In 2004, the last penicillin fermentation plant in the U.S. ceased operations. China had invested heavily in large-scale penicillin fermentation factories, and its domestic companies flooded the global market with products. They undercut U.S. and other western producers on price, driving them out of business. After China gained a stronghold in the U.S. and world market, its companies raised prices."Made in China: How U.S. Dependence on Chinese Medicines and Components Could Pose a Security Threat." By Rosemary Gibson, Military Officers Association of America, 1/25/19.
(a.k.a. Bastion Of Liberty)
"Keep clear of the dupes that talk democracy,
And the dogs that bark revolution.
Drunk with talk, liars and believers.
I believe in my tusks.
Long live freedom and damn the ideologies!"
(Robinson Jeffers)
All these methods were used by the Japanese decades ago. I would bet that they go back many decades. People of an age will remember that Japan was supposed to rule the world. It didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteThe real threat to the US is our own globalist/interventionist Ruling Class. It is their policies of free trade and open borders that have wrecked our industrial sector and immiserated our working class. It's long past time that the Ruling Class was removed.
It depends on who you think the "Ruling Class" is and what you mean by "removed". The former will include millions of Americans and their removal by the ballot box has proved ineffective so the only alternative is war. Could get messy.
ReplyDeleteCol - I think you will find this essay very similar to what you you're saying - note the part about medicines from China...
ReplyDeletehttps://davidhuntpe.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/offshoring-to-insanity-and-beyond-long/
Sykes.1, I didn't realize that about the Japanese, though I'm not surprised. I imagine that any GS-9 clerk over at the Commerce Department has some understanding of this so the real problem is that there's been no one minding the store. The Prime Directive for the US and all Western government has been to just trash our economies and cultures and lie down in front of the steamroller.
ReplyDeleteAmen as to removal of the ruling class. It's taken me a long while to realize that they aren't "our" guys and whatever drum they are marching to isn't one that I can hear. They're more like an enemy occupation.
John, I share your pessimism. I heap scorn on commenters around the web who say with pride that they don't vote or aren't going to. I get it but it the last remaining blunt insttrument we have. I do my bit by calling and writing the representatives but I know I'm just one of hundreds of thousands. I like to think that we don't so much have to remove the ruling class as just demonstrate that they have lost all control. Hurricanes demonstrate how brittle government is. There are many vulnerable points in the transportation system.
Heck, I'm not sure it has to go that far. Watching the Illinois and California pension fund meltdowns shows how the "system" will likely collapse of its own weight. There are no good options as Gov. Pritzker is learning. The 2007 financial crisis was a one off. The next time such circumstances occur those tools are done used up.
Thanks, Nitzakhon. Yes, that's another more detailed take on the problem. If there would be one place to draw the line it would military parts procurement. But, no. Lower cost seems to be the driver.
The "good news" is that a few EMPs around the world would bring a whole lot of critical stuff to a halt. There won't be any winners in a full-bore slugfest of the future.