Americans are pessimistic about the future. News from around the country and around the world tells us America’s days at the pinnacle of power are over. We have to lower our standard of living. Our children won’t be better off than we are. Take heart America, nothing could be further from the truth. (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)
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LinkedIn Group: U.S. Veteran
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Very nice Ed, but why not add some intuition to the mix.
Why are these companies coming back? Is it because the labor forces overseas are getting more expensive? A bit. Is it because they have some notion of patriotism? Not a bit. It’s because the very same government that you want to shrink, is actually subsidizing all of these companies returns on a long term basis.
As our economy has shrunk, and our dollar devalued, and or workforce diminished, or wages have either declined or remained stagnant, relatively speaking, for decades. One doesn’t need a Google-esque algorithm to do the math. As foreign nations thrive and their workforce gets more expensive, over the next few decades (give or take) the economic environment in this country will be on par with that of our foreign competitors. And, given that they (our competitors) have no only taken the lead, but we are falling out of the race, for alternative and sustainable energy sources, the likelihood that our competitors will outpace us is very real. So to get these companies back, one simply has to sweeten the pot – shorten the timespan – speed up the transition, with money or incentives. Fee and tax abatement are the tools in every local governments toolbox, and if that’s isn’t enough, the federal government can step in – if the conservatives are far sighted enough to allow it.
Posted by ★Bob Schecter
LinkedIn Group: The Intelligence Community
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
@/Ed says “All that’s necessary is for American leaders to lead in the direction Americans naturally want to be led, and America’s greatest prosperity and achievements will be in the future not in the past”
I see. This is very similar to the concepts of the Fuhrer Prinzip and that of the leadership Vanguard of the Proletariat, both key features of recent True Believer Mass Movements which like bowel movements left the people dumped upon.
This thesis fits into the current True Believer Conservative Right which is neither Conservative or Right. Like the Bundestag and the Duma, the Recto-Right defames and defiles the Congress and the Supreme Court, but only the current occupant of the White House. What is missing is the equivalent of a Lenin or a Hitler. What we have is Curly, Moe and Larry with Boris and Natasha as intelligence advisors.
George W Bush was picked for the role of Stooge, but was smart enough and courageous enough to openly realize that “what we were doing wasn’t working” and change and led this country in a new direction, which just so happened to be the same direction the Obama had in mind. The GOP is going to make sure that the next stooge is going to stay stooged.
Don’t count on it.
Posted by Gordon Fowkes
LinkedIn Group: The Intelligence Forum
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
I have a short comment on that.
All depends on perspective….
in My personal view people being pessimistic about the nearby future isn’t without reasons.
Everyday life isn’t better August 2012 then 2002 or 1992
for the waste majority in North America or Europe.
We have in most countries more people “not to mention”
states communities and public institutions who live on unbalanced budgets.
Don’t worry,be happy!
That attitude will not work in the long run,
Selling assets or borrow for living never works,never did!
Posted by Walther Metzler
LinkedIn Group: US Army
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
After WWII we owned the world. The rest of the world had been decimated. Wanted to buy a car? Only the US was still making them. A bus? Same. A ship? Same. A railroad car? Truck? Aircraft? Foreign manufacturing was squashed flat. Remember when “Made in Japan” meant garbage? Well, things have changed.We’ll never have that leverage again. Now OUR manufacturing is gutted,
But we still have the American “edge”. Like leading edge technology centers such as NASA… wait, that’s been gutted too. But we still have a solid agricultural base… if it can survive Obama-era EPA restrictions. And we still have lots of power… wait… Obama has banned offshore and government land drilling… and all but shut down the coal industry with new regulations that require coal emissions not to exceed natural gas emissions. Hmmm… but we still have… uhmm… high tech medical systems! Wait.. Obama’s “Jobs Czar” has moved that to China. At least we still lead the world in electronics! Wait…
America may have GREAT days ahead alright… I believe that too. We may also have the end of America as we know it.
We’ll find out in November which way the scale tips…
Posted by Robert Coleman
LinkedIn Group: Naval Postgraduate School Alumni
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Thanks Ed! Good thought piece. What’s missing in today’s political debate is this type of forward thinking. I’d like to hear more about taking America from today into the future and less about how we got where we are. The candidates need to address more of the how and less of the what’s wrong with the other candidate. Don’t be sucked into the nasty dialog and listen for the real pearls of wisdom.
Posted by John Laszakovits
LinkedIn Group: U.S. Veteran
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
So true, counter to the scarcity mentality the collectivists try to get everyone to adopt.
Posted by David Allison
LinkedIn Group: U.S. Veteran
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Sorry Ed but I disagree. America has been disillusioned by super hero movies so long that we think one man can stop years of bad management. It’s sad really. We used to vote for a person to lead out country. Now it seems we are voting for someone to save this country from economic collapse. There is a reason we are not even mentioned in the Book of Revelations in the last days. Yep, standard of living is the least of our concerns.
Posted by Jason St. Germaine
LinkedIn Group: U.S. Veteran
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Ed: We can at least start to get back on track but only if Obama is thrown out of office and Romney wins. Romney will take us back to limited government, a free Enterprise system but most importantly someone that loves this country and believes in the U.S. Constitution! Vote Romney 2012!
Have a great day!
Posted by John Roof, MBA
LinkedIn Group: Naval Postgraduate School Alumni
Discussion: AMERICA, TAKE HEART: THE BEST IS YET TO COME
If the Government does it, prepare for failure. If the Government lets it happen, Ed’s predictions will come true. In my opinion, “plans with detail” are exactly what we do not need. Simple plans, like a simpler tax system would help though. I make 200k a year self-employed. My son and wife make <60k, yet their tax forms were 3 times as long as mine this year. The only people making money on this system are tax preparers and tax finaglers (of both parties) who can game the system.
Posted by Gary Ham