We live in a world where huge changes are poised to occur. After a century of America on the rise and more that eighty years of U.S. dominance in power and wealth China is on the rise as is most of Asia. We are watching as global preeminence shifts from the West to the East.
Every day the shift is growing and we as citizens of the U.S. are upset and confused by it. I personally am troubled by it all because we are fighting for our lives and we don't even know it. By know it I mean we fail to grasp the the danger involved because we spend our time assuming that we, as Americans, cannot be removed form our world position. Ask the English if this is foolish. At the beginning of the twentieth century they held a place of world dominance that was unrivaled in history. It was not a lie that the sun never sat on the British Empire. By 1939 the death knell for British dominance was ringing loudly, much like it is doing for the U.S. today. Then as now, the people didn't seem to hear it until the bombs started falling.
There may be no bombs to wake up the U.S. since wars now are fought less with soldiers than cash, more with software than guns and bombs. The end result is the same. One nation and its ways is pushed aside for another. One rise is marked by another's fall. We always see the alliances shift at the beginning of the cycle of war. Nations traditionally friendly fall apart and others seem to gel. So, after the falling out between China and the Soviet Union, there is a rapprochement underway to rehabilitate these former enemies in the effort to usurp world power over the Democracies and their allied nations.
China last year, after being offended by the Nobel committee, started its own prizes to theoretically rival the Nobel prize after a noted dissident won recognition from the Nobel committee. This year, China has awarded a "Peace Prize" to of all people Vladimir Putin. Putin's commitment to peace is questionable at best and he is the closest thing to a Soviet that Russia has seen since the collapse in 1989. The question is ostensibly why they picked Putin, since he is almost universally reviled in the West.
China is seeking to ally itself with other totalitarian regimes and those who feign democracy while limiting freedom. China needs Russia to continue in its effort to assume the role of dominant world power and Russia has the resources it needs to continue this. There may be no "war" like other wars, they think, I believe, that they will reduce us to a point where we will be unable to contest this by manipulating our finances and our ability to manufacture the weapons we would need to maintain a long armed conflict. They are nearly successful at this point as well.
We have a rotting infrastructure and zero manufacturing capability as it stands today. Greed has allowed the U.S. to become a shadow of itself. NATO will not be a factor either since the Chinese have successfully manipulated the Euro to insolvency. Europe will not stand and help the U.S. they will do as they always have and roll over to the most powerful in an effort to maintain their ways.
The U.S. is alone and facing daily attacks form China and Chinese interests. China's grip on our economy is an effective tool for castrating our nation. Our businesses continue to fatten the wallets of China who is using the money to enhance its reputation and its military might. All the while our businesses and corporations seek access to China and its markets for goods with American labels but are manufactured in China.
If the U.S. were exporting these goods then this would be good for all concerned. Unfortunately, the case is that Americans grow poorer and China grows in stature and power at our expense. I don't think that war is an answer. People generally do not fare well in wars. Only governments and the wealthy can claim that place. It is time for a change in the way the world works. Dominance is outdated and failing and the cycles of rise and fall are growing closer in interval.
Egypt lasted thousands of years, Rome lasted for a millennium, Alexander was a power for centuries. The rivalries and switches has sped up with every increase in speed of travel and communication. The U.S. is bound to drop in the world scheme. It's just the way things seem to work as it goes. We need to find a way to make our world a better place for everyone. We need a way to end murder for profit like war. We need to stop exploiting the poor to enhance wealth of a few over the many. We need a safe place for our children and their children to live and work.
There are enough people in the world to stop the crisis ahead, all we have to do is stand up and say "No more". Wake up to what is being planned and see the truth that people are nothing in the eyes of the powerful, we are to be used and manipulated for their own desires and nothing more. They pit us against each other to keep us from seeing that we are in danger. Our children nothing more than expendable weapons to make them even richer and more powerful.
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daisyjane
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Dr. Ziggy Mütter-Job
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Jonathan Wolfman
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Comments
"We need to find a way to make our world a better place for everyone" - but first we need to fix ourselves. I do not think it is difficult to see culture as a projection of what is, or is not going on in our screwed up brains. Do you?
Greed - Anger- Delusion. You got em, I got em - how do we deal with them? For most of us this could be a full time job.
I argue there is a big difference between growth and change. Who changes and who grows?
Yep, that pretty well sums it up. Seems like the geniuses who shipped the manufacturing jobs to China and Malaysia and India and other spots in Asia didn't quite get the idea that paying a bit more here for labor might keep more people earning and able to consume. And if we're not consuming, we're not establishing tax base to take care of infrastructure (not that we would have fixed the roads and bridges and sewers anyway but it's a nice fantasy).
We can change every time capitial decides to change us - or we can grow beyond being shaken by capital moves by learning the game and not playing.
We currently spend more than any other country in the world on defense --- and more than the next 10 biggest spenders added together. My guess is we are far and away the largest donor of foreign aid, although I couldn't find the numbers for it.
I think we will have significant power in the world for many more years. If we had a serious military rival, maybe more thought would be given before launching into pointless wars, like Iraq.
What we lost, thanks to Bush, was the moral power we had. That loss will take generations to rebuild. Obama should start by closing Guantanamo and prosecuting those involved in Abu Ghraib, at a level higher than private.