4 ms·

"America won't be the top consumer economy" - this is not a race worth trying to win. It's better to figure out 'quality' over 'quantity' now, and get with the

by jariel 6y ago

"America won't be the top consumer economy" - this is not a race worth trying to win. It's better to figure out 'quality' over 'quantity' now, and get with the 21st century.

echelon 6y ago
> this is not a race worth trying to win Earnestly, why not? Edit with my concerns: America is still a bastion of personal liberty. I'd shudder to think of a world where something else throws around all the weight. We're already censoring American entertainment to appease the juggernauts in the search of profit. I don't think the coming world will be comfortable.
- andykx 6y ago
  Other first world (mainly European) countries are, in general, far happier than we are, despite having significantly smaller consumer economies. Why is that? Edit: America is only a bastion of personal liberty if you look and act a certain way. Is personal liberty such an important thing anyway? It seems to be creating huge problems for us at the moment. I am not an advocate for an entirely collectivist society, but I think a small dose of collectivism would help us all. People refuse to acknowledge the benefits they get from our society without wanting to play their part by paying taxes.
  - klipt 6y ago
    Probably because they spend less on the military and more on their people. But would they be able to do that if they couldn't rely on US protection via NATO? If the US suddenly disappeared, would Europe be ripe for invasion by, say, Russia?
    - sudhirj 6y ago
      The European nations have been dealing with Russia since before there was an America, and it’s not clear that Russia would benefit from forced occupation of countries that don’t already have a large population that supported it. Irrespective of whether the Crimea annexation was legal, the population there already had a signification portion of people who supported it. Russia trying to march into France or Germany, for instance, wouldn’t be a fun thing for anyone, including Russia.
    - siculars 6y ago
      They do what they do because they have the US protecting them. Also, Liberty is taken for granted until you dont have it.
    - jmnicolas 6y ago
      NATO protection is a myth. Do you really believe the US would risk nuclear war with Russia just for Europe? But why do you believe Russia would risk nuclear war just for Europe, what would they gain?
      - rimliu 6y ago
        The first time NATO is not acting on it's obligations is the last day of NATO. Who need an alliance that does not work?
        jmnicolas 6y ago
        What did NATO do for the Greeks when Turkey invaded a good portion of Cyprus?
        rimliu 6y ago
        What do you they should do?
    - andruby 6y ago
      France and the UK have a few hundred operational nukes. Even though Russia has more than a thousand, I doubt they’d risk it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_...
    - triceratops 6y ago
      Against Russia, I'd back an Anglo-French-German alliance any day.
      - SuoDuanDao 6y ago
        Surely you mean you'd back the defender?
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
    - inglor_cz 6y ago
      Europe as a whole no. Baltic states yes. Moscow views them as lost provinces with nontrivial Russian minorities, blocking land access to Kaliningrad.
    - jariel 6y ago
      Europeans do underspend on their own security, and Russia is a threat, but not quite in the 'all out invasion' sense. But 'military spending' is a pretty small part of the 'difference between wealth creation' factors on either side of the Atlantic.
- notriddle 6y ago
  > Earnestly, why not? Because it’s going to suck when the oil runs out.
  - igor47 6y ago
    if we run out of oil, we have much, much bigger problems. even if you take claimed reserves with a healthy dose of skepticism -- which you should, because oil-producing nations treat those reserves as assets that they can borrow against -- if we burn all of that oil we'll be at something like 5C+ of warming. for reference, when the planet was 4C cooler than the modern era, during the last ice age, the place you sit now was likely under 1km of ice.
- watwut 6y ago
  > Earnestly, why not? Because trying to win "who consume the most" race specifically requires making dumb decisions. Which is why it is not good thing to win. It completely escapes me what "quantity vs quality" and trying to be the most consumerist country has to do with personal liberty or entertainment censorship. Whether we are talking about past liberty + censorship issues strategies and gatekeepers or about contemporary ones. Also, I have a bit trouble to square "bastion of personal liberty" with highest incarceration levels in the world.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- jariel 6y ago
  Because consumption isn't necessarily what makes America great, there are externalization effects which make it a 'bad thing' - and you're not going to 'out consume' 2 nations (India and China) of 1 Billion each. Time for a different strategy. Notably one of working with EU/UK/Canada/Mexico/Brazil/SKorea/Japan etc. towards stabilizing things, making sure China+Russia don't get out of hand, dealing with climate change, and hopefully not having to suffer a reduction in quality of life.

