

How the United States is reinventing itself yet again - ryutin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/01/02/how-the-united-states-is-reinventing-itself-yet-again/

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suprgeek
This is an atrociously optimistic view. The fundamental inequalities between
the rich and the poor are more getting more and more out of balance. There is
chronic long-term unemployment, the Debt has ballooned beyond reason and
Fundamental Liberties are under sustained assault.

So the "reinventing" might work out for a measured few while the rest have a
hopeless, orwellian future ahead barring some serious course correction.

~~~
fizx
While the present has bad spots, we've lived through the gilded age, japanese
internment, slavery, trail of tears, etc.

Good things and bad things are always happening.

~~~
coldtea
> _we 've lived through the gilded age, japanese internment, slavery, trail of
> tears, etc._

Having overcome stuff in the past is not a guarantee of othercoming other
stuff in the future.

To put it in another way, your words could might as well have been uttered by
some roman, just before the fall of the Roman Empire. They also had a long
history of "living through" troubled times.

~~~
pikachu_is_cool
Plus, "we went through this before" seems to miss the whole point. As if it's
not a _VERY_ bad thing. As if we shouldn't be upset about it. As if 5-10 years
of shitty life (or however long this is gonna last) is trivial; like we're all
going to live forever or something.

~~~
coldtea
True -- not to mention that some will even be, well, killed or severely
affected by it. He mentions the "trail of tears" as something people survived,
but how many died during that?

~~~
userulluipeste
The attitude may appear cynical, but it seems totally in line with the ideas
feed to the public. If in the Hollywood movie the kitty is saved then it is
not a drama no mater how many die, right?

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ciscoriordan
This is written like some kind of sales pitch for US Treasury bonds.

It's so lopsided that I doubt the authors believe their own thesis. They're
trolling -- [http://xkcd.com/386](http://xkcd.com/386).

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leoc
> a new era where the precepts of Moore's Law can be applied to virtually any
> field

It was at this point that I started reaching for my revolver.

~~~
danmaz74
Especially considering that Moore's Law is stopping to work in its original
field...

~~~
GotAnyMegadeth
Is it though? People say that all the time, since I have been aware of Moore's
Law.

~~~
taylodl
IBM has demonstrated the smallest possible working gate. We're still a little
ways off from that but - the problem with exponential traversal is you rapidly
reach the end of the road. That and the last few iterations of Moore's law are
going to be _very expensive_. It's the economic aspect people are referring to
when speaking of Moore's law coming to an end.

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forkandwait
tl;dr -- Happy days are here again!

Not very much content, except that solar panels and natural gas continue to
get cheaper. Don't get me wrong -- I love to hear the US is about to return to
being a world class manufacturing nation, and it might even be true, but this
seemed like a pretty content-free article.

~~~
ams6110
Natural gas may be getting cheaper, but in the short term electricity is going
to get more expensive as the relentless assault on coal generation continues.
Utilities are building and converting natural gas generation plants but coal
still dominates in many areas. Our local utility is telling us to prepare for
a tripling of rates.

~~~
mpyne
The relentless assault is justified IMHO.

I drove through Pennsylvania (my home state) twice in the past couple of weeks
to go from my duty station to home and return. The state is as beautiful as
ever but I often had to switch my car's ventilation system to recirc to avoid
the smell of coal power plant exhaust, even miles from the plant. I don't know
how the residents handle it.

It's a pity that TMI effectively shut down nuclear in the USA as nuclear
could, if nothing else, help replace the single most-polluting power
generation method still in wide use.

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orthecreedence
Reinventing itself as an Orwellian dystopia.

~~~
f_salmon
And taking the whole World with it.

~~~
wil421
Some of the World is just as involved as the US. They are spying on everyone
too.

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DominikR
Similar articles have been printed in the Sowjet Prawda 30 years ago.

~~~
userulluipeste
...and the prophecies went true, right? If not, they need to wait just a
little bit more!

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ExpiredLink
> _Because the United States continues to lead the world in its ability to
> adapt to, incorporate and develop new systems and new technologies, we are
> uniquely poised to reap a disproportionate share of the benefits of these
> shifts._

That was funny!

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rasengan0
O Canada! Maybe the picture is a lil more complex...
[http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/fyi/Local-
scientist...](http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/fyi/Local-scientists-
theories-on-globalization-and-energy-consumption-have-wide-
influence-104210094.html)

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coldtea
I guess he was told to write something with a possitive spin for the new
year...

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Zigurd
Much of this article is unsupported happy talk Here is what's really happening
on the specifics:

The only thing the US has going for it is the oil/gas boom, while it lasts,
and if we don't get sucked into a a resource-curse economy. Rooster, meet
sunrise.

The "manufacturing revival" is hugely overhyped and puffed up with weapons and
military supplies manufacturing.

K-12 education sucks. It needs an individualized education revolution. But all
the money is in NCLB.

The solar boom is real, and we might luck-in to a postponement of Peak Oil,
but, for now, there is no replacement for oil and not enough capex in nuclear
and renewables to fill the gap. That will SUCK. But not in 2014.

The NSA has pooped in the Internet punch bowl. Who wants an Internet of Things
That Spy On You? Yeah.

So frack all the things, and party while it lasts. Everything that was wrong
before the fracking boom will be there when we're done, bigger, uglier, and
more dangerous.

