This makes good sense. In terms of comparative advantage it's best to invest your skill points in things you're already good at, to become even better.
To what extent does this contradict your observations about the world converging on a monoculture? This directed-investment effect will tend to make individuals, and countries, spikier instead of more uniform.
I would say that the US is actually was pretty good at mass production and mass media. We don't do a lot of manufacturing (<10% of gdp) and our mass media is becoming more and more monopolized. We are still fairly good at basic research although we are losing ground in that area because we are losing funding for it. The US was pioneering in legal due process but that lasted only for about half a century, and our legislatures and court system are in the process of destroying civil rights. Higher education is under assault because it is being bought off by corporate interests. And the focus of this country has never been the advancement of democracy, at least with respect to our foreign policy. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on power projection and imperialism on an annual basis and are about to expand this amount to trillions - to what end? As for the suppression of authoritarian ideologies, we prop up more authoritarian regimes than we have ever successfully overthrown. The nations of the GCC, Israel, Equitorial Guinea, Indonesia, and numerous historical examples that I will not tire you with have literally been our allies. Saddam Hussein was our ally. We helped fund a brutal war between the Iraqis (indirectly but substantially) and the Iranians that killed millions - again to what possible end? With respect to terrorism, we often covertly fund the terrorism you suggest we have been fighting in the so-called "Global War on Terror". We often fund proxies that are little more than terrorist groups (Contras, Mujahideen, KLA, etc.). I agree that we are still good at space exploration. You got this one right. To paraphrase what someone said about another era, I think I would comment that NASA and the crew of Artemis II have saved 2026.
This makes good sense. In terms of comparative advantage it's best to invest your skill points in things you're already good at, to become even better.
To what extent does this contradict your observations about the world converging on a monoculture? This directed-investment effect will tend to make individuals, and countries, spikier instead of more uniform.
Yes these are differences, but they are far weaker differences than the world had centuries ago. Are they enough differences?
I would say that the US is actually was pretty good at mass production and mass media. We don't do a lot of manufacturing (<10% of gdp) and our mass media is becoming more and more monopolized. We are still fairly good at basic research although we are losing ground in that area because we are losing funding for it. The US was pioneering in legal due process but that lasted only for about half a century, and our legislatures and court system are in the process of destroying civil rights. Higher education is under assault because it is being bought off by corporate interests. And the focus of this country has never been the advancement of democracy, at least with respect to our foreign policy. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on power projection and imperialism on an annual basis and are about to expand this amount to trillions - to what end? As for the suppression of authoritarian ideologies, we prop up more authoritarian regimes than we have ever successfully overthrown. The nations of the GCC, Israel, Equitorial Guinea, Indonesia, and numerous historical examples that I will not tire you with have literally been our allies. Saddam Hussein was our ally. We helped fund a brutal war between the Iraqis (indirectly but substantially) and the Iranians that killed millions - again to what possible end? With respect to terrorism, we often covertly fund the terrorism you suggest we have been fighting in the so-called "Global War on Terror". We often fund proxies that are little more than terrorist groups (Contras, Mujahideen, KLA, etc.). I agree that we are still good at space exploration. You got this one right. To paraphrase what someone said about another era, I think I would comment that NASA and the crew of Artemis II have saved 2026.