When Barack Hussein Obama was elected President of the United States I thought ‘if anyone can turn things around for the United States it is this man.’
I didn’t know much about Obama at the time, didn’t know about his credentials, business abilities, values and I still don’t. But, I did listen to his campaign and the ideas he conveyed of hope and a new perspective for the future.
For years I’ve watched the United States slowly deteriorate into a fallen country with no end to the collapse. Only some new ideas and perspectives can turn things around. But, these ideas have to be implemented and implemented before it’s too late.
The United States has been in deterioration since it first placed a man on the moon. After that, it’s been all downhill. Why? Because it has not invested in the future. Americans have been living off the wealth and competitive advantage created during the 1800’s and first half of the 1900’s. They’ve been busy consuming their vegetables and not working the land to improve on the production.
You may or may not agree with this perspective, but consider this. It was in the late 1800’s that U.S. ships lay off the coasts of Japan and China looking to land in order to replenish their supplies. When the rulers at the time refused, the ships shot their cannons at the mainland. This was enough for the rulers of the day to realize the significant superiority the U.S. held over them. Out of fear they agreed to let them on shore. The fear and resentment was so deep routed that they started planning the solution to this foreign threat. The rulers started their 100 year plan of developing to the point where they would dominate over the U.S. and possibly the world.
To accomplish this, China targetted specific industries and specific locations to promote as leaders. Government worked to establish plants in order to produce goods they could sell to foreigners, specifically the U.S. These products were clearly inferior, yet priced at such a discount that American consumers couldn’t resist buying them. The reality is that the total direct cost to the consumer of buying these products (not including the cost in lost jobs, the environment, etc.) was much greater than buying a higher quality locally manufactured version. This was apparent to me recently when my best friend bought a pair of casual shoes made in China. The same day the shoes broke and he couldn’t wear them any longer. Next day he had to take them back. The shoes cost him $25 (an Italian or Canadian manufactured pair would have cost him $100). So he thought he saved $75 right? Wrong! He had to go back to the store to return the shoes that’s an extra hour out of his schedule. He gets paid over $100 per hour. Already he’s lost money not counting transportation cost. Now, if you consider this further you’ll realize that someone who only buys these low quality shoes would be making several purchases (as much as 8 purchases) over a period of a year or two, whereby the higher quality shoes would require only one visit. So the cost would be $25 plus 8 hours of your time compared to $100.
The consequence of this is that American consumers have lost 8 hours of their productive time and rather than look at ways to better their life or spend time with their family and friends they’ve spent it buying products. Meanwhile on the other end Chinese manufacturers are counting their sales and investing their profits to improve on their industries. Over years more and more products were manufactured in China and China was protecting its own consumer base by making it virtually impossible for foreign products to reach their market. And with each additional product manufactured in China, more jobs were created in China, they became more competitive, they accumulated more savings and America started losing jobs, expertise, competitiveness and even savings. The Chinese became stronger and the Americans became weaker.
Today Americans have been taxed generations into the future yet their ability to generate wealth has tremendously deteriorated.
My message to President Obama and the American people is that there is no short solution to the problem they face. There is also no use in blaming business leaders or individuals. If there is anyone to blame it is the politicians for at a time that their counterparts in China were formulating and executing effective plans for economic development and growth they were playing political games and maneouvering to secure votes for their personal career aspirations. But lets not lay blame for that is not where the solution lies. The solution lies in coming up with a plan and implementing that plan.
The solution is in the answer to this question: “President Obama, what are you going to do to provide America the ability to sell superior products at competitive prices for export all over the world, including into China, India and other developing countries?
In answering this question the details will provide a plan of action revealing the steps of what needs to be done to make it happen. If you can sell products you can create jobs, if you can create jobs you can earn money and accumulate wealth, if you can earn money you can improve your quality of life. The Americans need to be more thoughtful and planning than the Chinese have been in order to compete and excell in today’s and tomorrow’s world.