America: Wake up! How are we going to compete with China?

By Eric Jackson, Senior Contributor03/02/11 - 06:00 AM EST

Former GE(GE_) CEO, Jack Welch, was on CNBC Tuesday, saying, "This is still the best country in the world."

Those words make us all feel warm and fuzzy. We're the best. We have been and we always be. Politicians like to invoke these same feelings in their speeches.

But the words are hollow. We're not the best anymore. Our time at the top is coming to a close, unless we take drastic actions which we seem unwilling to consider. China is about to pass us. The Chinese work harder, for less money and benefits.

We need a wake-up call.

I had a long car ride last weekend and was listening toSirius(SIRI_) satellite radio with an endless loop onCNN and Fox News Channel. If you only got your news from these two channels and the politicians and pundits speaking on them, you would assume our leadership atop the global is unassailable.

The biggest question facing our country, according to the talking heads, is whether we should have more or less government and more or less taxes.

These debates miss the big picture: China is eating our lunch economically. Are we, as Americans, going to come together as a cohesive team and think about how we can better compete with the Chinese or are we going to keep fighting ourselves?

Americans have had it good for a long time. Our standard of living is the best in the world. We borrowed money over the last 20 years because our expectations of continued prosperity were assured. But the party is over. We've collectively maxed out our credit cards. It's time for us to look at ourselves critically in the mirror.

We don't need politicians who act like polite Saks(SKS_) sales clerks telling us that our butt doesn't look fat in a new pair of jeans we're trying on when it does. We need politicians who talk to us like a personal trainer at the gym: We're fat and out of shape --- and we need to get on a program.

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