The decline and eventual fall of the USA as world superpower?

[Marblehead]

I'm not so sure that they would ever open back up. Consider the global turmoil if the US closed shop for even a month. Wonder what we'd find when we eventually peeked out.

I wasn't referring to a total close down. Just those markets where we were trying to establish manufacturing of those products that are new ventures. Yes, I agree that a total close down would not work. What we would be doing is the same thing most other countries are already doing.

There would be an over-supply of workers, initially. They'll crop pick and will be glad for the opportunity to not starve.

Yes, there would likely be an over-supply of workers. But if the migrant workers were here legally they would be paying taxes and medicaid.

 

This is all fun and games conjecture, sure. Just keep in mind, though, what happens to the whole web even when you really really lightly tug on one strand....

Yep. But then, noone with any power to do anything has asked me for advice so all I am doing is sharing my thoughts.

[rene]

I know, me too, and it's starting to make my head hurt.

 

G'nite.

[Marblehead]

I know, me too, and it's starting to make my head hurt.

 

G'nite.

G'nite.

[narveen]

Okay. But I still say that it is irresponsible to be that far in debt.

 

of course it is but what can we do?

we spend too much money on the wrong people

in china, prisoners don't get to play basketball in prison yards

they are shipped off to africa to help china develop africa.

[narveen]

I'm not sure about the migrant workers though. I think it would be hard for many producers to get only Americans to do the work. I worked on a farm when I was young and that is very hard work for very little pay. If decent wages were paid for the work it would cause the cost of food products to rise dramatically. But perhaps with import tariffs and auto phase-out subsidies it could be done.

 

back in those days, my dad said everbody cut their own lawns with a lawn mower on sundays

and if people have kids, they did it.

 

now everybody's lawn is cut by mexicans.

they'd come everyday making a racket with their lawn movers and leaf blowers

monday, at my neighbor to the south

tuesday, at my neighbor's to the north

wednesday on the other side of the road to the left

thursday on the other side of the road to the right

i can't concentrate writing posts on the front porch.

it's so annoying

Edited July 15, 2013 by narveen

[Apech]

back in those days, my dad said everbody cut their own lawns with a lawn mower on sundays

and if people have kids, they did it.

 

now everybody's lawn is cut by mexicans.

they'd come everyday making a racket with their lawn movers and leaf blowers

monday, at my neighbor to the south

tuesday, at my neighbor's to the north

wednesday on the other side of the road to the left

thursday on the other side of the road to the right

i can't concentrate writing posts on the front porch.

it's so annoying

 

Look you're going to have to accept that this whole independence thing has been an experiment gone wrong. You need to fess up about this and return to colony status as part of the British Empire. You will feel happier and won't have to think for yourselves anymore. We can even send our ex-primeminister Tony Blair to run things for you for a while ... get things straightened out and put you back on your feet again. problems like Mexicans mowing lawns will seem like nothing in a vey short time and you can go back to chewing burgers and slurping coke without a care in the world.

[Marblehead]

of course it is but what can we do?

we spend too much money on the wrong people

in china, prisoners don't get to play basketball in prison yards

they are shipped off to africa to help china develop africa.

Yea! We got another agreement. Doesn't happen too often. Need to celebrate.

[Marblehead]

back in those days, my dad said everbody cut their own lawns with a lawn mower on sundays

and if people have kids, they did it.

Yep. I mowed our lawn many a times. With a push mower, without an engine. No noise. Weed wackers weren't invented yet.

 

But there still were migrant Mexican farm workers. And they were all legal.

[ralis]

Gasoline just went up here .29/gal overnight. Just another way for corporations, in this case Wall Street speculators to gouge the consumer. Increased fuel and food costs give middle and lower income families less disposable income. Just one more aspect of the gutting of the U.S.

[ralis]

i thought we were supposed to be cordial in this forum.

perhaps you need to temper your perception of me as an american

and i should be cognizant of the possibility that not everyone i talk to is american

and adjust my demeanor, which may come across as condescending, accordingly.

i can do that because i do travel quite a bit

and have been to africa, south america, and asia

which country do you come from?

