hillclimber - 4/17/2026 08:51 I agree with you that U.S. capitalism is about "extracting capitol". That is why the top five wealthiest people on the planet are Americans. And the top 8 wealthiest Americans have more net worth than the bottom 150,000,000 Americans. However, U.S. companies used to "make as much money as possible" by making the best quality stuff to out sell their competitors. But they really didn't. There's a reason that Toyota and Nikon and "made in Taiwan" became a thing in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. American manufacturing wasn't keeping up. We were gliding off the high of the 1950's. There is a difference in quality between Chinese made products and the former products that were made in America. Which is rapidly fading. Companies like BYD dominate the EV market on both price and quality. Ford brought a couple of their vehicles over and dismantled them and were like "Oh ****, we're screwed". Chinese quality is improving rapidly. For several decades I look for U.S. made products from decades ago becasue it is better quality. Hardware, electic components, tools, automotive, even older cotton and wool clothing This would be before "shareholder value" became the mantra. It's also before all the tax laws changed and companies would dump money into R&D instead of stock buy backs. . Yes: China has become the worlds factory and sole producer of many goods for many reasons. My concern is how the world will be treated if Communist China becomes the dominant super power. That may happen as soon as 2030 by some forecasts. Now why would you worry about that? | 
Oil market
