I know I have company, waking up wondering; how in the world can our politics have fallen so low and the values we cherish debased beyond recognition? When did it start? What are its origins? How long has this been going on? I trace the shift to globalization that began in earnest in the 1980's as corporations began to chase low cost labor offshore, losing American manufacturing capacity in a long unwinding.
American consumers benefited from cheap imports while the purchasing power of the dollar began to slide. In time, credit was eased turning stocks first then homes into ATM's, and technology-- our hope for the future the way the oceans were supposed to be our infinite food supply-- raced off to the 24/7 world of innovation from Europe to Asia.
Today China is Number One, its citizens subject of an oppressive regime that nonetheless provides "economic opportunity" as its own mass sedative. Americans are standing at the station looking at our watches, railing against trains that don't run on time and why not, when they do everywhere else. It is too much regulation, the GOP says. If you just get government off our backs, American industry will come back. American exceptionalism, as exemplified by US Senator Marco Rubio and adopted by a wide swath of Red State America, says we are a place without equal in the history of mankind.
Well... I have one dollar and forty two cents that equals one euro and says, otherwise. A recent visit to Madrid proved the point every time I paid a bill, took a cab, or ate a meal. In 2002, one euro was valued at between .98 and 1.17 dollars. We hear lots about the economy of Spain going up in smoke, because of the housing bust there. The bars and restaurants in Madrid are full. Who is buying the most expensive goods in Europe: wealthy Arabs and Chinese. Americans are poor cousins for a reason: we are no longer Number 1.
Yes, we are an idea factory for new technologies, but as our output of scientists and engineers declines relative to other economies, so will that segment of our economy. In fact we are Number 1 in two metrics; America is still the Number 1 exporter of culture. Our TV, movies, and music-- a focal point of the culture wars here-- are embraced by the world. And so are the weapons we produce: our military industrial complex continues to hum.
American exceptionalism is a dead end. The bright truth is that we can not afford to be the world's peacekeeper or war maker. We cannot put our national treasury at risk defending some dictators while attacking others based on who has the oil and who doesn't.
There is something liberating if Americans will stop being so afraid of losing something we already lost. America's view of itself is more distorted and wrong, than at any time in history. We imagine ourselves to be in a nation that is the proverbial shining city on the hill, but we are not. We imagine we are the land of opportunity-- and this is still the rallying cry of the Tea Party-- but our land of opportunity is the Rust Belt, ghost suburbs and higher paying jobs replaced with lower paying jobs. We are a nation where holding multiple jobs is the only way to keep a standard of living that one wage earner once provided, back in the time when the value of the dollar was exceptional.
We are in an economic ditch, but compassion is still our bedrock. Let compassion lead our way out. Government can do a better job of serving citizens and protecting our quality of life. Just look at what has happened instead: while we wait at the station, the state of Florida elected a governor and legislature-- all Republicans-- who reject the notion of trains. It is time to stop funding the world's wars and take care of our own. Instead of cannibalizing our quality of life and environment to serve corporations, let's nurture what protects us. Government isn't the enemy. Ignorance is.
16 comments:
Every great empire must fall;
The soviet Union fell, Hitlers plan fell, ROME FELL, Babylon fell, Egypt lossed, Spain fell, and yes, America is falling. People said it would not happen because we were too great and our money was great BUT the dollar has lost 40% of value and is declining still. The only people going now is China. If you believe in the Bible it is prophesied. However, this happens to all empires because politics become corrupt and people become upset. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
The USA is not an empire, but rather a hegemony. There is a difference but they seem similar. Others just say that it has simply stretched the boundaries of what a modern empire is.
I look at a fall as catastrophic, (such as the demise of the Assyrians, Hittites, or Romans, or even the Byzantines for example) which has happened to some of the great empires, but a more gradual term, "decline" is usually the way they go. It really depends of the source of that empires decay...
Yes, in history every empire collapsed and moved out of the scene to make a room to newer entity. Does not mind it was empire of the antiquity like Rome, Persia, or Han's China; or medieval Mongol, or present modern empires like British and USSR. All of them cased to exists as a world superpower. USA is present day also empire despise the claim of many that is is not... like USSR claimed also that it was NOT empire. But entire humanity see its way, since American influence is economy, culture, politics, values, warfare is undoubtedly a dominant factor of the present day life. As in history, empires usually falls on its own, as they tend to exhaust itself. Historically very A FEW empires were conquered. Rome designated and Byzantine empire in the last century of is existence was not bigger than Switzerland. USSR nor Mongol empire were defeated either, but collapsed with in. The decline of USA is well on its stage as any large states in the history; it is visible for anyone, who is around for many decades and traveled extensively and compare the 70's, 90', and present. Anywhere you look, from declining purchase power to deterioration of the infrastructure and public space is widespread and there are no money, resources, and even a will to fix it.
I copied and pasted your well-written article, and emailed it to everyone I know.
This is a wake-up call to America. I love this country, and it hurts to see it go down.
As the great philosopher Pogo once said: I have met the enemy and he is us!
I believe we need to rethink our position in a global economy. To some extend, there needs to be a shift in the paradigm.
If you follow the Bush doctrine to it's logical conclusion, we will have to go to war with any economic power that encroaches upon our economic power eventually. It does not make sense to me.