 

What is the obsession with where I am from? I already told you where I am from. Besides, what difference does it make? Which Americans are you referring to? North, Central or South?

[Marblehead]

Gasoline just went up here .29/gal overnight. Just another way for corporations, in this case Wall Street speculators to gouge the consumer. Increased fuel and food costs give middle and lower income families less disposable income. Just one more aspect of the gutting of the U.S.

Yep. It is going up here too. And the truth of what you said pisses me off. Good thing I have my electric car to run around town with.

[rene]

Yep. It is going up here too. And the truth of what you said pisses me off. Good thing I have my electric car to run around town with.

 

I thought I saw you out there!!

 

 

(-:

[Marblehead]

I thought I saw you out there!!

(-:

Close except my Honda is white with solar panels on the roof.

 

(There are solar panel kits for those golf carts.)

[rene]

Close except my Honda is white with solar panels on the roof.

 

You mean like this?

[voidisyinyang]

 

exxonmobil's net margin is only 5%

a kolkata street vendor can make 20% profit selling puri and dosai snacks.

 

 

Higher commodity prices in the quarter were clearly evident from earnings at ExxonMobil's exploration and production arm, known as upstream. Income rose 32% to $8.2 billion from $6.2 billion a year ago.

....

 

Already, ConocoPhillips cop has said record oil prices at the end of 2007 helped it post a 37% increase in fourth-quarter profit, even as it produced less crude and natural gas than a year earlier. Its fourth-quarter net income rose to $4.37 billion versus $3.2 billion a year earlier.

 

ConocoPhillips is the nation's third-largest integrated oil company behind ExxonMobil and Chevron cvx.

 

Chevron reporrted separately Friday that its profit rose 29.2% in the fourth quarter, as surging prices for crude oil offset weak results from its refining business. It earned $4.88 billion, or $2.32 a share, from $3.77 billion, or $1.74 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 29% to $61.41 billion from $47.75 billion.

 

On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell , Europe's largest oil company, reported fourth-quarter profit rose 60% to $8.47 billion on asset sales and higher oil prices. What's more, the Anglo-Dutch company said full-year net profit was a company record $31.3 billion, up 23% from the prior year.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4233697&page=1#.UeRwdG1huSo

[Marblehead]

You mean like this?

That's getting closer, yes.

[Marblehead]

This is the car:

 

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/junkyard-find-1984-honda-civic-wagovan/

 

Now put 6 solar panels on the roof and one on the hood and that would be mine.

[rene]

This is the car:

 

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/junkyard-find-1984-honda-civic-wagovan/

 

Now put 6 solar panels on the roof and one on the hood and that would be mine.

 

Love it !!

 

Good on ya, marblehead. (-:

[ralis]

Rene,

 

You inquired in regards to solutions.

 

1. The government must start enforcing the Sherman Antitrust Act.

 

2. Senator Warren is introducing a bill to restore Glass-Steagall thereby splitting up commercial banking and investment firms.

 

3. So called intellectual property rights/patents should be reduced to a maximum of four years. Mega corporations such as Microsoft need to lose their monopolistic advantage!

 

4. Penalize corporations that ship jobs overseas. http://www.factcheck.org/2012/10/talking-tax-breaks-for-offshoring/

 

5. Student loans should have the same rate as the too big to fail banks are given. 3/4 of 1%.

 

6. Government investment in new energy technologies such as the scale but much larger than the 'Manhattan Project'.

 

7. Rebuilding the nation's infrastructure as opposed to war and military expansion.

[voidisyinyang]

http://voices.yahoo.com/activists-arrested-protesting-appearance-general-12235355.html?cat=3

 

Carl Gibson and another protester confront CEO of G.E. for illegal tax dodging.

[narveen]

What is the obsession with where I am from?

