They still arent close to us. They can produce the things we already knew how to. Over there they are great at standing on shoulders. We invent stuff. That is why we continue to remain ahead.

The question is what are we doing to make sure it never happens? The process has already begun. Just google "U.S companies moving R&D overseas" and you'll find more articles than you care to read.

Don't be so arrogant to think they won't catch up to us in the near future. In fact, I've always said our downfall will be our arrogance.

protecting me is fine. taking my money and giving it to farmers instead of allowing me to choose to purchase things of my choosing is not protecting me.

there are tons of countries who want to sell us food.

of course. people would do virtually anything to have access to our markets. why would there be shortages of food when people can get rich selling it to us? you act like you dont understand the simplest concepts of the market. if people want something, somebody else wants to sell it to them.

yes, these are government programs that make us far poorer than we could be.

if the government were smaller, we would be far richer as country. but it isnt, because everyone wants to take money from the collective from themselves.

i dont think you understand how a market works. if people are free, they exchange goods and services without difficulty and everything runs efficiently. food will always be available for purchase because people will always want the profits they can make selling it.

when the profit motive dies, then you can worry.

if i pay for something through my taxes, it wasnt really cheaper. i dunno why you cannot understand that. do you similarly think that free government health care is "free"? things just are not magically cheaper. especially when you are forced to pay for them in advance, whether you buy later or not.

i do worry about these countries becuase without free trade they are poor and more likely to collapse into some sort of stupid "workers" communist revolution and become the next cuba.

people like you hold our economy back. billions and billions wasted. money that could be spent efficiently by individuals spurring the economy.

many of which i have already paid for in the form of taxes and subsidies.

i want freedom. i want my own money, my own decisions. not your oppression. i know what is best for me. and i dont want to take your money and mine and give it to farmers. if we want to buy food, let us decide who we want to buy it from.

Stop worrying. Alot of American firms are outsourcingR&D overseas. So what. They aren't doing it to shrink their business. They aren't selling off their R&D functions. They are expanding them to grow their business. This means more jobs and more security everywhere.

1. i am not your average jackass. i am a fantastic jackass.

2. jackasses shouldnt be deciding what is best for other jackasses and forcing it on them. not realizing this, the average jackass figures the government should provide tons of services.

it isnt that i dont think people deserve a certain wage. it is that i think it is not my responsibility to decide who makes what.

not true. we already have enough food to feed everyone in the world easily. the problem is politics, people trying to control things. there will be no shortages of a renewable resource product like food as long as as sellers are allowed unfettered access to buyers. only meddling will result in shortages.

thats the thing, you do not need to tax anyone to ensure an adequate supply. in fact taxes are a good way to screw up the adequate supply by making the market far less efficient.

that is true, there are always people with poor understandings of economics and politics that want a central power to enforce things on the people and the economy. they do this because they fear a free market, because they dont understand it.

it shouldnt be considered our right to to dictate to people how much they pay each other. if employees want more money they should work somewhere else. if employers want to pay less, then they risk losing employees to other employers. again, their contracts are their business.

please do not put words in my mouth in order to further your weak arguments. i think we should compete on a level playing field with other countries. this may mean we move on to different industries, or it may mean we innovate and become so efficient that we compete even though our labor is more expensive. if an american farm can compete without taking money from other hard-working americans, then thats great.

i dont understand what you mean. there are lots of people who can make the items we need to consume, so one person/company/country cant manipulate supply to the detriment of everyone else. you can sell your products for whatever you want, but if you ask too much, you wont be selling them anymore and your competitors will.

unless of course you take the money directly from taxpayers, before they have a choice to buy from the superior seller and allow the market to adapt and stay efficient.