Poll: Will China Replace the US as the World's Leading Superpower?

[EndOfDaWorld]

My new island nation, Potatolassia, shall rule the entire world by 2050 through a combination of space lazers and genetic supersoldiers. We shall have an army of robocops. Applications welcome.

I was a clone trooper for 16 years before the establishment changed. I quit, and received training from a T-163D2. Then I had a large needle stuck into the bone marrow of my spine to genetically augment my body's recovery from injuries and increase muscle. When do i start?

OP (in all seriousness): No one. Does it really matter? As long as a country's GDP is growing, the citizens are happy, and the debt isn't through the roof, what does it matter if one country is above another's?
Besides a few years ago it was all 'Japan is the next economic superpower?!?@!@' Did it happen? No.

China obviosly, they are the world leading nation already. they have the most advanced weaponry, the most money and the best economic system

Not even close. Belgian (FN Herstal), German (Heckler and Koch), U.S. (Colt, Smith and Wesson) Most advanced weaponry. I do hope you mean production not usage.
Not the most money. If they were the thread would be 'Will the U.S. surpass the China and reclaim the position of leading economic superpower?' (Think population. China has 1.334 billion people, U.S. has .310 billion. Come on. If the U.S. is on top right now, they obviously have a higher capita per person.) Additionally most of China's GDP comes from the U.S. business and manufacturing because it is cheaper. If the U.S. says 'fuck you were making it here' 75-90% of their GDP goes away.
1) best economic system is point of view. 2) Communism? Come on. Whatever sounds good on paper doesn't work well in real life.

NEW RULE: People with 10 posts don't get to make their own thread until they're up to fifty, and the RP section doesn't count.

In other news: No, China isn't going to supplant the U.S.

I like that. There have been way too many so and so is so and so threads, and hypothetical topics with little to no discussion.

I 100000000th that!!!!

 

[the spud]

My new island nation, Potatolassia, shall rule the entire world by 2050 through a combination of space lazers and genetic supersoldiers. We shall have an army of robocops. Applications welcome.

I was a clone trooper for 16 years before the establishment changed. I quit, and received training from a T-163D2. Then I had a large needle stuck into the bone marrow of my spine to genetically augment my body's recovery from injuries and increase muscle. When do i start?

OP (in all seriousness): No one. Does it really matter? As long as a country's GDP is growing, the citizens are happy, and the debt isn't through the roof, what does it matter if one country is above another's?
Besides a few years ago it was all 'Japan is the next economic superpower?!?@!@' Did it happen? No.

China obviosly, they are the world leading nation already. they have the most advanced weaponry, the most money and the best economic system

Not even close. Belgian (FN Herstal), German (Heckler and Koch), U.S. (Colt, Smith and Wesson) Most advanced weaponry. I do hope you mean production not usage.
Not the most money. If they were the thread would be 'Will the U.S. surpass the China and reclaim the position of leading economic superpower?' (Think population. China has 1.334 billion people, U.S. has .310 billion. Come on. If the U.S. is on top right now, they obviously have a higher capita per person.)
1) best economic system is point of view. 2) Communism? Come on. Whatever sounds good on paper doesn't work well in real life.

NEW RULE: People with 10 posts don't get to make their own thread until they're up to fifty, and the RP section doesn't count.

In other news: No, China isn't going to supplant the U.S.

I like that. There have been way too many so and so is so and so threads, and hypothetical topics with little to no discussion.

I 100000000th that!!!!

All you have to do now is to kill at least 10 people with a single potato. Extra points for creativity. Your impressive background will likely net you some high up positions.

 

[wilsontheterrible]

military wise we'd crush anyone but china, eventually they'd just out people us. I don't know about the US though we haven't fought a real war since vietnam. we cant even get Iraq under control and their best weapons are bombs they bury under the ground. Nuclear war is out of the question unless we wanted a no win for anyone situation, if we press the button they press the button and we all get destroyed no cake for anyone. I'd stick with either the US or china based on economies, population and general patriotism and zeal.

If it ever came to war between the U.S and China I think it would be more of a long range slugging match than a war in the conventional sense. The U.S would establish air and naval supreamacy, thats not an if but a when, and start hammering chinese military instalations. Troops don't get called in until enemy infrustructure is wiped out.

In both Iraq and Afghanistan the legitimate military was wiped out in a matter of days and hours, as long as we don't try to make china into a democracy we'll be fine.

