The concept of being the most technologically advanced nation is kind of a false concept in the modern era, at least compared to the way people thought about these things 20-30 years ago. Everyone has pretty much the same smartphones, everyone has pretty much the same computers. Everyone has pretty much the same textiles and cars and drones and other consumer products. There isn’t very much “secret sauce” any more, nor are there tons of the quirky regional feature sets in consumer electronics that set for example 90s and 2000s Japan ahead by having the ability to watch live TV on a cell phone or have the first lane departure warning systems in cars.
Today, there are essentially two groups of countries, consumers and producers. Some countries like the US largely only consume technology, others like China also produce it. While China does have some of them most advanced production capability in the world, that doesn’t mean they don’t also sell both the advanced products they produce and systems by which to produce those products worldwide.
The primary factors prohibiting other nations from producing and advancing technology are real material conditions like capital and training, rather than constructed conditions like intellectual property. That’s largely thanks to China’s focus on international cooperation and opposition to the concentration of capital by national bourgeoisie.
The concept of being the most technologically advanced nation is kind of a false concept in the modern era, at least compared to the way people thought about these things 20-30 years ago. Everyone has pretty much the same smartphones, everyone has pretty much the same computers. Everyone has pretty much the same textiles and cars and drones and other consumer products. There isn’t very much “secret sauce” any more, nor are there tons of the quirky regional feature sets in consumer electronics that set for example 90s and 2000s Japan ahead by having the ability to watch live TV on a cell phone or have the first lane departure warning systems in cars.
Today, there are essentially two groups of countries, consumers and producers. Some countries like the US largely only consume technology, others like China also produce it. While China does have some of them most advanced production capability in the world, that doesn’t mean they don’t also sell both the advanced products they produce and systems by which to produce those products worldwide.
The primary factors prohibiting other nations from producing and advancing technology are real material conditions like capital and training, rather than constructed conditions like intellectual property. That’s largely thanks to China’s focus on international cooperation and opposition to the concentration of capital by national bourgeoisie.