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Economically? The United States' GDP far exceeds that of China.
Politically? China's influence has certainly grown but they are nowhere near the player on the world stage the United States is.
Militarily? They have little ability to project power farther than their borders.
Standard of living? Certainly a nebulous measurement but I'd be surprised if China made anyone's top twenty.
I'm quite fond of China and I think it is wonderful for the Chinese people that their country is developing so quickly but I'm honestly befuddled at anyone ranking them as the world's #1 superpower.
I didn't want to respond to this but...
(I don't know if the GDP is PPP when compared)
Economically? US' GDP is an illusion. The quality of life of the average american is rather close to a 2nd world citizen than to a 1st world citizen.
Politically? I agree!
Militarily? US won't stand a chance in a war with China... no country on Earth can beat them today!
Standard of living? Probably half of the Chinese don't have the same quality of life as a Westerner but also.. 30% (if not more) of Americans don't have the quality of life of a Westerner... a lot of the Americans don't have even the quality of life of a poor 2nd world citizen.
Infrastructure? America's infrastructure might be bigger today... but is in collapse. I never seen roads that bad until I lived in the US. (not even in some of the poorest countries in the EU). Probably almost half of America's infrastructure is a disaster while China's infrastructure is new.
Leadership? America has a leadership crises. I'm not saying that China has great leaders but at least they don't have politicians that do anything for a vote! They try to improve the quality of life no matter what. The future doesn't look very good for the US regarding this matter. America has lost it's optimism. People no longer dream to be #1 ...they want to be average.
Innovation? US was #1 for a long time at innovation but today it gives me the impression that it has no direction. Believing that the medical field and the green sector represent the future it's a mistake... but believing and doing nothing about it it's a bigger mistake.
I see US today as UK was 30-40 years ago. The difference is that US has more poverty, some 3rd world countries down south and a run down infrastructure.
I'll excuse this time for my English... I think I made 1000 mistakes. Sorry. Next time I'll do better.
Yes, if you compare by GDP(PPP) China isn't even close to the United States. You can pick your source IMF, World Bank, CIA World Factbook whatever they all show China far behind the United States.
Quote:
The quality of life of the average american is rather close to a 2nd world citizen than to a 1st world citizen.
Again hard to argue this point because different definitions of quality of life but almost every list compiled by international organizations attempting to measure qualify of life lists the US in the top twenty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MilkDrinker
Militarily? US won't stand a chance in a war with China... no country on Earth can beat them today!
You are mistaken, the US has a military budget that is ten times larger and it shows with far more advanced, experienced, and globally effective fighting force. The PLA's largest military battle in the last three decades was probably in Tiananmen Square against student protesters.
Economically? US' GDP is an illusion. The quality of life of the average american is rather close to a 2nd world citizen than to a 1st world citizen.
Politically? I agree!
Militarily? US won't stand a chance in a war with China... no country on Earth can beat them today!
Standard of living? Probably half of the Chinese don't have the same quality of life as a Westerner but also.. 30% (if not more) of Americans don't have the quality of life of a Westerner... a lot of the Americans don't have even the quality of life of a poor 2nd world citizen.
Infrastructure? America's infrastructure might be bigger today... but is in collapse. I never seen roads that bad until I lived in the US. (not even in some of the poorest countries in the EU). Probably almost half of America's infrastructure is a disaster while China's infrastructure is new.
Leadership? America has a leadership crises. I'm not saying that China has great leaders but at least they don't have politicians that do anything for a vote! They try to improve the quality of life no matter what. The future doesn't look very good for the US regarding this matter. America has lost it's optimism. People no longer dream to be #1 ...they want to be average.
Innovation? US was #1 for a long time at innovation but today it gives me the impression that it has no direction. Believing that the medical field and the green sector represent the future it's a mistake... but believing and doing nothing about it it's a bigger mistake.
I see US today as UK was 30-40 years ago. The difference is that US has more poverty, some 3rd world countries down south and a run down infrastructure.
I'll excuse this time for my English... I think I made 1000 mistakes. Sorry. Next time I'll do better.