 

[EndOfDaWorld]

My new island nation, Potatolassia, shall rule the entire world by 2050 through a combination of space lazers and genetic supersoldiers. We shall have an army of robocops. Applications welcome.

I was a clone trooper for 16 years before the establishment changed. I quit, and received training from a T-163D2. Then I had a large needle stuck into the bone marrow of my spine to genetically augment my body's recovery from injuries and increase muscle. When do i start?

snip

All you have to do now is to kill at least 10 people with a single potato. Extra points for creativity. Your impressive background will likely net you some high up positions.

Can I use an iPotatoe with the butter knife upgrade?

 

[Vault Citizen]

snip

snip

To those saying "China may have the economy but they don't have the military" I wish to reply to you in two ways. First, that the US is going to have to downsize its own military assets if it doesn't want to bankrupt itself the way the USSR did in the 80s. Second, China already has a massive army and air force. They are only a decent navy away from being a superpower as it is and if their economic growth continues to keep the pace its at now, it will be barely a decade before they can afford one.

China has a massive army but the inferior nature of its military technology means that its size is the only thing it has going for it.

 

[the spud]

My new island nation, Potatolassia, shall rule the entire world by 2050 through a combination of space lazers and genetic supersoldiers. We shall have an army of robocops. Applications welcome.

I was a clone trooper for 16 years before the establishment changed. I quit, and received training from a T-163D2. Then I had a large needle stuck into the bone marrow of my spine to genetically augment my body's recovery from injuries and increase muscle. When do i start?

snip

All you have to do now is to kill at least 10 people with a single potato. Extra points for creativity. Your impressive background will likely net you some high up positions.

Can I use an iPotatoe with the butter knife upgrade?

I suppose, but I would have gone with something more creative...like a potatoe laser, or something.

 

[wilsontheterrible]

To those saying "China may have the economy but they don't have the military" I wish to reply to you in two ways. First, that the US is going to have to downsize its own military assets if it doesn't want to bankrupt itself the way the USSR did in the 80s. Second, China already has a massive army and air force. They are only a decent navy away from being a superpower as it is and if their economic growth continues to keep the pace its at now, it will be barely a decade before they can afford one.

If it cut it's budget by half the U.S would still spend several times over what everybody else does. And frankly we're more likely to completely cut SS and Medicare than we are to reduce the military by more than a fifth.

Chinese military technology is even more outdated than the Russian's. The gear of their soldiers hasn't been updated in nearly 20 years and their air force is half the size and 40 years older than the U.S's.

Being a superpower isn't so much about money or even the military. It's about the ability to manipulate and guide global politics. As it stands nobody, save North Korea, is particularly interested in listening to China. We love buying their products and investing in their companies but I don't think anybody's lining up to join the China camp.

 

[Comrade_Beric]

China has a massive army but the inferior nature of its military technology means that its size is the only thing it has going for it.

They're not nearly as far behind as you might think. They're roughly equal to the US of the early 90s now and they're catching up faster than the US's technological pace.

If it ever came to war between the U.S and China I think it would be more of a long range slugging match than a war in the conventional sense. The U.S would establish air and naval supreamacy, thats not an if but a when, and start hammering chinese military instalations. Troops don't get called in until enemy infrustructure is wiped out.

In both Iraq and Afghanistan the legitimate military was wiped out in a matter of days and hours, as long as we don't try to make china into a democracy we'll be fine.

Your assessment reminds me of a joke from the 80s...

Two Soviet Tank Commanders meet in Paris, one turns to the other and says "So, who won the air war?"

I wouldn't underestimate the ability of the Chinese to keep their own airspace clear of Americans. Stealth planes are nice, but if enough randomly fired bullets find them they'll go down in flames just like any other. They might not be able to dominate the skies using their own planes, but that airspace is going to be just as dangerous for American pilots as for the Chinese.

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

Australia will become the next superpower, we will ride our Kangaroos around and take over everything!

 

[fletch_talon]

Good lord I hope not.
The saying, "better the devil you know" springs to mind.

 

[trigz04]

Rammstein's "We're all living in America"
/thread

 

[Bloodstain]

Ha, Germany of course. Third time lucky, I say!
Just kidding.

 

[shadowyoasis]

Irony of this thread, is that China will never be a "super power".

While they have a strong economy its mostly based on cheap labor, as was previously said.

