The Scoop: China will soon rule the world
Sunday afternoon was as good a time as any to dump out Benjamin’s toy box and get down on the floor and play. In between Scooby snacks and Batmobile maneuvers, I stumbled on an interesting game.
I decided to play Check Where the Toy is Made, which really isn’t much of a game. In fact, it’s depressing.
What I found is Scooby Doo and Batman are both made in China. So are the Power Rangers and Bob the Builder. What about Elmo you say? Well Elmo and his pals Bert and Ernie are made in China. Buzz Lightyear, Spider-Man, and even a good ol’ John Deere tractor are all made in China.
In case you’re wondering, I’m not rattling off this list so you’ll know every toy in my house. It’s to show how so, so many things we buy in America are made in China. It’s why our economy is treading water while the Chinese are experiencing spectacular economic growth.
A booming economy means many things. But the main thing that concerns me is a wealthy economy translates into the ability to fund a powerful military.
Every time we buy a superhero for the kids, we’re giving money to the Chinese government. And don’t doubt for a second China is using that money to buy assault weapons, tanks, missiles, and yes nukes.
Don’t forget China is the largest country in the world, with over four times the number of people as the United States. The Chinese Army is roughly twice the size of America’s Army and National Guard combined.
So what we have is a country that can have an extravagantly funded military with no shortage of citizens to enlist. China can’t currently match the U.S. in terms of sophisticated weaponry, but with their abundance of engineers and new-found military commitment, I don’t think it will take them too long to catch up.
What all this means to me is we have a formidable adversary. And when I look at our economy, and our military that’s been stretched too thin, I don’t know if we’re up to the challenge.
Most of our manufacturing jobs are leaving, and we’ll soon be a country which doesn’t make much of anything. When a major company looks for a place to locate a plant, it no longer has to choose between Tennessee or Texas. That company can choose between Tennessee or Taiwan.
And to be completely honest, Tennessee is not going to win many of those battles. Simply put, we cost too much.
It’s a telling sign when workers at a local factory are considering a strike when they have a contract offer on the table to earn $22 a hour. Folks, that’s not a typo. I said local workers who make $22 a hour may boycott their jobs because they don’t believe they are being treated fairly.
With that kind of friction, how can we realistically expect manufacturers to operate in America? It’s easier to set up a plant in China, pay workers a fraction of the salary, and be free of the labor strife.
Then there’s the touchy subject of the U.S. military, a military that’s badly overextended itself and currently has thousands of troops needlessly committed to Iraq and Afghanistan, just to name the top two.
It’s been fairly well publicized that the U.S. military is struggling to find new recruits. The Army has fallen well short of its recruiting goals every month this year.
In short, America has an uncertain economy and a dwindling military. China has established a massive economy and their military might is beginning to make me nervous.
Now I’m not suggesting China is on the verge of invading the United States. I just hope there’s still room in this world for more than one superpower. And Americans may soon have to accept we’re not the top one.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at editor@southernstandard.com.)