My message was supposed to indicate that Britain is still a fantastic country to live in. Apparently folks here don’t think so. Picky people! I can’t imagine a country more suitable for Americans than the U.K., besides America itself and maybe Canada and the land down under.
This is what we are up against!
That bridge looks awfully scary. So does the other one.
And sorry I don’t need a train to go thru my building.
The thread is about the rise and fall of nations. They went from empire to IMF bailout in one generation. Authors such as Nevil Shute saw the writing on the wall back in the early 50’s.
Japan ended the British Empire in 100 days at the start of WW2. …1588-1942…a long run…America’s empire probably won’t last that long…
Britain rejected Churchill after he helped win the war…They went socialist until Margaret Thatcher turned things around. .It was a pretty sad depressing place for most Britons when I lived there in 1965. …20 years after WWII. …Many lived in cold water flats costing only $14/week in London…we lived like kings in our $75/week flat in St Johns Wood on my dads meeger UC Berkeley professors salary…9 Rolls Royces parked on the street on our block…Only half the people of Britain even had refrigerators…
Of course things are different now…London is one of the most expensive places in the world and the financial capital of Europe.
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China will eventually grow its GDP to 4x that of America for sure. Why not? It has 4x as many people. When that happens, Britain today is America tomorrow. Not the top dog anymore, but still a fantastic place to live. Should Americans be worried? No. Afraid? Not at all. Brits are still having tons of fun.
We have enough to worry about keeping our own house in order…China is not the cause of our problems…But if we go down the road of socialism like Britain we could have years of dark days ahead…
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The US surpassed Britain’s GDP around 1900. It was far earlier than most people think. America gaining independence was really the tipping point for Britain. If America was still part of it, it’d still be #1 for GDP.
IN 1900 the US population was 76m…Britain was 38m…Even though our GDP was higher our standard of living was lower…That changed by the 20s…WW1 devastated Europe…By 1920 America was the wealthiest per person and highest GDP…WW2 was the coup de grace to the British Empire. …But they seem to be doing well without the empire now…
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Being an empire is not very profitable…The Brits learned the hard way… In fact America gets nothing from it. .Let the Chinese have at it…Ain’t worth the headache.
During the Industrial Revolution the empire became less important and less well-regarded. The British defeat in the American War of Independence (1775–1783) deprived it of its largest and most developed colonies. This loss brought a realisation that colonies were not particularly economically beneficial to the home economy.[34] It was realised that the costs of occupation of colonies often exceeded the financial return to the taxpayer. In other words, formal empire afforded no great economic benefit when trade would continue whether the overseas political entities were nominally sovereign or not. The American Revolution helped demonstrate this by showing that Britain could still control trade with the colonies without having to pay for their defence and governance. Capitalism encouraged the British to grant their colonies self-government, starting with Canada, which became unified and largely independent in 1867, and Australia, which followed suit in 1901.[35]
I think it is impossible to control land that is far away and much bigger than your home country. The only way to maintain control of large territory is if the land is contiguous to the country itself and not separated by water, such as Russia’s expansion into Siberia and China’s expansion into Manchuria and Tibet.
The only exception I can think of is Greenland. But that land is so uninhabitable that it can only sustain a population less than that of a tiny tropical island…
China becomes more prosperous doesn’t mean America won’t also be more prosperous. It just that Americans feel they should be on top for all, military, economy, technology, movies, etc. So far, quality of life for each human has been improving, of course, some have occasional backslide but globally we are better off than one generation ago.
China is essentially an empire 
comprises 55 ethnic groups. The origin of China is only the Central Plains 
, and the first dynasty is Shang dynasty, territory of Shang Dynasty.
Japan invaded China in the 1930s, killed 20 million people…got nothing for it but total devastation…The Japanese empire should be a warning to future empiralists. …watch what you strive for
Being prosperous is great and all but in order for China to be the head honcho it has to do a lot more on the humanitarian front. It is going to have to fundamentally change (for the better) in order to garner favorable global opinion and what is the word…respect.
I met a wonderful gentleman this morning while at a place I can’t disclose. After 2 hours of a wonderful conversation, from his family problems and good things to my immigration case, I asked what’s your background, what did you do for a living? He is retired, 80+ years old, still in good shape. He told me: I an ex “Secret service” guy. 
As you can imagine, we talked about Chile, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and the US intervention there. Plenty of topics I knew, and he assured me that whatever I knew was true. He was there in the planning room, or met people in charge.
Then, we were exchanging ideas and we concurred that from Vietnam and on, except Korea, this country has made so many mistakes that he got so disappointed, he ended up quitting the service to become an entrepreneur. He feels the distraction, from Vietnam to Iran and then Iraq on, has derailed the leadership this country had in the world by being too bossy. When I asked him about this administration, he said that he hasn’t seen anything so absurd ever. Patriotism he said, was thrown through the window. Russia our friend? Yeah right! he said.
But he has confidence the American people will wake up from this ignorant credence that one guy can change the problems. Thinking before voting, and assuming responsibility with your vote, and making the elected guy responsible for his mistakes need to comeback to the table.
On my way to RWC to eat some tacos. See ya!
Is only his opinion, and is also your opinion to agree. There are many people of different opinions, just because their opinions are different from you doesn’t make them wrong or they are making mistakes. From what I have read so far, the neoliberal think their worldview and opinions are the only correct ones. Is ok to have debate of ideas, the market would tell you which one they would accept , don’t be disappointed if your is not accepted 
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