KCRag Forum

The topic of China being this countries #1 threat in the future has been in the news for sometime. There are some smart folks on here so thought I’ll poll the room. I’m also not starting this convo on social media to avoid all the nut jobs.

Will China soon become the #1 superpower?
Will we eventually go to war with them?
How do we begin to manufacture more vital items here or source them somewhere else?

It seems like China is just as much a future threat as climate change. Am I wrong?

DColeKC wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:41 am The topic of China being this countries #1 threat in the future has been in the news for sometime. There are some smart folks on here so thought I’ll poll the room. I’m also not starting this convo on social media to avoid all the nut jobs.

Will China soon become the #1 superpower?
Will we eventually go to war with them?
How do we begin to manufacture more vital items here or source them somewhere else?

It seems like China is just as much a future threat as climate change. Am I wrong?

Let them become a superpower, i would rather have the US just sit back and take it easy, start being more like a Europe (Hell the States should just break up anyways and form there own little countries like Europe, it would be a lot more peaceful if we did it this way) being the World Police is a waste of time and money

brewcrew1000 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:45 am

DColeKC wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:41 am The topic of China being this countries #1 threat in the future has been in the news for sometime. There are some smart folks on here so thought I’ll poll the room. I’m also not starting this convo on social media to avoid all the nut jobs.

Will China soon become the #1 superpower?
Will we eventually go to war with them?
How do we begin to manufacture more vital items here or source them somewhere else?

It seems like China is just as much a future threat as climate change. Am I wrong?

Let them become a superpower, i would rather have the US just sit back and take it easy, start being more like a Europe (Hell the States should just break up anyways and form there own little countries like Europe, it would be a lot more peaceful if we did it this way) being the World Police is a waste of time and money

States breaking up would have (IMO) more downsides than upsides. Having lived in Europe for near 5 years, it’s functional, but still incredibly annoying and not as functional as the big players (France, Spain, Germany, UK) make it seem. Other than that, I’m in agreement with that sentiment

brewcrew1000 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:45 am

DColeKC wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:41 am The topic of China being this countries #1 threat in the future has been in the news for sometime. There are some smart folks on here so thought I’ll poll the room. I’m also not starting this convo on social media to avoid all the nut jobs.

Will China soon become the #1 superpower?
Will we eventually go to war with them?
How do we begin to manufacture more vital items here or source them somewhere else?

It seems like China is just as much a future threat as climate change. Am I wrong?

Let them become a superpower, i would rather have the US just sit back and take it easy, start being more like a Europe (Hell the States should just break up anyways and form there own little countries like Europe, it would be a lot more peaceful if we did it this way) being the World Police is a waste of time and money

Interesting. Billions of dollars and several lives have been lost fighting ridiculous wars but we've also done some amazing things for other parts of the world.

I don't know how peaceful all those small European countries would be if America just gave up on being the worlds superpower, which they know will defend them from China. Same goes for here. I personally like knowing we are mostly safe from attacks.

Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:59 am States breaking up would have (IMO) more downsides than upsides. Having lived in Europe for near 5 years, it’s functional, but still incredibly annoying and not as functional as the big players (France, Spain, Germany, UK) make it seem.

Curious what kind of specific issues you are thinking of here. I spent only about two years in Europe instead of five, but I don't really remember ever running into any problems that seemed like they were attributable to all of the countries being independent. Obviously there are a lot of macro-level problems associated with the broken one foot in/one foot out compromise "unity" of the EU and eurozone that can cause more or fewer issues for you at an individual level depending on where you are (I was in the Netherlands, you are apparently in Italy, so maybe that accounts for our different experiences), but I wouldn't necessarily expect a broken-up US to experience those problems, although I guess that depends on exactly how broken-up the US is in this scenario.

edit: this wasn't meant to sound argumentative, I'm just genuinely curious about what you have in mind when you call it incredibly annoying and not-functional, since that is just different from my exprience

Have for a decade followed various analysis on this. Some key points... China can think in terms of 30+ year strategies - and have pulled many off successfully. Polarized US govt can mostly only function in 4-8 year patterns at best though with some success for longer term strategies within some agencies. The US is just an annoying gnat to China with no long term impact - the long term net benefit ends up favoring China. US companies can pull off long term strategies but still limited by constant changing domestic/international policies.

Depending on how you define a 'modern consumer', China already has over 300M 'modern' consumers, more than US and will likely grow if they can sustain a decent economy. Even if US tries to avoid Chinese products, their own internal consumer growth will likely offset at a faster rate than US reducing importing CN goods, even if there are down cycles in CN. Seems inevitable they will dominate, especially if China consumer buying power passes up US, which will only encourage global biz wanting a piece of CN consumer $ while CN govt can have more control over the terms.

Need to find a way to cautiously collaborate while not becoming too dependent on China. US companies will probably navigate China as largest superpower better than US govt can and they'd probably have more success empowering suppliers from other countries (away from China) than what US govt can accomplish given lack of long term focus. But will most/enough US companies play against CN if also wanting a piece of CN consumer buying power?

Please for the love of god don't go to war with china. Don't even THINK about going to war with china. I do not understand why people get such a thrill out of this idea

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:28 pm Please for the love of god don't go to war with china. Don't even THINK about going to war with china. I do not understand why people get such a thrill out of this idea

I don’t know anyone who gets excited about that idea. It’s scary as hell.

A military war obviously wouldn't help either 'side', the tariff war didn't work but China and Russia's war on US appears to be keeping us internally polarized with hopes of becoming self-destructive or at least less global influence. Seems to be working.

China has had an obsession for years with taking back Taiwan. Should they invade that island, it is the most likely cause of the US getting drawn into a conflict.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/us/p ... 550392027a

A war with China would severely affect our supply chains. Long-term defense strategy should plan for setting up new supply chains back in the USA, or at least friendly countries out of China's reach.

Sometimes I think it was a mistake for Nixon to have sought an opening of relations with China.

FangKC wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:20 pm China has had an obsession for years with taking back Taiwan. Should they invade that island, it is the most likely cause of the US getting drawn into a conflict.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/us/p ... 550392027a

A war with China would severely affect our supply chains. Long-term defense strategy should plan for setting up new supply chains back in the USA, or at least friendly countries out of China's reach.

Sometimes I think it was a mistake for Nixon to have sought an opening of relations with China.

Couldn’t agree more.