I came across an interesting article....

[Lynn49]

C H I N A


China - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly!


China has 19% of the worlds population, but consumes ...


53% of the world's cement


48% of the world's iron ore


47% of the world's coal


.... and the majority of just about every other major commodity.


In 2010, China produced 11 times more steel than the United States .






New World Record: China made and sold 18 million vehicles in 2010.






There are more pigs in China than in the next 43 pork producing nations combined.





China currently has the worlds fastest train and the worlds largest high-speed rail network.






China is currently the number one producer in the world of wind and solar power, but don't use it themselves. While they manufacture 80% of the world's solar panels, they install less than 5% and build a new coal fired power station every week. In one year they turn on more new coal powered electricity than Australia's total output.







China currently controls more than 90% of the total global supply of rare earth elements.






In the past 15 years, China has moved from 14th place to 2nd place in the world in published scientific research articles.






China now possesses the fastest supercomputer on the entire globe.






At the end of March 2011, China accumulated US$3.04 trillion in foreign currency reserves --the largest stockpile on the entire globe.






Chinese people consume 50,000 cigarettes every second!




They are already the largest carbon dioxide emitter and their output will rise 70% by 2020.


And we think we're going to save the planet?

It will not make one iota of difference what we do in Australia, Canada, the United States or anywhere else in the world; for that matter, all the politicians are doing is increasing our cost of living and making our manufacturers uncompetitive in the world market, when countries like China are growing and consuming at these extraordinary rates!


http://horne.vplp.org/2012/11/hard-f...must-read.html

A sleeping dragon???

[hollyquaiscer]

I have to agree 100% with you Lynn, it amazes me just exactly how much China consumes, WOW

[walkonby]

very scary facts there Lynn. I am looking for a sand pit to bury my head in now.

[cherrycheers]

Please dont just believe in those data, and it's different between Chinese dream and American dream.

[vesper]

China currently controls more than 90% of the total global supply of rare earth elements.

One the biggest mistakes by the 'do gooders' was let China buy up these rights from African and South american nations that reputable companies normally would have paid for. Battery powered cars and turbines need these rare earth minerals, and the damage to the earth is far greater than drilling for oil.

China don't care about environmental issues. But they are going to earn trillions of OUR concern for the environment while polluting it like no one else ever. 'Do Gooders'!

[i_forget]

We are all to blame.

In our relentless desire to have more and more and more but cheaper we have exported our jobs to places in the world where the standards are well below our own and where wages are well below our own.
The pockets of the rich get thicker, and our cell phones get lighter and thinner, while the pollution there increases.

They may be the largest consumers of all of these resources, but they are consuming them because they are making crap for us.

[anisa]

^ yup

[DaveP]

We are all to blame.

In our relentless desire to have more and more and more but cheaper we have exported our jobs to places in the world where the standards are well below our own and where wages are well below our own.
The pockets of the rich get thicker, and our cell phones get lighter and thinner, while the pollution there increases.

They may be the largest consumers of all of these resources, but they are consuming them because they are making crap for us.

^ yup

Exactly right.

[Lynn49]

We are all to blame.

In our relentless desire to have more and more and more but cheaper we have exported our jobs to places in the world where the standards are well below our own and where wages are well below our own.
The pockets of the rich get thicker, and our cell phones get lighter and thinner, while the pollution there increases.

They may be the largest consumers of all of these resources, but they are consuming them because they are making crap for us.

I could not agree more. When the sleeping dragon finally wakes up, we're all in deep crap. Their products may be cheap now, but for how long? When their people begin to realize that everything China has built up has been on their backs, it won't be long before they demand...and succeed in getting, the same style of living we've been enjoying all these years. And with their resources ($), they can achieve that, and those "cheap goods" won't be cheap anymore!! We'll all be in their debt. Oh. Our industrialists who have a share in China's growth will survive. The rich will get richer while the poor get poorer, the middle class will be wiped out and everyone will be working just to keep out of their growing debt.

Walks, before you bury your head in the sand, might I suggest removing those rose-coloured glasses we've ALL been wearing?

[Angela273]

Interesting, I'm sure my husband would like to read this.