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Originally Posted by noceradave
For the most part, when we purchase imported Common Off The Shelf components (also known as COTS), most of the profit from COTS is made by the foreign manufacturer.
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Perhaps. But do you object in principle to the existence of foreign industry? Or just to the existence of international trade?
Specifically, what criteria do you feel should be met for nations to trade amongst each other, instead of trading within themselves?
Quote:
Originally Posted by noceradave
A large degree of imported COTS on our robots also means a large amount of money and technology jobs are flowing out of America.
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Why presume that those jobs were in America to begin with, and have now flowed out? It's not as if there was a time when American-made parts were the only ones on the market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by noceradave
Is imported COTS this best long term use of our money? Is teaching future engineers to rely upon imported COTS the best long term strategy?
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This is a fair question; so let's discuss how we might go about answering it.
To start that process, a few clarifications would be beneficial. Could you be a bit more specific about the meaning of "l
ong term"? (10 years? Within our lifetimes? Centuries?) Also, when you say "best", for what constituency are you optimizing? (America? Human civilization? Earth?) It's not wrong to propose different policies for different periods and constituencies—but if that's the case, go ahead and present the framework to support that proposal.