by jariel 6y ago

"America won't be the top consumer economy" - this is not a race worth trying to win. It's better to figure out 'quality' over 'quantity' now, and get with the 21st century.

echelon 6y ago

> this is not a race worth trying to win Earnestly, why not? Edit with my concerns: America is still a bastion of personal liberty. I'd shudder to think of a world where something else throws around all the weight. We're already censoring American entertainment to appease the juggernauts in the search of profit. I don't think the coming world will be comfortable.

andykx 6y ago
Other first world (mainly European) countries are, in general, far happier than we are, despite having significantly smaller consumer economies. Why is that? Edit: America is only a bastion of personal liberty if you look and act a certain way. Is personal liberty such an important thing anyway? It seems to be creating huge problems for us at the moment. I am not an advocate for an entirely collectivist society, but I think a small dose of collectivism would help us all. People refuse to acknowledge the benefits they get from our society without wanting to play their part by paying taxes.
- klipt 6y ago
  Probably because they spend less on the military and more on their people. But would they be able to do that if they couldn't rely on US protection via NATO? If the US suddenly disappeared, would Europe be ripe for invasion by, say, Russia?
  - sudhirj 6y ago
    The European nations have been dealing with Russia since before there was an America, and it’s not clear that Russia would benefit from forced occupation of countries that don’t already have a large population that supported it. Irrespective of whether the Crimea annexation was legal, the population there already had a signification portion of people who supported it. Russia trying to march into France or Germany, for instance, wouldn’t be a fun thing for anyone, including Russia.
  - siculars 6y ago
    They do what they do because they have the US protecting them. Also, Liberty is taken for granted until you dont have it.
  - jmnicolas 6y ago
    NATO protection is a myth. Do you really believe the US would risk nuclear war with Russia just for Europe? But why do you believe Russia would risk nuclear war just for Europe, what would they gain?
    - rimliu 6y ago
      The first time NATO is not acting on it's obligations is the last day of NATO. Who need an alliance that does not work?
      - jmnicolas 6y ago
        What did NATO do for the Greeks when Turkey invaded a good portion of Cyprus?
        rimliu 6y ago
        What do you they should do?
  - andruby 6y ago
    France and the UK have a few hundred operational nukes. Even though Russia has more than a thousand, I doubt they’d risk it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_...
  - triceratops 6y ago
    Against Russia, I'd back an Anglo-French-German alliance any day.
    - SuoDuanDao 6y ago
      Surely you mean you'd back the defender?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - inglor_cz 6y ago
    Europe as a whole no. Baltic states yes. Moscow views them as lost provinces with nontrivial Russian minorities, blocking land access to Kaliningrad.
  - jariel 6y ago
    Europeans do underspend on their own security, and Russia is a threat, but not quite in the 'all out invasion' sense. But 'military spending' is a pretty small part of the 'difference between wealth creation' factors on either side of the Atlantic.
notriddle 6y ago
> Earnestly, why not? Because it’s going to suck when the oil runs out.
- igor47 6y ago
  if we run out of oil, we have much, much bigger problems. even if you take claimed reserves with a healthy dose of skepticism -- which you should, because oil-producing nations treat those reserves as assets that they can borrow against -- if we burn all of that oil we'll be at something like 5C+ of warming. for reference, when the planet was 4C cooler than the modern era, during the last ice age, the place you sit now was likely under 1km of ice.
watwut 6y ago
> Earnestly, why not? Because trying to win "who consume the most" race specifically requires making dumb decisions. Which is why it is not good thing to win. It completely escapes me what "quantity vs quality" and trying to be the most consumerist country has to do with personal liberty or entertainment censorship. Whether we are talking about past liberty + censorship issues strategies and gatekeepers or about contemporary ones. Also, I have a bit trouble to square "bastion of personal liberty" with highest incarceration levels in the world.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jariel 6y ago
Because consumption isn't necessarily what makes America great, there are externalization effects which make it a 'bad thing' - and you're not going to 'out consume' 2 nations (India and China) of 1 Billion each. Time for a different strategy. Notably one of working with EU/UK/Canada/Mexico/Brazil/SKorea/Japan etc. towards stabilizing things, making sure China+Russia don't get out of hand, dealing with climate change, and hopefully not having to suffer a reduction in quality of life.