THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN: The main challenge to America today (2005) is from those practicing extreme capitalism, namely China, India and South Korea.

Image Credit: © Lucas Daniel Smith 2014

Here at the WOBIK blog we have published more than 300 reports since opening day on July 4th, 2011.

Most of the reports (not every single one of them) are centered around, or immediately related to, the following:

a.  Barack Obama’s birth in Kenya                      b.  Barack Obama’s birth certificate

c.   Eligibility (for POTUS) issue                          d.   miscellaneous, yet related, adventures 

We try to stay away from other subjects such as, for example, Benghazi.  The only instance in which Benghazi has ever been mentioned in a report here at the WOBIK blog (not including comments and the InspectorSmith Forum) was when we were asking readers to not forget about Obama having been born in Kenya and that we should think twice before concentrating our energy on time on the ‘regular stuff’ that everyone seems to always wants to debate/discuss :

You’re sick of hearing about the ever so evil Obama (born in Kenya, btw) but keep in mind that it’s not all just about immigration, creating jobs, gay marriage, abortion and Benghazi.

That report can be reviewed here: Barack Obama, cloud computing and heating your home.

I don’t understand why Americans want to waste time and energy debating and legislating things like gay marriage gay.  I couldn’t care less about gay people getting married.  Most people in American nowadays don’t want to get married and they joke about the liabilities of being married.

People tend to want things they can’t have.  I wonder, if gays were permitted to get married, if they would soon, within a single number of years, no longer really be interested in getting married.

Christianity didn’t create marriage and it is my position that we can’t define marriage with a Bible.

Gay marriage has been legal in the past. For example, Roman Emperor Nero (born 37 AD) married a young boy named Sporus.  It’s been legal, illegal, legal, illegal and it will one day be legal again and then illegal again.

In many countries (including, though not limited to, the United States and France) you can get married to a dead person.  In 2014 the Utah Supreme Court ruled that a woman (Janetta Gardiner) can marry a dead man (Kenneth Vanderwerff):

Utah Supreme Court ruling in Gardiner by Ben Winslow

However, it is my position that there may be one subject that is worthy of debate, discussion and legislation: Immigration.

It seems that typical Americans are unmindful when it comes to immigration.  Myself, I don’t want the United States to experience immigration problems like those faced in Sweden or Norway. It is my position that the United States should close the immigration doors (both doors, legal and illegal) other than than those immigrants who are arriving by way of marriage to a US citizen.  Why?

Firstly, its seems that most Americans look at immigration from the bottom up.  We see the immigrants as taking jobs which Americans don’t want or wont work.  But we imagine, or only see, the low paying jobs: janitorial, fast food or restaurant employee, agricultural (farm) workers, cashiers, etcetera.

How come we Americans tend not to have a problem (or not see in the first place) with immigrant engineers?

We are worried about Rodriquez not being able to count change back at McDonalds and Jose picking strawberries on the farm but we don’t have a problem with Mr Tanvi Bhatnagar (not a real person), who has just recently arrived in the United States and is now working as an engineer at Rockwell providing avionics and information technology systems and services to the US Government and aircraft manufacturers?

I don’t know what the percentages are at the moment (other than that they are substantially and extensively higher) but did you know that in 1995 about 15 percent of working US scientists, and 17 percent of working US engineers, were non-native born?

It should also be noted that, as of 1995, non-native born engineers comprised about one-third of the engineers working in the academic sector (twice the level of their representation overall) (see chart directly below):

Benghazi, abortion, gay marriage, etcetera…blah…

It is my position that a high percentage of us, the native born American population, are (perhaps by some deliberate plan which cannot be known by a simple man such as myself) being left behind by the rest of the world and we don’t even realize it.

Yet we continue on with debates on abortion.

We promote theories which have been supplied to us regarding immigration such as immigrants are taking jobs that Americans don’t want and wont work.  I don’t understand how anyone could believe that.

Americans (native born) will work jobs that they don’t want.   This is how it works:

If Americans wont take the job, and there aren’t any illegal (or legal) immigrants to take fill the jobs, the pay rates will increase and then the Americans (native born) will take the jobs.

Americans will pay more for products and services if needed.  If gasoline prices surged to 6 dollars a gallon tomorrow Americans would still be buying gasoline.  If fruit tripled in price the fruit eaters would still pay for it.

If Pepsi and Coca Cola doubled (or more) in price we’d still buy it.  We do it now, by choice: 2 liter of Coke: between 1 – 2 dollars.   20 ounce bottle of Coke: $1.60.

What would happen if employers refused to raise wages or if consumers refused to pay the higher prices?  That particular employer may have to stop producing that particular product. Consumers would still need, or want, the product.  A different employer would figure out a way to pay the higher employee wages and then produce and sell the product.

The problem may be that Americans (including the patriots out there with their with flags and signs) don’t really have any problem with hiring illegal immigrants or legal immigrants who can’t find work (or better work).

I personally know employers (one claims to be a patriot and is always talking about the stinking ‘liberals’ even if the person or subject he is referring to is not liberal) who have told me that if slavery was still legal they would own slaves and also that if they could get away with it they’d rather not pay a free citizen either (by finding a woman or man with nowhere to go) but rather have the free citizen work (many hours, seven days a week, under horrid conditions) for nothing more than room and board (bread, soup and a cot) in return.

In any event, I tend to agree with Thomas Friedman when, writing for the NY Times, he said (2005), The main challenge to America today is from those practicing extreme capitalism, namely China, India and South Korea.

You can read about that in the NY Times article, April 3rd, 2005, here:  It’s a Flat World, After All

Here’s a present day (2014) example:

China’s e-commerce website, Alibaba, the world’s largest online retailing company in the world.

2013 stats:

Alibaba:   248 billion dollars worth of merchandise bought on their site

Amazon:   110 billion dollars worth of merchandise bought on their site

eBay:          76 billion dollars worth of merchandise bought on their site

September 2014:

Alibaba was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  IPO (initial public offering) took place on Sept. 5th, 2014 with a per share price of $60 some dollars.  As of today (Dec. 30th, 2014) the per share price is approximately $106 dollars:

It should also be noted that when we buy shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited we (Americans) are not (we are NOT) buying shares of Alibaba.

What does that mean?

Alibaba is headquatered in China.  Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a holding company which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

It should also be noted that Alibaba originally wanted to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK) but was not able to do so because of SEHK’s stringent regulatory environment.  Alibaba then decided to come to Wall Street.

In closing: I respect everyone’s beliefs, opinions and position and such is welcomed in comments section.  Moreover, its ok to debate and discuss things subjects and topics such as, though not limited to, Benghazi, abortion and gay marriage.  Just be careful to not let the world pass you by and please don’t automatically and unquestionably accept the contemporary and prevailing theories being sold out there regarding immigration and other political and socio-economic matters.

Happy New Year 2015 and please exercise your free speech in the comments section below. There are no stipulations of political correctness on this blog. Speak your mind, give us your thoughts, both objective and subjective. Share your ideas, hunches, inklings or your expertise. Please provide recommendation and corrections if you spot errors in fact within the blog report. Lastly, remember that posting a comment is much like casting a vote, so please do so.