The average American is going to have to change. That's what it comes down to.

[TwixVoy]

You know I have always taken the majority thought that we are exploiting the average Chinese worker who produces things for us at slave labor wages and work environments.

Most Americans thought "aren't we lucky to be on the receiving side of all this fun stuff?"

In a way though one can look at it as we have consumed ourselves to death. We have sent all of our wealth to that Chinese workers nation.

We have a HUGE infrastructure in this country designed to support our consumption. We eat like pigs thanks to all of our "wealth" and suffer from the incredibly rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc. Now what do we do since that infrastructure is no longer growing? We can't even all become a nation of Wal-mart clerks. So where are we now that we have too little production capacity AND no more growing consumption sector for the average laid off citizen to turn to?

We literally borrowed against our homes to enable ourselves to buy more cheap plastic wal-mart crap.

We lost our democratic ideals. We no longer THINK. We let ourselves be entertained by the TV, and can't seem to hold a normal conversation with another citizen about simple democratic elements of our society.

This is the century that Chinese worker will come out on top in the long run. History books 100 years from now will describe the coming decades as the period in which the United States was a broke and busted nation.

There will be a LOT of learning, self reflection, and general need for people to learn how to GET ALONG with (and participate with) others in society in a positive way if they are to make it through this.

The tea party people are the ones who are starting to feel it.... deep down they know they too must change.... but like a klansmen during the civil rights movement they can't accept that they will have to learn to do this and they will make a lot of noise rattling their cage in anger before they finally change.

Americans lifestyles are going to have to change or they will go under. Simple as that.