But Bill Bonner of the The Daily Reckoning said it better this week:
"Occasionally, the devil slips his leash and all hell breaks loose. It happened in the 14th century. It happened again in the 20th. For Europeans and Asians rarely was there a more dangerous or disagreeable time to be alive than during long stretches of the last century. They suffered the worst wars, the most deadly (at least in total numbers killed, the Spanish flu was the worst ever) epidemic, the worst famines (self-induced by the public officials in China and the Soviet Union), the most lethal governments (Nazi Germany, Communist China and the Soviet Union, Pol Pot's Cambodia...etc.), and arguably the worst art and architecture in history. Americans were spared the worst of these abominations and ended the century as the world's Alpha Race...its lead dog...its imperial people, taking over from the British after WWI and consolidating their position in the following decades. Like an ambitious undertaker, America practically rigged the traffic lights to cause accidents. But now something has fundamentally changed. The Anglo-Saxon Empire is, and always was, based on commerce. It succeeded by taking raw materials from the colonies, adding value by manufacturing, and reselling the products to the world. But the Aanglo-Saxons no longer make what the world wants to buy. Turn over any object at home or at the office and you are likely to find a "made in China," or "made in Malaysia," or "assembled in India," notice. Increasingly, America's old industries - such as G.M. and Kodak are going bust, unable to compete with Asian labor rates. Is this really a cause for worry? Many say it is not. They say that the real money is not made in manufacturing anyway, but in design, branding and marketing...or better yet, in finance! Mommas and papas throughout the developed world know this is true. They want their babies to grow up to work on Wall Street, not on assembly lines, so keenly that they sign the poor tots up for the right nursery schools, the right secondary schools and push them to get into the right universities...so they may take their places among the masters of the universe, rather than the wage slaves. We have spent the week wondering what magic these "sophisticated" businesses bring us. We wonder what they actually do that is of value, and how it can liberate a whole nation from the grind of having to get its hands dirty? "They sweat, we think," is now our national motto. We wonder, too, what magic makes it possible for us alone to do all the thinking? Is it merely the last conceit of an imperial people? Surely the Asians have had a thought or two. We are witnessing something remarkable; a great empire is rolling over. It is an opportunity for the devil; we wonder when he will show up."
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