Gah, so many good replies. Thanks for the book references. You guys are the best.

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America has also been at the forefront in technology for the last 100 years or so.

Right, but that gap is closing fast and America is in trouble. Japan has the best super computer (though special purpose; cheaters), South Korea has the most efficient steel mill, etc, etc. The glory days of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, IBM, and Bell Labs are long over. Our wealth seems either old money or ill-begotten.
What's worse, we willingly pay for the crap that's churned out by penny-slaves in foreign countries. Corporations even intentionally give us low quality products so they wear out and need to be repurchased faster; planned obsolescence.

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USA people have been installing themselves as workers all around the world

Good point, I'd forgotten about that. I really need to learn more about the economics, production, and consumerism of China and Japan.

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reform our immigration policies to allow more people in legitimately

I once heard that someone (president?) wanted to suddenly turn all illegal aliens into citizens "to give them the rights and privileges of Americans" and all those uplifting lies. It was said this would destroy those people because since they'd have to pay tax, they'd have to charge more for work, so they'd loose their job and be replaced by an entirely new population of illegal workers. The move would double the low-wage immigrant strain on the American infrastructure.

So, attention international community: We're quickly becoming NOT the richest country in the world. Please don't be too mean to us in the coming decades.
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FireFox31
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