In fact the economic growth of the country has actually ruined it since the government doesn't try to mandate sufficient methods to reduce pollution, mostly because it increases costs significantly.

Millions of dollars are spent a year in the United States to make sure that our manufacturing processes are clean. Or at least as clean as they can be.

Also, while they are a strong export country, they lack sufficient materials to keep up with their production or produce to maintain their population. In fact, china buys billions of dollars of product from Brazil. Brazil has also managed to maintain a great deal of independence. China will make Brazil into a superpower if things continue the way they are.

China does have one of the more advanced technologies as far as warfare is concerned, in comparison to a large majority of countries, but its still steps behind the U.S.

U.S. has not been an economic superpower for a very long time, it has spent decades borrowing money. They are however, the leading Military Superpower. I don't expect that to change. Not for awhile anyways.

The U.S. is a non-producing country. We don't export anything of any real value in sufficient quantities. However, many U.S. based business spend billions of dollars in foreign markets and provide jobs in other countries which help sustain their economy(Not Ours!). This is one of the reasons China lends money to the United States. Its also one of the largest markets in the world since most people live above their means(debt crisis, yay) and the largest importer(again more money to foreign countries).

 

[Omnific One]

We are going to have a war with China by 2025, and I expect that a burdening middle class in China will pull down the economic advantage that it has had so far.

No dice, US stays on top. See, the US is a service based nation; in fact, we are the greatest service-based nation in history. This seems economically nonviable, but the US has pulled it off. It's a hell of a lot harder to kill an internal service based nation than an exporting nation, mainly because of the fatc that financial, the US is actually quite self sustaining. I known, it sounds ridiculous, but our exports do not get close to the internal money movement. Plus, the US military rules the air/sea; the US has about 12x times the naval power and 30-50x the air power.

Nuke wise, the US has a ten fold advantage.

 

[wilsontheterrible]

I wouldn't underestimate the ability of the Chinese to keep their own airspace clear of Americans. Stealth planes are nice, but if enough randomly fired bullets find them they'll go down in flames just like any other. They might not be able to dominate the skies using their own planes, but that airspace is going to be just as dangerous for American pilots as for the Chinese.

Thats a lot of bullets for a plane that might not even be there. Plus the U.S satelites, cruise missiles, and the good old navy pounding the shoreline from Shenyang to Haikou. If it ever came down to blows nobody would be happy but China would end up recieving the brunt of it.

Anyway the U.S and China have absolutly no reason to want to fight each other. China and India though...thats a scary thought.

 

[Kryzantine]

I don't see how China could replace the US as a superpower.

People look at China and see growing power, and they assume that it's a linear thing, that they will eventually surpass the US economy. Pundits will go on about how China owns all our debt, and they have the power to cut it off on a whim. Well, that's the idiotic way of looking at it. China's power exists because the US gives it to them. They're the world's factory, they make cheap stuff and sell it to the US. When the US didn't import as much in 2007-08 due to the recession, China suffered from it too. Their economy is linked to ours - and let's face it, their economy is their only real power. World's largest army exists to defend the country from itself, China cannot actually project its military forces easily onto an area it doesn't control.

Back to the economics, though. In order for China's economy to surpass ours, they would have to be able to buy more than we can buy, and consider that China is the one making most of the world's goods. How can they start buying more stuff than they sell, if they sell 85% of the total goods on the market?

And China is not nearly as stable internally as America is. They simply have more issues to deal with - the water crisis is more severe there; their migrant population is much higher; their standard of living is much lower; suicide is much more prevalent, especially among women; they have a gender imbalance that America doesn't have; their middle class is far less numerous, I could go on and on. The country is one giant balancing act.

So in 2050, I'm going to say America is still the most dominant, but Russia and China could be scary, and if Brazil and India manage to get their own shit together, they could be fucking freaky.

 

[chinangel]

My new island nation, Potatolassia, shall rule the entire world by 2050 through a combination of space lazers and genetic supersoldiers. We shall have an army of robocops. Applications welcome.

I'd like to apply to be minister of Mad Science

 

[the spud]

My new island nation, Potatolassia, shall rule the entire world by 2050 through a combination of space lazers and genetic supersoldiers. We shall have an army of robocops. Applications welcome.

I'd like to apply to be minister of Mad Science

Hmmm... that's a pretty high up position.

You may have to do something pretty impressive to earn that spot, like building a mech suit out of potatoes or something...