I would not describe any situation that results in perpetual bribery to stave off war ideal. That's extremely unfair to the American taxpayer. I would much rather spend that money on our own military so that we can have peace through strength. What you propose makes the American worker a slave to the rest of the world in an aims to appease them into not competing. That is ridiculous in my opinion as companies like Huawei prove that the competition is already here. Second, how are we ever going to compete when we keep sending them the designs for our latest gadgets? We're giving away the IP in exchange for cheap labor again at the expense of the American worker. China is going to be a major player in the next century and we had best prepare.
Why would that unfair to the American taxpayer? Making sure a war you want doesn't happen saves those taxpayers' lives (and money).
And in the Nato and Japanese case the "bribe" is paid in kind: you get what you are asking for (the US builds up its military and provides a security guarantee; those countries don't have to waste money on military expenditures and in exchange get a higher standard of living than the US). I suppose that's peace through strength.
> Second, how are we ever going to compete when we keep sending them the designs for our latest gadgets?
Sounds like the arguments against free software (AKA Open Source) I heard in the 80s and 90s.
The American worker isn't going to build these low margin products anyway; the design is where all the margin is.
