containment

     With China on the rise with their military aspirations especially in the way they look at global dominance is the US lagging behind?    

    This is a question I ponder when the lights go out and I can't sleep due to my insomnia and body aches and pains.   And the answer I keep coming back to is yes and no.  

    Yes, in the fact we created this monster when we normalized trade with them in the 1990's we had the idea that if we allowed them to have open unfettered trade, they would de couple from the communistic ideas and start to gravitate to the western thought process.  Well, NO that did not happen.  they just weaponized the trade.  and the west, well more the United States mostly took a blind eye to this. we got drunk on cheap Chinese made goods.  At the same time big business started relocating the manufacture facilities to China due to basically slave labor wages, the ability to cut corners and no red tape when it comes to business practices and environmental controls. the money rolled in, and we just did not care at all, as long as we can have 300-dollar flat screen tv and throw away goods all was right with the world we thought.   

    While we were watching the right hand no one was paying attention to what the left was doing.  and the left hand was quite busy.  steeling western intellectual property, under cutting western goods, not floating their currency, and all while building their military (I know I just glossed over most of it the list can go on for days). 

    What does all this mean?  well, it means we as the ONLY superpower on the globe.  yes, the only superpower China and Russia are NOT superpowers they are referred to as one but it's only to offset the fact we are the only true superpower left on the globe.  We need a boogieman the Lex Luther or Joker to our Superman or batman. So, it means we will be on a head-to-head confrontation with China at some point.  China understands this and started to take steps to lighten the impact of the struggle in the form of economic dominance by positioning themselves as the factory of the world. 

    They then started building manmade islands in and around the China Sea at the same time making claims that surrounding islands are part of the mainland China all this to fortify the homeland from outside interference.  they remember the treaty port system forced on them in the 1800's by the English, French, Spanish and to a lesser roll the US.  and they do not want that again. 

    China is upgrading their air force, and Navy.  they have the 3rd largest air force behind the Russians and America.  the second largest Navy behind the US (I know, I know China has a larger navy but NO you don't go by boats in the water you go by tonnage in the water and America is far and away larger) but China is trying to gear up for a conflict with the US. so is America ready?

    There are reports we are dragging our feet, and I can see it.   we need to re stock our depleted bomb supply, small arms and ammo supplies, and gear up some more naval assets. all of which can be done in a very short period of time but that is the lip stick on the pig.  we are behind on bases in the region.  we have several in Japan well Japan has the most bases for US forces only behind Germany.  also have assets in Vietnam, S. Korea, the marshal islands and other areas.  But we once held several bases on the islands in the seas in and around Asia but after WWII we let most of them go and abandoned them.  other we keep but are rundown and are in great need of reconstruction and up grading especially to handle the new fighting equipment we have currently in the arsenal.

    So, what do we do?  that is the million-dollar question, Trump is on the right track, But I feel he went about the tariffs all wrong, I don't feel he should have placed tariffs on any of our major allies.  they should have been left alone and given better deals. Then cut taxes and red tape making in attractive for the re shoring and ease of re shoring manufacture here in the states.  yeah, it would be slightly painful, but it allows the markets to take hits and track a path now I know were smooth right now but if he did what I stated the world would line up faster against the Chinese. we also need to rebuild the bases under our control and start to surround the Chinese with a power projection.  containment is the key if you ask me.  we need to contain the Expansion of the Chinese, muzzle their economic expansionism, and pull away from trade.  bleed them slowly.  its the only way to combat them with out going into a shooting war.