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Yes the US still has advantage in some areas and if it can rebuild expand competitiveness that could reverse the decline. But its a difficult task when from the issuance of debt/capital down through the multiple branches of regulation, planning, investment, education, infrastructure and governance there has been corruption and rentseeking by private capital interests who act in their own interests and have come to dictate to government/s what suits them rather than the government setting the agenda.
Western governments come and go, sponsored by bankers and corporate lobbyists, and when they have allowed and enabled structural reforms that do not enhance the development and overall wealth of the nation but rather enable profiteering and rentseeking for a few corporate interests, there are no real consequences for the politicians who did this.
In China in contrast, if the CCP does not deliver constant improvement on the whole it knows it risks a very brutal removal from power. Ironically the Chinese autocracy is in practice, arguably, potentially more accountable than western corporate sponsored and directed 'democracies' have become.
The problem is in the apex of the nation state- the government, that has been captured by private interests and no longer serves the common good...and the body of the western democratic nation state- the citizens who have grown complacent and apathetic and allowed this to continue.
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The problem is in the apex of the nation state- the government, that has been captured by private interests and no longer serves the common good...and the body of the western democratic nation state- the citizens who have grown complacent and apathetic and allowed this to continue.
This part I agree with. People have grown lazy. None of these issues are that complex...
The budget deficit the US has, living beyond its means, isn't rocket science but the citizens don't really want the spending sorted out.
Like I said social security, medicare, and defense are most US spending but the voters don't actually want that stuff cut.

I agree with you on the 'corporate interests and lobbyists' stuff. There's definitely too much of that. However I don't think it's a conspiracy. I want to look at it simply.
Having said that, keeping money long term in the fiat of an indebted nation to me just seems crazier and crazier. Doesn't matter which one it is, all of it is pretty much a bad idea.
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The relative wealth and advantage of western nations has created a sense of entitlement to rights and benefits that people in the third world and developing nations do not have. The creep of corporate lobbyist influence may not be an organised conspiracy but has evolved as a successful mechanism for those with wealth and power to sway government regulations, strategy and expenditure their way while citizens have failed to exercise their will to stamp it out and insist on government that serves the majority.
Perhaps the most damaging example is the success of commercial banks in the west to gain complete freedom over the purpose to which they issue fiat debt finance- since the 1980s it no longer must be toward productive purposes- this has led to the speculation in non productive assets and the neglect of investment in productive assets. Allowing commercial banks fiat debt issuance for speculation in non productive assets is a blatant misuse of the fiat debt capital issuance mechanism at the core of fiat capitalism and corrodes it from the core.
It is the classic rise and fall dynamics which inevitably afflict every empire- as it gains dominance wealth and privilege it becomes complacent and complacency allows corruption to develop, and before you know it, another more hungry and ambitious contender has risen to challenge the advantage and privilege that was taken for granted by the current hegemony. Often by the time that is recognised, it is too late. Holding Bitcoin does at least protect your capital from the parasitic debasement that is now programmed into the wests fiat monetary system.
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"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage."
Alexander Fraser Tytler
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Yes great article. Hopefully Trump and Co read it!
I remember the oil rationing of 1973 - we had it here in NZ along with 'car less days' where you could not drive your car. Every car was issued a coloured sticker denoting a day of the week that car was banned from use on the road!
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