Much of the media is driving the American public to believe in America's decline this 4th of July, but they are wrong. by James Luko
(centrist)
Monday, July 4, 2011
What does the defeat of Napoleon have to do with Americas fourth of July ? Nothing, except it makes a neat title !
Actually it does, it poses the question, is America defeated ?
Hardly ! The same type of gloom and doom pervasive in the media and government was no less than Americas feelings and situation during the depression. During the depression, foreign observers, as well as many Americans felt and reflected that the American experiment had failed. The American way of life and business had collapsed and that the American system, American glory and Americas dominance had seen its end. America Incorporated was CLOSED for business and bankrupt !
Wrong ! America had not yet even attained nearly its zenith of power as it experienced post- WWII as the ONLY great power standing, as well as the assumption from Great Britain, as new the world leader.
After this, America experienced a protracted Cold War in which once again, America was triumphant.
Even during this period of Pax-Americana ( a term to denote American world preeminence and being responsible for world peace post-WWII), America experienced deep feelings and manifestations of doom and gloom, twice; First: post-Vietnam, it felt as America was falling apart- a (widely perceived) lost war in Vietnam, street protests, alienation of Americas youth, Watergate and the fall of Nixon, oil embargo crisis, and immense distrust between the government and population. Yet, America not only recovered, but clearly remained the worlds most powerful nation in almost every aspect.
The second time was during the Carter years. America was seen as a paper tiger, second rate power, weakened and demoralized nation as well as military as a result of Vietnam, an unassertive President who could not secure the release of the Americans held hostage in Iran, seemed to be pushed around by the Soviets, etc. etc. A time of national decline and presupposed RISE of JAPAN. As depicted in the original movie Wall Street in 1987 where Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) tells a stockholder audience- America, has become a second rate power. This summed up the national feeling and overly reflected in American media. As we all know, soon after the election of Ronald Reagan, America was restored in all its former glory of world respect, soft and hard power and an economic boom (albeit with enormous deficits) but the recovery occurred because there were NO fundamental changes in the elements and foundation which made and kept America world dominant.
Today, on July 4th, 2011, pundits and anti-American naysayers are advertising America of Gloom touting the END of American world supremacy. They are WRONG.
America is merely in a temporary rut just as it was during the post-Vietnam and the Carter years. Note that there are NO permanent changes in the various factors of hard and soft power, economic and otherwise which has permanently reduced American dominance in the world. In the headlines, if one cares to pay attention, one will notice the resurgence of American manufacturing, GM is back on top producing the most automobiles of any nation again (year to date YTD 2011 auto sales are up 14% !) [1], Chinas economy is slowing down, America has reasserted its role in defending the Philippines from Chinese aggression over the Spratly Islands, etc. etc. The fundamental factors of having the largest economy, most powerful military with unparalleled power projection, and soft power influence, remains firmly in American hands, thereby making such doom and gloom scenarios- mere media hype and uneducated postulations !
On this, 4th of July, 20011, America unquestionably RULES !
The views expressed
in this article are those of James Luko only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
James Luko is solely responsible for the contents
of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated
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Posted By: Bill Gee
Date: July 5, 2011 06:46:14 AM
While I'm sure your patriotic rhetoric is appreciated by some, you must also realize that ALL Empires eventually collapse. To think otherwise is to deny the reality of the cycles of life and death. At 235 years-old, our democratic experiment remains fragile.
In 1812, we narrowly escaped being re-conquered by Great Brittain. In 1865, we narrowly escaped complete disintegration. In 1929-1939, we narrowly escaped total economic collapse. In 1939-1945, we would have certainly been conqured by the Nazis and the Japanese if we weren't able to turn the tide of the war against them. In 1963, we narrowly escaped nuclear destruction. In 2008, we narrowly escaped complete economic collapse.
Just as in life, narrow escapes from death is what separates the survivors from the deceased. While we can create institutions that can weather political and economic change, eventually the hammer will fall, and it may come from the most innocent and unexpected place like a cancer deep within the body politic.
Rome lasted for nearly a thousand years, and they too believed that they would last forever. Our Republic has barely reached puberty in comparison.
Posted By: jamesluko
Date: July 6, 2011 06:44:13 PM
Bill, I agree completely with what you say. The point my article was illustrating was that despite the ups and downs, despite the narrow escapes we've had, the main foundational elements of remaining dominant has not erroded and thus, I do not see for at least the medium term, any end of the American Empire. The fall of the Soviet Union was due to economic disintegration on a broad and deep scale- driven by low oil and comodity prices. The fall of Nazi Germany and empires of WWI, Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungary and Russia were due to outright military defeats on a national scale. If the U.S. does NOT win in Vietnam or Iraq today- these are NOT indicitive of an erroding empire. These small conflicts are sideshows, they are not tests of national power. The elements of remaining a hyper-power, the ONE dominant nation in the world remains, economics, soft power, military power- including unmatched power projection and cultural domination.
Posted By: Bill Gee
Date: July 9, 2011 07:26:01 AM
Understood. Yes, I would agree that today the United States is the world's dominant power culturally, economically and militarily. Unfortunately, all that dominance has come at a cost, which has left us weak in the middle. One of the best comparisons with the American Empire is that of Rome. They were also the world's dominant cultural, economic and military power, but they also suffered from the problem of weakness in the middle.
What I mean by "weakness in the middle" is rampent corruption, an ineffective government, a large unemployed populace and a preocupation with distraction, the pursuit of pleasure, and sport. For Rome this meant that when an external threat actually did arrive, they were unable to mobilize their people to fight it. Some scholars blame the early Christians with their fatalistic views on the world as God's punishment for sin, but most modern scholars I believe correctly point out that it was the general populace's apathy toward their government due to decades of corruption that left the Empire too weak to fend off its attackers. For us in the United States, most of us take a "social issue" view of government while spending most of our time engrossed in sports, television or the cult of celebrity. For those of us who are more politically aware, there is a growing apathy as we realize that our government stopped working for the People decades ago.
When we finally do find ourselves in another survival crisis, how many of those people will willingly rise up to our nation's defense?