 

i need to connect with you.

i won't apologize for being american

but i can try to march to your beat

 

I already told you where I am from.

 

you did?

can you tell me again?

 

Besides, what difference does it make?

 

lots.

nobody likes us for one reason or another.

if i know where you are from

i would know the reason

 

Which Americans are you referring to? North, Central or South?

 

you talking about me, or you?

i'm from the usa

if you are not, then

you are canadian, mexican, nicaraguan, or argentinian, etc.

nobody hates those guys

the way they hate us americans.

[rene]

Rene,

 

You inquired in regards to solutions.

 

1. The government must start enforcing the Sherman Antitrust Act.

 

2. Senator Warren is introducing a bill to restore Glass-Steagall thereby splitting up commercial banking and investment firms.

 

3. So called intellectual property rights/patents should be reduced to a maximum of four years. Mega corporations such as Microsoft need to lose their monopolistic advantage!

 

4. Penalize corporations that ship jobs overseas. http://www.factcheck.org/2012/10/talking-tax-breaks-for-offshoring/

 

5. Student loans should have the same rate as the too big to fail banks are given. 3/4 of 1%.

 

6. Government investment in new energy technologies such as the scale but much larger than the 'Manhattan Project'.

 

7. Rebuilding the nation's infrastructure as opposed to war and military expansion.

 

Ralis, hi

 

Thank you for your thoughts on this. I can see how each suggestion could be helpful and, more importantly, within the realm of possibility.

 

Is there a reason you chose four years for the ipr/patent maximum? I would think 8-10 years would be more fair to enable full recoup of any R&D costs, and enable maximum profits, yes for a longer limited time period but not so short it would discourage funding creativity. But maybe there is something I'm not aware of that makes four years the better option?

 

warm regards

[narveen]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4233697&page=1#.UeRwdG1huSo

 

trust you to put up abnormal earning figures when oil prices were driven up to unrealistic levels.

still, those were never-to-be repeated year-over-year earnings figures

the net margin of 5% does not vary that much.

there are lots of risks in the oil business.

bp losses practically wiped off a third of its market cap over the macondo incident.

all things even, the kolkata vendor has a higher margin with none of the risk.

[voidisyinyang]

In the United States, credible estimates of annual fossil fuel subsidies range from $10 billion to $52 billion annually, while even efforts to remove small portions of those subsidies have been defeated in Congress, as shown in the graphic below.

 

http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-subsidies/

 

 

$52 billion. Highest credible comprehensive estimate. Includes some costs associated with defending pipelines and shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf. Earth Track, an NGO that specializes in subsidy valuation, estimates that annual oil, gas and coal subsidies total about $52 billion annually.

 

As if that wasn’t enough, the reality is that the fossil fuel industry has profound impacts in much bigger ways.

Health. A 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences claims that burning fossil fuels results in about $120 billion per year in health-related costs.

 

Infrastructure spending. The US is already committed to spending at least $1.6 trillion additional dollars per year in maintenance, new vehicles and fuel. We built our power transmission lines on the assumption of large, remote power plants. We build our houses and industries on the assumption of cheap electricity; those practices, codes and regulations are still embedded in our construction and manufacturing sectors. We built our power transmission lines on the assumption of large, remote power plants.

 

Costs from climate change. The costs of accelerating climate change are staggering, and are certainly greater than the costs of ending our dependence on fossil fuels.

Whatever the numbers, it seems ludicrous that any of our tax dollars would support such established and profitable industries. These energy subsidies are completely out of step with a nation that now broadly accepts the need to end our collective oil addiction and fight global warming.

 

Nice scam.

 

Time for the billionaires to pony up.

 

 

Petroleum Pigs

[BaguaKicksAss]

Making text larger, bolder and bright red does not help your argument any. Someone isn't going to agree with you just because it's "louder".

 

On a side note, we were very fortunate here in Canada to have the current Enbridge project not approved recently. Of course there will be more in the future though; it at least sets a good precedent.