So, the question is this: how much are we willing to give up, how much will we really get in return, how much protectionism would make sense (or not), how much do we really care about the living conditions of third world nations. Today, from what I can see, we are largely enslaving many of those nations and they are hating us for it. This is leading to war. I don't like to think that the only reasonable job prospect for my grandchildren would be jobs working for the military industrial complex.
We use to argue that we were only losing factory jobs. This is not true. We are losing engineering jobs and our research is also starting to go over seas. Other countries are finding ways to corner the market in high level services. For instance, next time you have an imaging test done at a hospital, don't be surprised if that image is read by a radiologist in Australia.
Too big to fail is just the tip of the iceberg. Big box is to retail as TBTF is to banking. Small newspapers, radio stations and television stations are being gobbled up. We are not only super sizing our food, we are super sizing our businesses. There might be jobs here, but they don't necessarily pay what one might hope for.
Miami might have the dumb luck of benefiting from enhanced trade policies, with our positioning near So. America, but that is only if our local governments and business leaders will approach economic with a long view for sustainability.
I am looking at 30 years of economic policies where the trickle down is not really working. Roughly 69% of our men are working and 56% of our women. Our kids don't want to have as many children. They are struggling to keep jobs and they are a bit spooked. Some people say we are over educated and that we will have a lot of college kids working for Starbucks. I really question whether our dialogues are sincere. Do we have a spending problem, a taxing problem or is it really just a GDP problem? How will baby boomers even find the funds to retire? When they do, will we have to be the ones to die sooner (with less Medicare benefits). Perhaps this is our patriotic duty? I know that is an absurd statement, but we are what is wrong with the deficits. There are too many of us and we won't be producing.
So, on this Sunday morning, I am hoping for some really intelligent dialogue from the smartest of you guys out there. Feed my brain with your points of few. I am thirsty for a good debate.
Ah, history. There is that. Forget it and we are screwed.
http://youtu.be/yTbdnNgqfs8
WorleyParsons (former Parsons Main, former Chas T Main). Consultant to FPL
Typical of white liberal guilt and why socialism/Fascism will always fail.
We Americans are victims of our own greed and we seem to lack the ability and wisdom to see the consequences of our actions. Have we reached a saturation point with our many needs for self-gratifying tangibles?
Previous anon, you are so right. It is about balance and choice. For instance, our "nation building" and World Bank activities are helping to plunge third world economies into unsustainable debt. Wealth is stripped away by transnationals. Meanwhile, locals work for slave wages. This is causing wars, folks. So when you look at the percentage of our DOD budget as compared to our GDP, it is telling. Also, in an example of foreign aid (aka corporate welfare) $2B goes to a foreign country and comes back to us as orders for arms. That does stimulate our economy, but the true price to be paid is in the price of war is blood. Blood of our own, of our enemies and of innocent bystanders. I don't want the military industrial complex to be the fastest growing sector of our society. We have entered crazy land here.
Take this to a local level and look at who FPL plays cards with. Shaw Industries, Stone and Webber (now defunct), Chas. T. Main (now defunct). These are the international bad boys who hire MIT wiz kids to trump up reports to support their agendas. You want to know why two nukes are being forced down your throats? They are being forced on us by a conglomerate of powers that play on an international stage. You cannot even begin to image the power base that FPL has plugged into, even as they vie for more power themselves.
Get ready, Bechtel will be next. When the water is ruined, these are the guys who will want to own and operate our water plants. Privatization, baby. Nothing owned by the government.
As for AnthonyVOP, I suspect his last brain cells have been taken over by propaganda. Don't be too tough on him.
American Exceptionalism does NOT mean hegemony or world leader in GDP or jingoism. It refers to our unique political philosophy of God-given individual rights, as found in the Declaration of Independence and the principles of limited governance as found in the Constitution. Together, these principles of freedom have made America exceptional, and prosperous. And its why anybody around the world can become an American simply by coming here and taking those principles to heart.
Decline is a choice, when political leaders choose unsustainable government dependency over individual self-reliance; choose cronyism and bureaucracy over entrepeneurism; or choose political correctness over free thinking and free speech.
Why so many illegal immingrants then? Because we are the land of no opportunity?
it is still 'PERCEIVED' as the land of opportunity.
We have slashed and burned the Constitution so badly it does not even make sense. Just remember, the day they try to take this blog away because it will no longer be a part of our commons. You can't have freedom of speech when you can't even buy an advertisement on commercial television to get your point across. While I will admit that there are a lot of luny tunes out there, nothing scares me more than losing a diversity of voices. The deregulation of the FCC is perfect example of how our rights are being fundamentally shredded.
We could have an argument about creeping fascism and debate how that might manifest itself here.
As for the immigrants, David, I mentioned on another blog that about 1 million Mexican immigrants moved here from Mexico after they lost their farms (NAFTA) to large corporate entities. I will admit, NAFTA sounded good to me at the time. I was not thinking of the unintended consequences. Hell, I was just a young kid then. What did I know.
David, we are also better than the Congo, Haiti and Ecuador. That's not the point. The point is that we are no longer what we use to be. We are slipping. There ain't no economic fast talk that can get around this. Peter Morici said "what good does it do you to buy a $30 toaster for $20 if you don't have a job". I remember that, because my Chinese made, Costo bought toaster broke the next morning and it was like karma to me. Don't give me the high paying and technical jobs argument. Go join an engineering trades group and listen to what they are saying about the global economy. Go ask a doctor about how they feel about the quality of health care.
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