>>508944368Wealth grows, so how are we declining because other nations are growing their wealth alongside us? There isn't finite wealth.
>Manufacturing capability.That's just a matter of perceptive and context. For example, China has more manufacturing than the US, but the poorest segment of the US has more wealth than 90% of people in China, and China's fresh water resources and soil are heavily polluted due to industry, while ours isn't. There's a lot of grey area when it comes to manufacturing. Exploiting third world labor can make you more prosperous, however when it's done at the expense of your own people or country, it's bad. Making China a slave labor colony, essentially, has made products cheaper for Americans, but has also taken jobs from certain sectors of the country. There's also different types of manufacturing, and Trump is working on bringing back more critical manufacturing, and a lot of companies are leaving China for greener pastures. India will probably be one of those if Trump breaks down trade barriers with them. There's a lot of exploitable labor in India. "Manufacturing" in the 21st century is less national and more global. The people who own manufacturing aren't tied to a nation, and who and how it benefits different people is based on trade policies more than anything.The US is the largest consumer economy on the planet, that gives us a lot of power in trade.
>Power projection. Soft power.Nation building and progressivism have lost us a lot soft power. Strong trade policy and diplomacy are bringing it back, and cultural change within the US itself. Better trade relations and more economic ties with other countries means more of their consumption of our pop culture, which increases soft power. China has very little soft power. Every other country does, really.