Yes. We've screwed our country for the sake of one percentage point of inflation, each year, for the last fifteen years, at least. We're all to blame, I've enjoyed the cheap alternators and water pumps for my cars. For the sake of a race to the bottom, only focusing on this quarter's earnings, we've given away our manufacturing base to China, and they've stolen the recipe to much of our more sophisticated items. Trump's position to stand up to China is a good one, but I fear it's just bluster ahead of a mediocre agreement that will, of course, be tweeted as the best ever. Try to buy a nutritional supplement that's not made in China (they hide behind where it's bottled), or any after market auto part. I could go on. Without a concerted effort to diversify manufacturing, including moving a bit of it back here, we're screwed if we get into a shooting war.
Earlier this year, I got to spend a little time with a former ambassador giving a talk on the likelihood of China supplanting the United States as the world's premier power. He took a reasoned approach, concluding that they would not for two reasons. One, he believes (rightly, in my mind) that China is headed for depression of epic proportions once their growth slows. They're cooking their numbers now, gov't spending is keeping things buoyed and actual manufacturing is slacking. It will get worse, and they'll have to focus internally, much like the Soviets did. Second - and this is the one that Trump is screwing the pooch over - the U.S. has far more alliances and international friendships to keep it in good stead vs. the Chinese. By the ambassador's count, it was something like 200+ to 12. Trump's inexplicable abandonment of our allies in Syria will have long-term implications for U.S. relations abroad, and cracks are showing in our international reputation. This is my most concerning aspect of a Trump presidency, that he won't necessarily screw up our country, but our country's role in the world.
As to the specific issue, this is what an totalitarian regime does when it fears no consequence - rain fire on dissent, anyone or anything that gets out of line. Hong Kong is a visible example, and the NBA a more local one, but it's a drop in the bucket for the millions murdered by the communists in China. Personally, I place no responsibility on the players to speak up - they're as ill-informed as the average person staring into their phone to see how many likes they get a day. I place more responsibility on those who hold themselves out as adults in this situation - the NBA's cowardly response and censoring, ESPN's idiotic use of a state-sponsored imperialistic map, etc.
On a separate issue, I was watching Squawkbox earlier this week, and during an interview Dick's CEO said that they are the "largest purveyor of premium Nike merchandise in the nation". As if I needed another after the Second Amendment, that gave me a second reason to never darken their door.
RTR,
Tim
