the U.S. is because they didn't have a lot of infrastructure to begin with and if they want s
by curtis 8y ago
The reason why China is spending a lot more on infrastructure than the U.S. is because they didn't have a lot of infrastructure to begin with and if they want some they have to build it.
The U.S. already has most (not all) of the infrastructure we need. A lot of what we need to build is to replace existing infrastructure which is getting old but technically still works.
Comparing Chinese to American infrastructure spend is comparing apples to oranges.
Furthermore, if you want to look at where America is wasting money, compare the percentage of GDP Canada spends on healthcare to the percentage the U.S. spends. The difference is likely larger than the 5% or so of GDP we've been spending on defense.
And keep in mind that most of U.S. spending on defense isn't warfare, it really is defense, partly because we have obligations to defend other countries, some of which might be at substantial risk right now (We have no obligation to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression, but we most definitely have an obligation to defend Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia).
- skh 8y agoOur roads are bad. We lack decent public transportation. Our internet speeds are slow and overly exspensive. We do not have most of the infrastructure we need. Jack Ma calls it warfare you call it defense. Whatever term you wish to use is fine with me. The trillions we spent on defense in Iraq and Afghanistan certainly was not well spent. We do have an obligation to defend the Ukraine against Russian attacks. That was the deal they made with us when they gave up nukes in the early 90s.
- RobertoG 8y agoPart of that deal was also that Ukraine would not be part of the OTAN, but a firewall between the OTAN and Russia.
- skh 8y agoYes, NATO expansion riled Russia and this is the result of imperial hubris on the part of the U.S.
- mikeash 8y agoThe deal with Ukraine only requires us to defend them against nuclear attacks, and even then, the only requirement is to seek action in the UN. For conventional attacks, our only obligation is not to attack ourselves. This is such a common misconception. I wonder where it came from. The Budapest Memorandum is short and understandable. Is this just a game of telephone gone badly wrong, or is there propaganda at work?
- skh 8y agoThanks for the correction. I suppose propaganda is at play in the misconception. Also it wouldn’t make sense for Ukraine to not want a better security guarantee given the history between Russia and Ukraine.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- boomboomsubban 8y agoThe only actions explicitly addressed in the memorandum involve nuclear attack, the other sections point to other treaties that arguably should mandate defense.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- sound1 8y agoI think US has used its military to armtwist other countires or wage a war when they don't agree to their terms. And so far it has given a great economic ROI for the corporations and top 1% at the cost of taxpayer money. System is working exactly as designed.
- baby 8y agoHaving travelled in China and in the US, I can tell you that I much prefer taking the train in China.
- seandoe 8y agonot sure why you're getting down voted, I think these are some great points. Similar to trying to update a large legacy codebase vs starting from scratch-- it's easier to design, plan, and execute using the latest and greatest, vs. ripping out old infrastructure and systems or building on top of/along side of/etc. And yes, healthcare spending is unnecessarily insane. Healthcare is tough though because it is not your ordinary product. Is it a right? How do we deal with different levels of care? Politicians don't want to answer these questions. The truth is there is unlimited demand and limited resources in a market where we feel morally obligated to give everyone the absolute best-- an impossibility. Healthcare is just one example that gives me doubts about our political system. Do we have the collective courage/wisdom to make big, important decisions? Sometimes any decision is better than none and I see our current healthcare system as a non-decision-- a "kick the can down the road". What scares me about China is their gov't's ability to make these decisions (whether right/wrong, regardless of consequences) and get shit done as well as their people's staunch nationalism, essentially, our weaknesses. I do think that western values of freedom and transparency win in the long game, I just hope that the free nations can stay in the game long enough to win. On that note. I think we need to get better at being a country--politically, economically, etc. We need to work on inefficiencies in the markets: monopolies, corruption, and players in comfortable positions because they've gamed the system. The free market should be uncomfortable for all players. Constant competition is what we want. Unfortunately, as players in the free market win, they gain power and alter the rules of the market so it is no longer free/efficient. We can't fault them for these self-preservation tactics, hell we view them as individuals right? (corporate personhood, Citizens United, etc). At the same time we need to seek out and prevent these cancerous tendencies. In addition, don't let corporations get too big too fail. Let corporations that are no longer fit, die! I watched that Crouching Tiger series on youtube and while I recognize that it is a bit alarmist, it's tough to ignore the facts.