Economically in terms of a country this large the USA is #1 when it comes to per capita income.
Militarily, China has no ability to project power far beyond it's borders. The USA owns the seas with the US Navy and who owns the ocean is the boss.
Standard of living? All this stuff about the USA and it's "poor" people living in poverty is nonsense. All the welfare people I see at Wal Mart buying food with food stamps are the size of walruses or rhinos. In my state at least, welfare people don't work, get checks, get subsidized or free housing and even get cell phones. Plus they sell some drugs on the side for extra cash.
Infrastructure? Yeah China has some new stuff as would any developing country, but I have seen thousands of photos of the country just in the past month and things like roads are still dangerous and underdeveloped, internet is still sketchy, the air traffic system still underdeveloped. Health care is a joke. You are lucky to get an old X ray and an aspirin.
Leadership? The communist party is rankled with corruption.
Innovation? Um, where did the recent tech boom come from? Um, the USA. China has only demonstrated so far it can build copied things, but not create them as much themselves.
The best place I find to get info is from adventure motorcycling trip reports. There are a number of guys in the past year that have ridden thousands of miles around China and taken thousands of photos. Seeing the country in that way rather than through a journalists pen, one can see it for what it is, a developing country with a many, many issues to overcome.
The military thing isn't even close, hell there is much doubt whether China could even successfully occupy Taiwan which is right off their coast, much less engage in military action further abroad. Raw graphs below don't even begin to demonstrate the advantage in more advanced technology and actual combat experience the US would enjoy.
Game of what? I didn't see anyone claim there was no decay or weirdos in the US.
Previous videos were in response to claims nobody behaved badly in China, which is obviously a foolish position to take. If you'd like to debate whether the standard of living in China is higher than the US I'd love to hear your case.
One example...there are many to choose from...okay I'll give you one example...
1. Redistribution of Wealth - We are seeing this in politics all the time, especially now.
The health care bill is an example! Sen. Max Barcus said, "The last couple three years the mal-distribution of income in America is gone up way too much, the wealthy are getting way, way too wealthy, and the middle income class is left behind. Wages have not kept up with increased income of the highest income in America. This legislation will have the effect of addressing that mal-distribution of income in America." It's putting the burden on businesses and the wealthy to pay for the uninsured.
You can also see the president's public announcement on the war against Wall Street and big corporations. The push to increase taxes for the wealthy. The push to increase corporate income tax. The push to increase capital gains tax.
That's funny. When I read what Baucus said, it sounds to me like America has been steadily becoming LESS socialist. You might have to explain that to me. First, start by explaining the Health Bill to me, with special emphasis on exactly how forcing tens of millions of of Americans to buy insurance from the private sector instead of relying on social assistance, is "moving fast towards socialism".
It looks like you want to disregard a decade of Bush rule, and pick out one blurry shapshot, and claim that that is proof that America is on a fast track to socialism.
And how many of those "pushes" have come pass with real socializing change? When I watch Tea Party coverage and hear the results of nomination races, it sounds like there are plenty of "pushes" away from socialization, too.
You said America is "moving fast toward socialism". I asked for an example. Still waiting.
Game of what? I didn't see anyone claim there was no decay or weirdos in the US.
Previous videos were in response to claims nobody behaved badly in China, which is obviously a foolish position to take. If you'd like to debate whether the standard of living in China is higher than the US I'd love to hear your case.
No one is debating that the standard of living is better in China. But the US ain't all that either. Take out our financial sector, health care and our military spending, and the US GDP shrinks considerably.
We're blessed with lots of arable and habitable land. That was always our key advantage. If we had 1.3 billion people and half the arable land, I doubt we'd do much better than China today. With the way some of our demographics are growing, that might happen by the end of the century.
Our other advantage is our elite universities, which take in top talent from around the world.
The average American with barely a high school education doesn't really have much to pound his chest about unfortunately.
The average American with barely a high school education doesn't really have much to pound his chest about unfortunately.
Well he can pound his chest about having hot water 24/7, unlike many in China.
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