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Comment by pstuart | Hacker News Reader

There are many things to criticize about China but they are absolutely to be admired in how they focus on building for the future.

The problem is that American industrial policy is based on quarterly earnings and not long term health of the republic as a whole. Biden's IRA program was effectively a step in the right direction but has been erased. We need our economic incentives to be aligned with long term growth and prosperity for all, not just wealth for those at the top of the dog pile.

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> The problem is that American industrial policy is based on quarterly earnings and not long term health of the republic as a whole

I think it's even worse than that, the country's industrial policy is based on emotional appeal to the past. Gas cars, coal mines, etc etc, they are as much cultural touchpoints as they are economic factors.

That's a technique they use to get away with it. I'm not interested in blaming the populace for being manipulated, I want to call out the leadership directly as they fully know well what they're doing and they should be publicly castigated instead.

Another big issue is that policy is based on politicians trying to get (re)elected. Their focus is doing things that make them look good, rather than actually doing good. There isn't a ton of long-term planning because elections happen so frequently. Politicians are also often old and not educated about technology.

There isn't a lot of long term planning because American voters do not at all reward long term planning. They also don't reward realism, honesty, generosity, capability, intelligence, etc.

American voters objectively reward hatred, fear, anger, and retribution, lying, false narratives, ignoring the past, ignoring reality, ignoring society.

It's no surprise the politicians we get.

The thing is, a lot of the time, politicians make decisions that don't reflect majority opinion. They act against the will of the people... But people are forced to choose between two extremes because of the two party system. That's why less and less people are voting. They feel like politicians no longer represent them, that it's hopeless.

> We need our economic incentives to be aligned with long term growth

Isn't that asking for more TSLAs? I don't mean Tesla the company. I mean TSLA the stock. People hold it because they want to bet long on the future.

No they aren't. F*ck China and its genocidal dictatorship.

The fact that a country is doing a holocaust does not negate the fact it's building infrastructure for the future and raising living standards (for non-victims) faster than any other country.

Exactly. That's why I specifically led my comment with:

> There are many things to criticize about China

And the last time I checked the international news it was all about a shooting of an unarmed women in Minneapolis by paramilitary police who clearly did not run over or intended to harm anybody.

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