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So this root cause of which you speak? You're not actually going to say what it is you're just going to complain about it and allude to it, am I right? And in d

So this root cause of which you speak? You're not actually going to say what it is you're just going to complain about it and allude to it, am I right? And in doing so how are you anything but more Bread and Circuses? If the West had always been this risk averse with respect to science and technology, we wouldn't have gone to space let alone the Moon. We wouldn't have antibiotics and we probably wouldn't even have flight. So tell me how to restore America's healthy level of risk tolerance? Because taking medical advice from online pundits is incredibly risky and yet it's seen as safer than trusting science by a disturbingly large minority. And that's just one example of how badly we gauge risk. And to be fair, I have the same viewpoint about the irrational fear of nuclear power.

mistermann 5y ago
I believe the root cause is human consciousness, in its current form....the very thing that wrote the message to which I am now replying. I believe absolutely that this is the root of all problems, and also that it can be addressed/upgraded.
crypto420 5y ago
I wonder if its just about having competent adversaries? The West has always consisted of near-powers competing for resources and technology. A notable exception is modern history, where America hasn't had a serious technological adversary since the Space Race in the 1960s, and we've sort of slumped into this malaise. China appears to be a serious adversary now, but I don't think many Americans seriously possess the will or the skills to take on China.
- nyokodo 5y ago
  > China appears to be a serious adversary now They’re an adversary and should be taken seriously however they are not the threat that the Soviet Union was. China has too many headwinds to reach true superpower status.
  - jjeaff 5y ago
    Interesting, what are some of those headwinds?
    - nyokodo 5y ago
      > what are some of those headwinds? The one child policy was a resounding success and a total disaster as now they have the fastest aging population on the planet. This has lead to massively increasing labor costs and a hollowing out of their consumer base which then makes their economy export-dependent right when the consumer base of the developed world is hollowing out. They are reliant on energy imports to keep the lights on and those imports go through the first island chain full of their most vicious and ancient geopolitical enemies. They are reliant on food imports to feed their population that rely on the same global trade routes that are or are about to go completely to hell. Their historically unprecedented growth over the last couple of decades was fueled by the most irrationally exuberant money printing and debt driven bender that makes the USA look like a miserly spend-thrift.

mistermann 5y ago

I believe the root cause is human consciousness, in its current form....the very thing that wrote the message to which I am now replying. I believe absolutely that this is the root of all problems, and also that it can be addressed/upgraded.

crypto420 5y ago

I wonder if its just about having competent adversaries? The West has always consisted of near-powers competing for resources and technology. A notable exception is modern history, where America hasn't had a serious technological adversary since the Space Race in the 1960s, and we've sort of slumped into this malaise. China appears to be a serious adversary now, but I don't think many Americans seriously possess the will or the skills to take on China.

nyokodo 5y ago
> China appears to be a serious adversary now They’re an adversary and should be taken seriously however they are not the threat that the Soviet Union was. China has too many headwinds to reach true superpower status.
- jjeaff 5y ago
  Interesting, what are some of those headwinds?
  - nyokodo 5y ago
    > what are some of those headwinds? The one child policy was a resounding success and a total disaster as now they have the fastest aging population on the planet. This has lead to massively increasing labor costs and a hollowing out of their consumer base which then makes their economy export-dependent right when the consumer base of the developed world is hollowing out. They are reliant on energy imports to keep the lights on and those imports go through the first island chain full of their most vicious and ancient geopolitical enemies. They are reliant on food imports to feed their population that rely on the same global trade routes that are or are about to go completely to hell. Their historically unprecedented growth over the last couple of decades was fueled by the most irrationally exuberant money printing and debt driven bender that makes the USA look like a miserly spend-thrift.