I disagree. I think many of your presentations are flawed and somewhat distorted, seen through the conspiracy theory view, tinted with political secret agendas and suspiciously heavy with the time honored weight of CIA = Bad Guys = attempted world dominion = devious power/financial based motivations.
This post is not about that.
This post is about tons of used American jeans being salvaged, laundered, and resold to hungry fashion markets in Europe for a high price. Were talking tons foreign goods being purchased from small nations, of American businesses establishing manufacturing branches in other countries, of hundreds of thousands of foreign people being employed by such factories. (I am not going into 'sweat shops/poor working conditions/minor wages here.)
We are talking selling millions of tons of scrap metal over seas, then buying it back as finished steel, of importing Japanese technology and exporting American pop music. We ship Vietnam basic cars and they ship us tons of rice, we sell China synthetic fertilizer and they sell us lettuce. Our tourists spend billions overseas and in many nations of the world, in their ‘tourist’ sections, American money makes up most of their income.
We do consume approximately 1/3 of the worlds oil. That has been shoved in our faces for ages, though we get little of that domestically. We buy it from other nations. Our deep sea technology is used throughout the world. Our medical technology is bought through out the world.
(side tack here: One of the most surprising things I observed were a couple of operations going on in France and someplace in the Middle East. Filmed - of course. I know a lot about sterile technique, airborne infections and why surgical rooms are so damn cold. {To reduce blood flow from the skin area} I was appalled to spot surgeons operating in full gear with their noses poking out of the surgical masks! Apparently in some nations, they chose to ignore the simple fact that air coming out of the nose carries bacteria, which can settle into the open incision! Since the nose points down the potential for bacteria carried by the expelled air stream to reach the incision is great! Remember, I mentioned that people of different nations think differently. (End of side track.)
Having America vanish overnight would hardly bring the world economy to its knees based solely on the lack of its good (ie Blue Jeans etc). Indeed it would just create demand that would be filled by some enterprising country or countries. A brief lull perhaps but merely a lull.
To be honest the world would go on. We’d miss some of the studies (particularly some of the medicinal ones) and Friends, but life would go on.
Err, what “conspiracy” would that be, Far Treker ? – either you believe what the tv news tells you or you look at the reality and make judgements based on the facts. It’s not that complicated, honest.
And you’re right, it was dumb of me to think the CIA’s agenda might involve pursuing US interests overseas - they’re actually involved in …umm…well, might it be protecting those markets you keep wittering on about ?
Since we are floating a tad off of the subject, might I mention the discovery, not all that long ago, of Israeli agents in the US, the finding of French agents who bombed the Green Peace ship Rainbow Warrior - who fled from US prosecution, and – horrors – turning up some British agents! There’s no sense in even mentioning the Russian and Middle Eastern agents lurking around, though the latter are known as terrorists.
However, I’ve been aware of the CIA-wants-to-rule-the-world theories since Castro was picking bugs out of his beard in Cuban jungles and begging for US money to pay for his revolution.
DUCK!! It’s a tub of COOLWIP!!
What’s behind it? TWINKIES!!!
HEAD FOR THE FALLOUT SHELTER!!!
…now that I think of it. Without all the junk “food” the USA produces, the world would probably be a better place after the latest “Dessert storm”
Funnily enough, I seem to recall Senti-Serlinel or one of his sock puppets making the exact same error in a thread a few months ago.
While we’re on the subject:
They were never within US jurisdiction, so they never fled US justice. Yes, that’s right: there are democratic countries, with their own courts and legal systems, outside the USA. A frightening thought, I know, but it’s true.
