Our Future

Is China a threat? If so, in what areas? I think the answer is yes, economically. To get the raw material they need for their rapidly expanding national economy, China is willing to side with other despotic regimes like Iran and Sudan. Because China has massive trade surpluses and an undervalued currency, they have $1.8 trillion in foreign exchange reserves! They can use that cash to buy big stakes in American and other foreign firms.

Meanwhile, here in the USA 3.5 million factory jobs have been lost in the last decade. 40,000 U.S. factories have closed in that same time.

Noticing the crowds in Wal-Mart and Costco, it is obvious that Americans like cheap prices. Colleen was surprised last week when she was able to purchase school supplies and groceries at Wal-Mart for under $200.

Recently I ate lunch (cashew chicken, for three dollars) in a small Chinese restaurant, which was the size of our kitchen. In that cramped space I counted six Asian men working very hard. No one was talking. No one was standing around. Everyone had a role. They work like this from 11 AM to 9:30 PM. A sixteen-year-old Chinese American youth came in from doing his deliveries. Without a word to anyone, he pitched right in, helping at the cash register and filling orders to go or to be delivered.

During this time, where were the average American teens? On the couch watching movies or You Tube? Who will that average American teen be working for fifteen years from now? Their Asian counterparts, who know how to work, and have the discipline to study hard in school.