"Spengler": Bannon Was Right

This comes as no surprise.  David P. Goldman, a/k/a "Spengler" opines that not only was Bannon right, but the US is running out of time and willpower to reverse the course.

...Goldman approvingly cites Bannon’s interview with The American Prospect last week, in which he insisted there is “no military solution” for North Korea until “somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons.” 

Goldman says he does not agree with Bannon “on every detail,” but commends his “brilliant grasp of grand strategy” and “deep sense of urgency about its implementation.”

“I can state unequivocally that he has a better understanding of America’s vulnerabilities than any senior official I have met in a generation, and some excellent ideas about how to get out of the mess,” he writes of Bannon....

The Usual Suspects---like Bomb-Bomb McCain--screeched about that 'no military solution' line, largely because Bomb-Bomb is an idiot and doesn't give a rip about 10 million South Koreans.

The essay does not have a lot of happy talk.  Goldman sees that the ChiComs are--long-term--the player the US has to worry about most.

 ...“The economic war is not a matter of dumping steel or aluminum, or even pirating American technology: China is establishing a dominant position in high-tech manufacturing, including a new US$50 billion plan to build a domestic semiconductor industry,” he writes...

...After listing a number of products invented by Americans that are no longer manufactured here – including LEDs, flat-panel video displays, flash memory, and even the solar panels so lavishly subsidized by the Obama administration – Goldman warns that we face both economic decline and “critical strategic vulnerabilities” by giving up our manufacturing base....

Can't make bombs for Bomb-Bomb if there's no steel mills here to make 'em with, ya'know.

There's one more thing, which, frankly, is more important than all of the above.

...the Western world is aging, as younger demographics surge in the Third World, and yet those aging Western populations have lost the ability to endure short-term hardship for long-term gain. This can be easily seen in the political debate over ending just about any U.S. government subsidy or welfare program, no matter how inefficient or counterproductive it might be; the number of people who would “lose” something in the process is cited, usually a number absurdly inflated by demagogues, and the conversation is over....

IOW, it will be a whimper.