In the 20th century the United States was supreme among nations. We had the greatest
prosperity, the largest economy, the most powerful military and the most
free populace in the world. Now, in the 21st century, that status is gone, but
many of us will not, or cannot accept the new reality;
we are no longer the world's mover and shaker. As a result, when things go amiss here or anywhere it is
Obama's doing, or a failing of the U. S.
The rest of the world has moved on. China is now the number two world economy and is breathing down our neck to reach number one. Our vaunted military is being defeated in the Mid East by rag-tag bands of
rebels who fight unconventionally and are not intimidated by a modern military colossus. The dollar which has been for a century the international medium of exchange is now in danger of losing that status.
To use a metaphor, the U. S. has a head cold, which if not treated could turn into pneumonia. The measures that would cure the cold are unpleasant---they would require all of us to make sacrifices. But the altruism and patriotism required for that seems to have emigrated elsewhere. We are caught in a class war, and the middle class is losing. No country can prosper without a middle class!
The solution is not, as conservatives believe, unbridled capitalism coupled with
low taxation and absence of sensible governmental regulation .We tried that under George and got the worst recession on record. Nor is it a tightly controlled
economy and extreme austerity. The solution will be in a compromise between
lessaiz faire and stifling controls and taxation. There is the rub. Compromise is now
the N word in politics. So the class war continues, and so does our decline!
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Persistence of illusion
Income is getting more concentrated at the top. The rich have been pulling away from the middle class. At the same time the very rich have been increasing their share of national income and similarly for the super rich.
Blinded by its wealth this large privileged class does not see or does not mind our country slowly moving toward the bankruptcy cliff. This lack of foresight causes that “persistence of illusion” that our country is still the uncontested leading nation.
We need to steep our perception of reality in the tepid water of the world's environment.
Yesterday General Motors filed for an IPO even though U.S taxpayers own a controlling interest (61%) in the company and the government of Canada is the 2nd largest investor (32%). What investor is willing to compete with such theoretically influential investors? And to what end? True, GM has dumped many of its unprofitable makes but still continues to offer nothing close to the efficiency and affordability of companies in Japan, Korea and China.
In the case of GM it is also important to recognize that their headquarters remains here, in the USA but the production of their vehicles still takes place in foreign locations. Whare's the logic?
Most of GM's executive has been replaced by economists who will not permit increased executive payments but if those execs are replaced by someone else (to suit the desires of individual investors) the executive payroll will most assuredly swell again.
The GM saga is simply another example of how our country's lenient domestic policy favors the tax-exempt class over all other citizens.
Today, Intel announced it has purchased McAfey, the pseudo software security giant. Intel says their ambition is to incorporate data security into their existing hardware products for potential new implementation in mobile phone and similar devices.
That is truly a corporate plan and Intel will need to suffer dire consequences for such poor planning but U.S. taxpayers will not suffer such a bad decision because Intel received nothing from the TARP.
We, as a culture, need to recognize that all of us in America have been forced to play in at least two, unrelated playing fields for several years; the game of making ends meet and the poorly or undefined game of making our political leaders wealthier.
I seriously doubt that any U.S. citizen completely believes in the credibility of any government representative but that same snake oil is still being offered.
There IS NO middle class even though all of us keep hoping it will somehow resurrect itself against impossible odds.
This November is assured to be a major turning point in America's future.
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