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> The analysis in this article brings that into focus as well as anything I've yet seen. If the West does not rapidly regain focus on the things that matter --

> The analysis in this article brings that into focus as well as anything I've yet seen. If the West does not rapidly regain focus on the things that matter -- real manufacturing, engineering, and AI (not consumerist opiates for the masses) -- we are soooo screwed. When China can build a decent airplane then I'll be interested. Until then, they produce/replicate relatively simple tech and for whatever massive scale they have in their manufacturing, they lack sophistication and complexity in many ways. They're doing their thing and doing it well but they don't produce sophisticated, leading edge things or processes for the most part. The USA has never manufactured more than it does today. Don't confuse manufacturing labor force size with outputs. High tech manufacturing in the USA leads the world by a significant margin today. Much of what China is manufacturing is considered routine and trivial.

toss1 5y ago
Excellent points, about leadership in innovation - there are many ways in which the West still leads, and in many ways China is still merely a copycat - e.g., note how critical China sees it to get access to the tech and local ownership. But, China is advancing, making some genuine homegrown breakthroughs and is certainly much further along the learning curve than the West in many areas such as solar panels. Mostly, it is key to note that China recognizes this, has a long term strategic plan and is executing on the plan. Unless we make appropriate structural & strategic changes, at the very least, treating a far wider swath of tech as sufficiently strategic to require development & production at home or among allied countries, we are on a slippery slope. Edit: Plus, by the time we see them making stuff as good or better than in the West, it will be too late to catch up. Those growth curves tend to be exponential (compound interest on knowledge gains, network effects of multiple experts or multipl6field leadership, etc.).
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toss1 5y ago

Excellent points, about leadership in innovation - there are many ways in which the West still leads, and in many ways China is still merely a copycat - e.g., note how critical China sees it to get access to the tech and local ownership. But, China is advancing, making some genuine homegrown breakthroughs and is certainly much further along the learning curve than the West in many areas such as solar panels. Mostly, it is key to note that China recognizes this, has a long term strategic plan and is executing on the plan. Unless we make appropriate structural & strategic changes, at the very least, treating a far wider swath of tech as sufficiently strategic to require development & production at home or among allied countries, we are on a slippery slope. Edit: Plus, by the time we see them making stuff as good or better than in the West, it will be too late to catch up. Those growth curves tend to be exponential (compound interest on knowledge gains, network effects of multiple experts or multipl6field leadership, etc.).

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