Interesting thread.
A couple of points though: No matter what doom-mongerers say, the growth of India and China is a freakin' relief and was only a matter of time someone else saw fruits of their hard work over the years to counter the long-running powers that have been controlling the world.
The fact that the US right now can't stop their own companies from investing in China and India is one that is relished by most observers. Note the recent Supreme Court case that was an attempt to ban a Chinese company from buying out an American company. So much for capitalism and 'free market', eh?
I understand what you mean, Parky, when you say China and India are using up resources at an alarming rate - I can attest they're not exactly using them up, they're simply demanding them as they are going to need a lot of them, and very soon - but to think this is only a temporary issue, and a bad one at that, is to be extremely short-sighted.
Anyone remember what happened when the world was at war for rubber in the 1900s? Pretty much exactly like the case with India and China right now, the US's middle-class was booming and suddenly everyone needed, wanted, an automobile (a machine that had only recently been invented and was thought of as only for the rich). A short version of the story is: after using up most of the rubber plantations around the globe and realising that they're going to be in short supply in comparison to the demand, the US contacted a man who had been living among the tribes in Amazonian Uruguay for decades. They told him to find a rubber tree there, to check for rubber. The man, unaware of the government's intentions, found a huge forest full of them. Sweet, sap-filled rubber. And down came the Americans with their machetes and cleared the whole f***ing forest - killing all wildlife, people and habitat of that region, and made the biggest f***ing plantation of rubber the world had ever seen.
This, my friends, is how economies are built. This is how you and I can drive to work everyday and can afford our $2 McDonald's meal. The Iraq war is the reason we're only still paying less than a $1 a litre for gas, and not something a lot more in the future.
Of course, none of it is fair. It's sick. But this is the way the world works.
So when I hear in the news, especially in American media, that India and China are the new evils of the world, it gets on my f***ing tits. Why, coz they can finally compete with you on a global level? They're simply doing what you've been doing. What the whole world's been doing.
But I also agree with Rob W. The world really isn't as bad as it many people make it out to be. It's surely a lot worse than you can imagine, but also not as bad as you fear at times.
The world has cycles, and there are balancing acts going on just under the surface. This has been happening forever. Every empire has crumbled. New ones have risen.
And as usual, there is nothing the people can actually do about it. Those in power make the decisions, and those without get affected by them. But hey, you can always vote.
India and China are simply what the Western powers have feared for a long time: competition. And as they say in the world of business, all competition is good for the consumer.
Oh by the way, some people mentioned Kashmir and India's nuclear capabilities on here, putting them in the same boat as Iran, Israel and the lot. Care to explain? Got me rather confused. The only country India would ever drop a nuke on is Pakistan. And even that I have my doubts. We didn't when they attacked us cowardly in Kargil, we simply pushed them back to their homeland, so why would we now that we're on an economic rise?
Remember, when you're making money, everyone's your friend.
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