One should note that although there are challenges to a full and satisfying rebirth and renewal for the United States after decades of corruption and war, these challenges have to a certain extent preexisted the last couple of decades of corruption and war but have nevertheless been amplified as a result of the corruption and war of the last couple of decades. As Cornel West wrote decades ago:
“America is in the midst of a massive social breakdown. Never before in U.S. history has national decline and cultural decay so thoroughly shaken people’s confidence in their capacity to respond to present-day problems. America remains the premier military power in the world, yet has a waning influence on the global scene. American big business can no longer compete with that of [Asia and Europe] and others as a result of bad management, myopic profiteering, insufficient productive investments, and a refusal to educate its workers adequately. Money-driven elections and packaged politicians (turned fundraisers) have made the political system virtually an ugly joke – whose punchline is on the American people.”
The point about education in America and the fact that workers and regular people in America are not educated adequately is perhaps most important and is most significant in terms of overall impact on long-term social order and stability in the America. Wang Huning, who is now one of seven members of China’s elite ‘Politburo Standing Committee” – and might in fact be the first in line to replace Xi Jinping – noted the issue of education in America during his months-long trip and tour here in the early 1990’s:
“The education crisis of the young generation has become a worrying social issue. University education is of a considerable standard. The main reason is also that there is a wide range of universities available to young people, and talents are weeded out in universities, not before. But secondary education is a concern, and the standard of secondary (high school) education is surprisingly poor.”
Wang placed considerable blame on the ‘Baby Boomers’ and the generation before the ‘Baby Boomers’ for fostering a certain level of ignorance in American society, and argued that this pervasive condition of ignorance as a result of poor education would eventually spell the end of America itself: “This generation was made by the past generation, and the next generation will be made by this one, and the end is conceivable.”
Yet, despite its obvious flaws, America is still the best place to live in the whole world and is still the premier military and economic power in the world. Moreover, these aforementioned flaws can be ironed out by the generations which will replace the one that is currently in power, given that the generation which is currently in power will not live forever and that there is perhaps a general awakening amongst all living generations as a result of the Trump experience.
Moreover, there is still a stark contrast and difference between one mile of life on one side of the US-Mexican border versus one mile of life on the other side of the US-Mexican border. And if one were to use their brains effectively, one would realize that the United States is still the best place for people around the world to invest and to live. It all comes down to basics, and in terms of the basics, the United States has the largest supply of water compared to all other countries, the highest level of accessibility to the internet, and the most electricity, all of which are perhaps the most basic of drivers for economic productivity and growth.
The only real and substantial obstacle to the United States’ becoming a formidable magnet that would attract a great deal of the world’s capital and people while socially developing its own people is a discreet form of “State Capture” that is then codified and solidified by British law. As Brooke Harrington noted:
“Instead of an open struggle for dominance, the agents of [British] transnational elites…are executing one silent, bloodless coup after another. Particularly offshore, this process of state capture seems to be proceeding with great success.”
The hope is, however, given that the law in America is more a matter of balance-of-power politics than anything else, the same legal and political mechanisms which have been used to enable ‘State Capture’ can soon be used to reverse it.
Adam A. Azim 