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> When was the last time a political decree lead to change in who gets to be leader in what ? The creation of the National Science Foundation, National Instit

> When was the last time a political decree lead to change in who gets to be leader in what ? The creation of the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Advanced Research Project Agencies undoubtedly had a profound impact on the direction of both the US economy and the rate of scientific progress during the mid-late 20th century. > I don't see what the problem is to let China do what it does, and focus everybody else's goal on other more important things - like reducing global C02 emissions... You could generate millions of jobs just by doing that. What makes these mutually exclusive?

BobbyJo 6y ago
Also, the entirety of what China has accomplished is based on political decree...
- barkingcat 6y ago
  exactly this. China did all / everything by political decree... You like their High Speed Rail network? Oh that was a political decree when nobody in its population could even afford to ride a high speed train. You like their science? That's a political decree as well.
  - blackrock 6y ago
    You’ve gotta admit, their high speed rail network is very impressive. And it all runs on electricity. Granted, most of the current electrical production comes from coal I think. At least until they can phase that out for natural gas, solar, and nuclear. And 10 years ago, the western media was a laughing at China, and declaring that their high speed rail network was a commercial failure, because most Chinese people couldn’t afford the expensive train tickets. But then, fast forward to today, and their high speed trains are running at maximum capacity. At least before the virus. They cannot run anymore trains, because of clearance requirements, so they are building newer dedicated tracks. The median Chinese person’s income had increased in the past few years, that more of them can afford the travel and vacations, and can pay for a high speed rail ticket. And the interesting thing, is that the newer dedicated tracks will run on the even faster maglev technology, that they indigenously developed, which can run almost as fast as an airplane. This new maglev technology was not stolen from Japan or Germany, or gasp, the United States. Unless they have a time machine too, and stole it from future American technology. LOL. The other interesting development is that they built a low speed maglev intracity rail to move people around. But this doesn’t get as much attention as the faster trains. Pretty interesting developments.

BobbyJo 6y ago

Also, the entirety of what China has accomplished is based on political decree...

barkingcat 6y ago
exactly this. China did all / everything by political decree... You like their High Speed Rail network? Oh that was a political decree when nobody in its population could even afford to ride a high speed train. You like their science? That's a political decree as well.
- blackrock 6y ago
  You’ve gotta admit, their high speed rail network is very impressive. And it all runs on electricity. Granted, most of the current electrical production comes from coal I think. At least until they can phase that out for natural gas, solar, and nuclear. And 10 years ago, the western media was a laughing at China, and declaring that their high speed rail network was a commercial failure, because most Chinese people couldn’t afford the expensive train tickets. But then, fast forward to today, and their high speed trains are running at maximum capacity. At least before the virus. They cannot run anymore trains, because of clearance requirements, so they are building newer dedicated tracks. The median Chinese person’s income had increased in the past few years, that more of them can afford the travel and vacations, and can pay for a high speed rail ticket. And the interesting thing, is that the newer dedicated tracks will run on the even faster maglev technology, that they indigenously developed, which can run almost as fast as an airplane. This new maglev technology was not stolen from Japan or Germany, or gasp, the United States. Unless they have a time machine too, and stole it from future American technology. LOL. The other interesting development is that they built a low speed maglev intracity rail to move people around. But this doesn’t get as much attention as the faster trains. Pretty interesting developments.