During his State of the Union address President Obama placed special emphasis on technology as an underlying force driving change in our economy. Early in his speech the president juxtaposed the "good old days" of "when finding a job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown" against a global, technological juggernaut that has opened up markets while increasing competition for jobs.
"In a single generation, revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work and do business," he said. Before laying out his vision of a new era of American innovation, Obama noted that "thirty years ago, we couldn't know that something called the Internet would lead to an economic revolution."
Speaking about the economic benefits of technology and innovation, Obama noted that "today, just about any company can set up shop, hire workers, and sell their products wherever there's an internet connection."
Obama's overall message was that the world has changed. In this new world, Americans must embrace technology or risk being left behind in an age of new demands and global competition. He noted that by recognizing the value of technology and emphasizing science and math education, countries such as China and India are attracting businesses and developing highly skilled workers.
One of the more illustrative moments of the speech was when Obama spoke of the "shuttered windows of once booming factories, and the vacant storefronts of once busy Main Streets." While he acknowledged the hardship and pain brought on by closed factories and steel mills that can "do the same work" with less people, the president urged Americans not to "stand still" despite the reality that the "rules have changed" for millions of workers.
In so many words, the president was telling the nation that it's time to retool and figure out how we'll survive in an increasingly "flat" world. Obama put the onus on government investments and preparing young people for science and technical fields but did not address the fact that an American worker with comparable training and education will likely still find it hard to compete in a free enterprise system that favors cheap labor and lax regulations.
While I was happy to hear the president talk about the internet and the promise of technology, I couldn't help feeling that the focus on "winning the future" through innovation was a way to bypass dealing with today's difficult challenges. Still, I liked that Obama took the opportunity to remind Americans about the enabling power of the internet. By seizing on the forward-moving nature of technology, the president invited us to look past the present moment and imagine a different tomorrow.
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Notice all the time frames mentioned will occur AFTER Obama is no longer President? That should tell you something. He does not really believe in the speech.
Obama has done nothing of the sort. He hasn't schooled anyone. He is just recycling some points and positions and papers and research into a mediocre speech.
Obama did school the nation on one thing. How to play a Democrat and then reveal himself to be Republican-lite, Wall Street Conservative.
Market equilibrium can be reached several ways.
We can turn back a century of progress and compete with China on their level.
We can force China to adopt a century of progress so they can compete on ours.
We can meet somewhere in the middle.
Only one path doesn't involve America's devolution. That's the path I'll fight for. The rest of you idolators of the free market I consider my enemy.
So why keep pumping up the zombie banks????
If they can't or won't lend, for whatever the excuse is...if all they can do is play "casino"...
Stop pumping them up.
in a combustion engine. Inovative thinking is exploding from too many directions for the oil powers to hold it down anymore. The one thing we must make sure of is that all possible clean energy sources
are continuosly developed to their capacity and fruition on all fronts. That will insure that the people have choices against menopolies bottlenecking our sources of energy. That includes taxes on energy as waell as corporate control over it. Just as I switched from natural gas to electric which I have better control over for home heating, I am still exorbitantly taxed on it.There needs to be ways developed for a farmer to produce his own fuel to run his farm on if he has the physical and mental capacity to do so. Yes, there will always be a need to refuel out on the highway or for public transit to run on, I can see it now. It will be made Illegal for some conjured up safety reason to produce your own fuel of ant kind.
There will be energy revenuers chasing energy moonshiners all over the world. Hey, we gotta tax that methane that you got from your own crap and cow dung. We need to meter the wind going through your windmill. That is the governments wind. and on and on.
http://futureofuschinatrade.com/forums/end-china-richer-us-richer