Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick
What makes you think that poor Chinese and Indians will be able to afford it and "most of us" won't? Just curious.
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Thank You for asking.
Well first off because many citizens in these countries are demanding they have many of the items they've been producing for the west. It went from bicycles to motorcycles and now the demand is for small economical family cars. Next you may have noticed strategic oil alliances being created outside the interest of the west. There's also the political wrangling going on internationally for market share of energy resources.
We in the west due to our effective industrial infrastructure and innovation have in the past lead the world in technology and as such used a disproportional share of world energy resources. That is changing. That technology and resources have increasingly been shipped off shore. The imbalance is a result of effective international competition. The rest of the world is catching up and in some sectors surpassing the US.
I do not believe in zero sum games, however IMHO the industrial technology of the past has been assumed to a great degree by other nations. For example, out of all the cars made in the world, what has been the changing share of US involvement, how about consumer electronics and increasingly software development. We can still play the game, but the rules are changing. True some have said that if the US economy tanks so will China's and most of the developed world. So prosper or not things are going to get more expensive, and energy itself along with products demanding lots of it will too. I'm no seer, however I think we need to prepare for an adjustment in the world market. People wiser than I am could tell you a lot more, but that's what I get out of it.
Is it all doom and gloom? Certainly not! The challenges faced by our ancestors spurred them on to greatness. I see no reason why it should not be the same with us. All of us on this Forum know cars should be getting two to four times the fuel economy they do now. Some here have built cars that can get greater than 80MPG while driving normal speeds. What if the car manufactures got it and really built such a car for the common family? What if the building trades, energy production, every sector of our economy took it upon themselves to do more with less? That's the real challenge before us. Will we do what we need to do? It starts with us, proving to the world it can be done. JMHO anyway.