Some say WWIII is imminent. How likely do you think it is?

@whowasthatmaskedman
The OP is about WWIII with nuclear weapons.

America is still at the top of the heap, and king of the hill regardless of the effectiveness of the US military.

@sree251 I know what you meant. But if you dig into history, all wars are about economics. Be it trade, stealing wealth or access to resources..No one goes to war for the fun of it..Even the Crusades were about treasure and plunder under it all. And the chinese have simply refined American foreign policy and used it to disable the things that made America the powerhouse that won WW2..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
You mean economic survival and domination? I agree. I don't see how China can or want to disable America's economy. We are consuming ourselves to death, and we need to in order to stay economically viable and keep the US dollar from collapsing. The Chinese are quite happy to let us do that because their economy has need to grow at our expense. Our national debt will keep climbing until we implode. The eventual collapse of the global financial market will not affect China. The Chinese do not have a free market economy. They could shut themselves off from the world and survive on their own the way they were doing 700 years ago. Back then, China was a closed economy and wanted nothing from the outside world.

@sree251 OK. You make a couple of good points there. China doesnt want to collapse Americas economy. China, like America has a growth economy model. And the old fashioned shooting wars are destructive and wasteful. Nuclear wars even more so. Forget about it..The Chinese want to take over the US economy and so far they are doing OK at it.They control component manufacturing for US made cars. Just about everything in Walmart is Chinese made. They are makding inroads in Hollywood and Silicone valley and names like Apple and Nike are American in name only.. They own accounting and legal firms by takeover and buyout and they hire lobbyists.And having all this works for them, because the next step is to keep the status quo in the economy, so that the other side of the Chinese extermally can replace the $US as the reserve trade currency. Something the rest of the world is edging toward anyway as the US debases its own currency by printing it without any back up of value. And that is the only thing keeping the value of the dollar up right now. Once that tanks, the trap snaps shut and the US has no choice but to buy using probably the yuan. But certainly a currency they cant control the value of to print their way out of debt. Hyperinflation in America, no imports and everyone armed to the teeth. Thats going to be a fun holiday..😷 Then the Chinese simply buy up the rest for 10c on the dollar..The electoral system is already geared to be tilted in their favour..

@whowasthatmaskedman
I don't think the Chinese wants to take over the US economy. I believe China's concern is the welfare of her 1.4 billion population that is still a long way from a standard of living of a first world nation. China's GDP per capita is still low at US$13,000 compared to America's per capita GDP of S$80,000. We want to stop China from rising to our level economically because if China's per capita income gets to be $80,000, her GDP would be US$108 trillion! This is 5 times the size of US's GDP today.

@sree251 Now imagine for a moment you are one of those aspiring Chinese. And you read what you just wrote. That an American wants to stop you having what he has.... Think about it...😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
First of all I don't think the average American has anything. GDP per capita is the averaging out the total US economic production of $23 trillion by 350 million Americans in the nation. Do you believe that the average American is making $80,000 a year? No way. It's all meaningless data for the common man in America and China.

The aspiring Chinese is focused on making money, as much as possible, for himself. He is a more driven capitalist than his American counterpart and much more hardworking. He has no interest in national politics which is the province of the politician, the government bureaucrat. We Americans view China as another juggernaut like ourselves, intent on world domination. China's population of 1.4 billion is already exerting a dominant presence in the world of 8 billion people. Why do we regard China as a threat? If you weigh 150 lbs and the guy sitting next to you weighs 600 lbs,is he a threat?

@sree251 You are thinking in far too simplistic terms.If I had to push your analogie, I would have to add that a 600lb person is bedridden and that there are five 150 pound guys, not one. The fact is the Chinese economy and industry are coordinated by government, as is the population. And when the government says jump, they do. In America, the government says jump and nothing has happened for a decade. And thats how the chinese won. Americans were busy being greedy and self absorbed..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
We Americans are fed with the belief that the Chinese population is controlled by China's government. It is our perception that they are a huge mindless chain gang. We just cannot accept that China is a well-run cohesive nation compared to the US. The Chinese people are coordinated like legs of a giant millipede. Their Covid response is an eye-opener. Entire cities of tens of millions shut down and people stayed indoors. They were supplied with food delivered to their homes for weeks and weeks. Massive rapid response emergency hospitals set up in a matter of days. We believe that the Chinese are submissive dumb people even though they perform far better in math and science at school than Americans. The fact that we don't jump when told to by the government is because we don't give a damn for our crooked politicians who are looking out for themselves. We are all greedy and self-absorbed.

America has open borders. The Chinese have been here since the gold rush in 1850. Some 5 million Chinese are spread out all over the US in Chinatowns and part of our cultural fabric. More have come to our schools and universities since 2000 and most have returned to China to modernize their power grids and infrastructures. It's a pity that we regard China as a threat instead of as a dependable supplier of manufactured products. We are constantly agitating them over Taiwan and Hong Kong while at the same time giving them grants to work on cutting edge viral research for Fauci's NIH. What's going on here? Can you tell me?

@sree251 I can tell you. But you wont like it. It contradicts the American world view. but that harks back to Trumpism 101. "When faced with complaints about your system, point to the flaws in the opposite sides.." To cut to the chase, China is simply outcompeting America on every level. Industry obviously.. Innovation and motivation they learned from the Japanese and are getting quality Management from them as well.Foreign policy, using aid to get cooperation in the UN and economic ties globally and economic dominance through trading in their own currency for what they want, while exporting to the globe..As for taiwan. Thats a toy China is playing with and cost America billions every month for no strategic advantage. They will take it back when the want to and America cant stop them. Also China are constructing Universities for local and foreign students from the region to become the local hub of learning in the sciences, training professionals to return to their own countries and become leaders of the future, As America, Britain and Australia did last century.. Its gong to be the Asian century..😷