If it's so much better there, move there...

When I write that another country does something better than we do, I usually get the "If it's so good there, move there" response, like when I pointed out a few years ago, that Denmark had a highly developed network of wind turbines -- a Norwegian company was considering investing in an offshore wind farm in Maine until the then right-wing conservative governor screwed the deal -- he noted that the turbines were actually powered by small electric motors, not the wind.

Hey, at least he didn't say that turbines cause brain cancer.  But I got the "if it's so good there" response from a Mainer who didn't believe in climate change, and LOVED that governor because he "told it like it is" including offensive language and crude comments and threats.

The backstory --

Back in the 1600s, China was the most advanced civilization on earth.  The very name for the country in Mandarin, was "Chung Kuo", 中国, the "middle kingdom" the gateway between earth and Heaven.

They knew they were the best, so they stopped innovating.  The rest of the world (the barbarians) would never match China.

Other countries caught up and eventually surpassed China.  

The Chinese did not forget that.  They did not forget that for over a hundred years, western powers that became more advanced, like hyenas, gradually picked off pieces of China -- like Mongolia, Manchuria, Macau and Hong Kong.

In the past generation, everything has changed.  China is again on the upswing.  They are innovative, they invest in that innovation, and it shows.

We were the most advanced civilization a generation ago, and knew it.  But then we stopped innovating. 

We began to criticize anyone who did anything better than we did. 

We created the myth of "American exceptionalism" which allowed us to continue to backslide.


Now, with disrespect toward science and facts, and reactionary religious groups, and right-wing nationalists and white supremacists taking over, I'm not sure we can ever get back to where we were.

We need a national plan, wherein we look all around the world to find out what other countries do better than we do.

• National health care in most of Western Europe
• Solar power in France
• Wind power in Denmark
• High speed rail in Japan
• Highways that glow at night in Poland
• Trees that glow at night along highways in the Netherlands
• Or maybe trees that glow at night along highways that glow at night in the US?  YES, we could do that...

We need to fund research (and believe in that research as well) into innovative ideas and products, like green energy.

We need to get over the "we're better than you" mindset that keeps us from discovering new ideas and implementing new techniques.

We need to get off our asses and fund research and development.

And to do that, we need to guarantee that EVERY SINGLE BUSINESS in the US pays at least a bare minimum in income taxes.

We won't rescue this country by continually giving tax breaks to the rich, who don't bother re-investing it.  "Trickle down economics" is really "Pee on everyone else".

I mean, does anyone REALLY need a tenth yacht -- and don't tell me they worked hard to earn all those millions to buy it -- most simply inherited their wealth.

A tax break for the rich -- deductions for every job created; for every dollar invested in R&D and education, deductions for every "green" innovation -- THAT I could go along with.  A tax cut so they can simply send more money to offshore secret banks?  NO!

Will we actually DO any of this?  Frankly, the pessimistic side of me says, no.  Julius Caesar destroyed the Roman Republic and gave people "bread and circuses" so they wouldn't care about things like government.  Later emperors ignored the "barbarians at the gate" until it was too late.

So we'll just cash in our lottery tickets, watch football, have a Bud Light, and forget anything to do with the rest of the world.  

As long as we can text on our Chinese-made smart phone and watch that game on our Chinese-made smart TV...