From: Gene McAloon 

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 15:22:23 -0400, "Geo."  wrote:

>Our entire economy will soon rely heavily on our ability to take the knowledge
>available and invent new stuff based in part on old knowledge and based in
part
>on new ideas in order to make money off things other than manufacturing and
>labor intensive activities. China is going to kick our ass on anything that
>requires a labor based workforce and if our inventive hands are tied because
of
>the restrictions imposed due to an unbelievable complex IP ownership web we'll
>never be able to earn a living.
>
>But instead of this reality, the debate is about a bunch of stuff designed as
a
>distraction.

If the politically oriented are concentrating on the wrong thing, Iraq,
rather than the economy, maybe it is because like you they don't think
anything can be done about the economy. You talk about some kind of
never-never land in which factories are a thing of past and we are all
sitting at desks designing high-tech stuff that supposedly the Chinese
can't do. That world doesn't exist and will never exist. It is a fantasy
dreamed up by free traders as a way out of the economic mess free trade has
created.

There is nothing of the imperative about China or any other country
out-manufacturing us. Their only advantage, and that necessarily a
temporary one, is low cost labor. But the products of that low cost labor
are exported to this country only because we allow their importation. There
is nothing inevitable about doing so. We do it, rather, because big
business interests dominate this country and free trade is advantageous to
big business.  It gets its way because it provides the bulk of the
financing of political campaigns.

You are as guilty of being mislead as anyone who supposes what is happening
in Iraq is of earth shaking importance. It is not, of course, but not
because it is almost over. It is far from being that and in fact is getting
worse practically every day. The point, however, is that what happens in
Iraq is of little importance to anyone other than G. Bush. Let's remember
the Brits ran Iraq in the 1920s with even more problems than we face. In
the end they left, as will we, and nothing changed. In the larger scheme of
things, the Brit presence in Iraq was a momentary distraction as will be
ours.

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