the US in the future with their emerging economies, they already have us over a barrel with all the money we've been borrowing from them. 

And the Africa thing is really annoying, too.  Looking at the news in this country you'd never think the continent existed.  I lived in West Africa for a while and the Chinese were a presence there even 22 years ago.  They had built a cigarette factory there and employed the locals.  I think they were also involved in local beer production. 

The only other real foreign investment was a massive sugar plantation in the north, called Savee, which was built with a combination of World Bank loans and loans from an organization of particularly slimy reputation called LonRho.  The plantation was huge -- over 5000 hectares -- with a refining facility right on the premises, but it had been built in a time when sugar was flooding the market.  There was no demand for the product and hundreds of workers at the site who had left their families and villages were hanging around for months waiting for work to do and to be paid.  Once paid they'd spend all their money on cheap cassette players and beer.  There were so many things wrong with this picture I wouldn't know where to start, but the long and short of it was that it was an ill-conceived project which disrupted the village economies and societies, provided no long term benefits, and diverted money from other, more sensible development projects.  The Chinese, on the other hand, had identified a niche -- cigarettes and beer sell -- and exploited it.  I'd be willing to bet that they are very well-established by now in Benin.

Of all the things of which Americans are ignorant they are most ignorant of Africa and its potential. 

How often do you see that nation reported on?  And parts of Africa are in the middle of a civil war that makes Iraq look like child's play.

The moral of the story you relayed is that wherever desperate and poor people live, there will always be a large corporation there to exploit them.  Global Capitalism 101 - the search for cheap and exploitable sources of labor.

Excellent, insightful, on-target post, "relawson".  As you probably already know, Jim Webb talks about this very topic frequently and from what I've heard, he shares your observations and concerns.  Obviously, you and "Catzmaw" have done some traveling and have experienced different cultures and may understand them better than many people might.

Having recently visited Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as Korea, Japan, Germany, Austria, France, England, Scotland and others over the past few years, I now have a much better understanding of "foreign" cultures and how our country fits in to the global socio-economic picture.

Unfortunately, it appears to me that our nation's current course mirrors those of other formerly "great" nations like the British Empire, the Spanish, the Romans, etc.:  Get to be successful, dominate the world economy, become imperialistic, fade away.

I'm also frequently reminded of George Orwell's many warnings in "1984", his take on the future, and how "Eastasia" and "Eurasia" and "Oceania" interact, constantly fighting over the remaining African resources.

Therefore, and once again, I find myself asking that same question . . .

What Would Jim Webb Do? (WWJWD), and I'm glad that we're poised to find out very soon . . .

Thanks!

Steve

the deep resistance people in this country have to any discussion of how other societies work, or what their cultural norms are?  It's really quite difficult to discuss other countries' political, economic, or social realities.  I've had many conversations with conservative family members and others and attempted to share with them the realities of what I have observed and heard from my countless interactions with people from other countries.  Their focus is usually so parochial they find everything ridiculous, threatening, or unnecessary to know.  Their attitudes are often not only ignorant but paternalistic and condescending. 

. . . that just makes it even more important for us to talk with them, find a way to explain and educate and convince those who are even the least bit open-minded about other countries and cultures.

For instance, we pride ourselves on practicing "southern hospitality", but when I visited South Korea a decade ago, I learned much about the true meaning of hospitality.  The many Koreans that I met were so polite, hospitable and giving that it was almost embarrassing. 

As another example, my many German friends were absolutely devastated both times that "War" Bush "won" the U. S. Presidency.  They seemed to know everything about him and, I think, quite often, much more than the average American voter. 

In my several trips to Germany over the past few years, I couldn't find a single person there - old or young, lower, middle or upper class, male or female, who liked or supported Mr. "War".

Amazingly, they know incredibly more about our politics, government, economics and society than do most of us, yet we know very little about them.  Ask the average American what he/she knows about the Free Democratic Party in Germany and you'll probably get a blank stare.  Ask a German the same thing about any of our political parties, even the most obscure ones, and they usually will be right up to date about them.

If we are to participate - compete? - in a global economy, we'd better start learning some foreign languages and pay close attention to the concerns, desires, expectations and preferences of those so-called "foreigners".  If not already, tomorrow they will be our neighbors.

An open-minded American shouldn't resent the possibility of learning Spanish and a smart, thinking, future-oriented American may very well be wise to learn Mandarin.

Steve

stop treating Americans like ADD-suffering, superficial children and start putting such information out there.  Watch any evening news report and ask how much information you're getting about other countries versus, say, TomKat or Britney.  The American news media, particularly the TV news, apparently believe that Americans are either so stupid or so disinterested in international news that they never cover it.  Look at any evening newscast and most times you'll see two or three domestic stories, one very brief story about Iraq or Afghanistan, maybe one brief story about Israel/Palestine or about Japan/China (never both), and then a warm story about kittens or children or something similar, and at least one celebrity oriented story, then a lot of sports coverage, and then the weather.  That's it.  The sports stories always have more depth and analysis than the foreign news. 

Of course, a lot of the blame lies with the American people themselves, who seem to feel no need to know anything about the rest of the world.  Maybe we've been trained to think that way through years of really poor coverage.  Maybe we just dont like thinking about other countries.

I started to mention the role of the media in my initial response, but I think they merely respond to consumer demand.  If the average American consumer is more interested in football, NASCAR, Tom Cruise and the like, I can't really blame the media too much for responding to their market. 

However, since I no longer depend solely on the mainstream media for my news, and with all that is available in cable and satellite television broadcasts and on the Internet, I can only blame myself if I don't learn more about other countries and cultures.

Now, the challenge is, how can we use that to sell cornflakes, anti-aging creams and hair replacement schemes?

Thanks!

Steve

Yesterday, Wes Clark addressed a large group of Brown University students and stressed the problems facing us and China's role.  Read here: http://tinyurl.com/y...

He and Jim Webb have been two of the more outspoken leaders who have expressed real concern about China.

I went to the link and it came back with a "404" error, whatever that is.

I got the same result, and I think it means that the address is incorrect.

I tried going directly to "tinyurl" without success.

Thanks!

Steve