LEE KRAMER'S ROOM: With Views

[jbsliverer]

We should have let the mainland Chinese have Taiwan very early on, long before it became the major economic power it is today.
Now it’s very complicated.

It was the US that created that economic power and our complications instead of investing in the tech or production here for decades. All for the almighty dollar profits in the name of capitalism, but really it was just profiteering and taking advantage on the backs of low paid unprotected workers in a developing country.

Back about 50 yrs ago RCA (an American co at the time) started their factory with the Taiwanese due to the very low wages for quality labor and pretty much non existent labor or environmental laws or requirements for exchange of big profits. This without telling about all the hazardous and caustic chemical waste they were using in processing in the Taiwanese RCA's factory which then was dispersed into the soil, air, and water which then killed 100's of workers and gave cancer and other serious health problems, premature and defected births and miscarriages for the women who worked and lived around the factory with an array of gruesome sufferings for 100's more.

About twenty years later RCA became a subsidiary of GE (another powerful US conglomerate at the time) which included Taiwan RCA that promptly went to the French group Thomas about a year later (late 1980's) when GE sold their consumer electronics division to them. By the way, all three, RCA, GE, and Thomas knew full well of the hazards and pollution and its damage it was doing. But then caring and dealing with the issues would take away the exuberant profits they were making and it was a lot cheaper spending millions to the ones in charge and millions more to hiding any of their responsibilities. Quite like the fossil fuel companies buying of our politicians and judges and shirking their responsibilities for our droughts, extreme weather, and sickness costs mostly caused by the pollution that has been spewing out from fossil fuels and its byproducts.

Almost a couple of generations have continued with focus, money, research, and advancement towards the Taiwanese chip industry, profiteering for the most part and not investing into our own US abilities. Long story of mergers and acquisitions short; Taiwan RCA has evolved into Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation with some smaller Taiwanese company's and has taken over 60 % of of the world chip industry with almost half a trillion $ of sales to the US yearly.

Now the Biden administration is supporting things that we are over 50 years behind dealing with. Now it's going to take massive amount of funds (taxpayers) and time beyond the small pittance that is being put forth now for these "complications" that American business caused and supported over the many decades. Consequences and sacrifices that are being billed and are going to get paid now and in the foreseeable future.

Some side notes; China has already gotten control of 75% of the battery industry and over 50% of the Li mining globally. Ukraine was the supply of 90% of the chip grade neon to the US, a gas importance to the lasers used in processing chips and Russia supplied about 35% of US's palladium metals that are used in semiconductor industry. The War in Ukraine has many important exports to our different industries from fertilizers (food supply) to wiring harnesses. Along with all the US and global ramifications to any success that Putin is allowed. 100's of billions or even trillions is a very small price to pay now for eliminations in order of magnitudes of costs in the future.