Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3
So, instead of trying to become a technological leader your solution would be to just sit back and let the world pass you by, because there isn't enough money in it right now?
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DGthe3:
If that quote is to me, boy you have me ALL wrong. Here's practically an essay I wrote on the subject a week or so ago:
http://camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88962
I am HORRIFIED by what this country has gradually allowed to be done to it. I was particularly set off by watching the practical death of NASA. America is still number 1 in technology and manufacturing. However it's getting tighter every month. America will not hold on to that lead doing commodity manufacturing. The history of America is basically taking a manufacturing process with tons of demand, perfecting it until there is little left to improve- then farming it off to another country. Tobacco, cotton and then textiles, etc.
The problem with the SS badge example is: there's not a lot of technology left there to glean. Items that require cnc machining or complex metallurgy or whatever is what we need to keep here. One of the best examples is that Korea probably has the best civilian carbon fiber technicians on the planet right now. US companies trained Koreans to make carbon fiber sporting goods like tennis rackets, golf shafts, and high end bike frames. Now they have 25 years engineering and manufacturing experience in the field. There's still a ton of development life left in CF and the Koreans are in the best position to capitalize on it based on having a skilled workforce in place.
You can read that other thing I wrote a couple weeks ago if you feel like it, but the brief form is we currently have the best post-graduate on the job training program for engineers and scientists on the planet with our military-industrial complex plus NASA. We are in the process of deliberately tearing those things down brick by brick and handing those bricks to other countries. When you have the chief Administrator of NASA saying:
****"In a far-reaching restatement of goals for the nation’s space agency, NASA administrator Charles Bolden says President Obama has ordered him to pursue three new objectives: to “re-inspire children” to study science and math, to “expand our international relationships,” and to “reach out to the Muslim world.”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/
Then you are left wondering how we are going to retain leadership. That's not a current administration criticism. Honestly-don't bash Obama with that because this deterioration has been happening for years. It's just now far more obvious. Like 'em or hate 'em we've only had 2 presidents in the last 50 years with a vision bigger than reelection: Reagan and Kennedy.
OMG I'm sorry, I let myself get started again. You should see how my kids look at me when I go off. My day job brings me into contact with a lot of high tech firms and I see and hear a lot of this all day.