What a ridiculous argument. So then every single country, every single city, every street should build their own chips, their own iPhones, right? Because wouldn't want to be "a simple consumer" only!
Nobody's arguing in favor of producing nothing. We're just saying there's something called comparative advantage and it's about maximizing efficiency. The US has no business manufacturing chips for strictly economic reasons. But when you consider national security concerns it looks different
Where is that idea coming from that you will be able to choose? Like there will be 2 versions of the same product on the shelves with one reading made in the usa and 5-20% more expensive? That's silly
Might be that the archived version is cut, but can't find anything contradicting the assumption that it will not be the case, that two lines of the same product (one taiwan manufactured and one US manufactured) will exist... which would be silly.
The argument wasn't about chips specifically, but contributing in general. If your city has a workforce that produces something, you can use the money from selling that stuff to buy, for example, food.
If you don't, in western countries, mostly the welfare state steps in. And that's okay, we humans are social animals and I wouldn't have it any other way. But the welfare state has to be backed by productivity. Food and other stuff has to be produced by someone.
And when we're talking about international relations, if your exports don't cover your imports, eventually you'll go bankrupt.
You're applying macroeconomic theory to microeconomics and it isn't working. individuals will broadly try to maximize their own productivity and minimize their own costs. I'm not gonna pay an extra 20% for the same product everyone else is getting cheaper when my individual contribution to "national economic health" is a drop in the bucket. If that's what society wants then we'll have to tax and subsidize our way there. That's just how macro works
I think you're oversimplifying the argument in order to win internet points.
People of like minds and compatible values can and should work together and form agreements to allow each other to specialize in some ways and play to each others' strengths.
But in the West, our values are not compatible with the Chinese government's.
