The U.S. Industrial Base Is Not Prepared for a Possible Conflict with China
The U.S. Industrial Base Is Not Prepared for a Possible Conflict with China
To deter a potential conflict with China, the United States must act quickly to resolve key challenges in its industrial base.
During the first COVID supply crisis after China shut down, I remember:
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A door factory shutting down because they couldn't domestically source the parts for doors
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Freight truck factories shutting down production because they couldn't domestically source some small metal part
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Every utilities company facing critical shortages for repairs and maintenance, warning they were one natural disaster away from the electrical grid collapsing
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I have said it before and I will say it again: people still pretend like American imperialism is still rooted in industrial prowess. That era is long gone.
No, America is a landlord/rentier capitalist and as such will always behave like a landlord.
A landlord does not have to work. I repeat, a landlord does not work. A landlord extracts what other people have worked hard on.
American tech giants like Microsoft and Google aren’t dominating the market because they are the most competent at making the best products out there. No, they dominate because they were able to leverage on various legal and financial means to bully their competitors out of the business, and they are able to do so precisely because the sector works just like a rentier economy. Every time you use their product, you (or your employer) pays a rent to those companies.
America is never going to re-industrialize because industrialization raises the price of labor, and thus confers labor with leverages against capital. America didn’t de-industrialize itself in the first place for nothing. It de-industrializes itself precisely to defeat the trade unions and working class movements that had been gaining momentum by the 1970s.
This is how US imperialism functions. Nobody is ever going to invade America so long as it has nukes at its disposal. And as long as the dollar reigns supreme, it will continue to behave like a landlord that extracts concessions from all over the world.
To deter a potential conflict with China, the United States must act quickly to resolve key challenges in its industrial base.
to deter conflict we have to resolve the things that would make it difficult for us to have a conflict?
also, cute animation, is that the only way to explain things to congressmen these days?
I can't over emphasize how true this is. We would be in total ruin in a matter of months.
Electrical shit in industrial manufacturing blows up all the time and stuff from 5 years ago is already obsolete.
When something blows up that's obsolete you have 3 options. Adapt current generation parts at huge cost. Buy 1 of 3 used units left on the planet or repair your broken unit. Repairing your broken unit requires basic electronic parts that are likely manufactured in China and even rushed it can take weeks to get something repaired. Meanwhile your money printing machine sits idle.
And so many more items made in China are essential to US manufacturering and are not easily replaced.
That would be hilarious if the US declared war, China's hardest battles will probably be the first few weeks of heavy bombing, then the US collapses instantly from a mysterious chicken shaped hole in their supply chain.
In some cases, there are also single sources for key components and sub-components.
The Javelin, for instance, relies on a rocket motor—the Aerojet Rocketdyne’s advance solid-propellant rocket motor—without a second source at the moment. There is one company, Williams International, that builds turbofan engines for most cruise missiles, such as the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range, and Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile. There is one main company, PacSci EMC, that produces the energetics for most missiles. There is also one foundry that can produce the large titanium castings for some important weapons systems.
This will somehow cause 4th generation Japanese Americans to be rounded up in internment camps. Again.
I feel like the American project for a long time has been to third world and enshittificate its own country so it can have cheap labor at home
Rebuild manufacturing and recreate the conditions that were favourable to the revolutionary left, or don't rebuild manufacturing and lose to an inability to project violent power.
They have a decision between losing to the left internationally, or losing to the left nationally through revolution.
Or at least, that's how the capitalists are interpreting it.
COOL ZONE COOL ZONE
The Need for Predictable Orders
Defense companies are generally unwilling to take financial risks without contracts—including multiyear contracts—in place.
It is not a sound business decision to build more munitions or weapons systems without a clear demand signal and financial commitments. This risk aversion is compounded if companies make additional capital investments—especially investments for facilities, infrastructure, and tooling.
As one DoD study concluded:
“Producers benefited from steady or predictable orders, so the DoD’s inconsistent procurement and concurrent production ramps (both increases and decreases) exacerbate the challenges suppliers face across the [defense industrial base].”
I guess, we'll really have to worry when the DoD starts putting in 5-year contracts in place.
Edit:
Consequently, it is important to buy munitions smarter to take advantage of scale and market power. Examples include advanced procurement, multiyear procurement, and economic order quantity processes.
The animated bar chart graphics in that article that show how long 1 or 2 years are truly something
So we better start trying to be diplomatic and peaceful with China right?
Right?