Ouch. America has done this to herself.
The US rose throughout the 19th and well into the 20th centuries by protecting liberty, and especially economic liberty. Now, by many measures, there is more economic freedom in China than there is in the USA, where on the one hand, we have socialism for the rich with the bailouts and on the other, a situation in which 53% of Americans pay no tax on earnings, such that we have truly become a welfare state in which the minority supports the majority. This state of affairs constitutes a particular tyranny of democracy, in which the majority has a vested interest in continued economic “redistribution” from a minority (but not including the politically connected super-rich, who benefit from those bail-outs), of the form of which Benjamin Franklin spoke when he said,
When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the Republic.
The transfer of wealth (and thus, the ability to make one’s own path in life by one’s own efforts) from the citizenry to the government by inflation, which hits hardest the poorest among us, has been to the tune of 95% since the founding of the Federal Reserve, nine decades ago, (as measured by the loss of value of the dollar). This inflation is caused by the printing of money that the government spends without having to raise the funds through taxation. Inflation makes every American poorer for the purposes of government spending, and is thus rightly called the invisible tax.
Every part of this setup goes against the intentions of our Founders and the way the USA conducted itself until the early 20th century.
Inflation, properly understood, explains why it now takes two incomes to raise a family; why more 30-somethings have to move back in at home with Mom and Dad, and why the majority of Americans depend on money the US government for some of their financial wellbeing.
The debasement of the value of money by the same government that then hands out checks to those who, as a direct result of the debasement, no longer can afford the basics is the best proof that the general well-being of society does not (and some say, cannot) increase with the size of government and its programs.
Ironically, this failure mode is the same is essentially that of communism: the system removes the natural human motivation to improve our lot, by removing from us the fruits of our efforts, reducing the incentive to be productive and thereby generate the very wealth that improves our own lives and the lives of others, and then handing back to us just enough to make us dependent on a status quo that increasingly concentrates power over many in the hands of a few.
The covert funding of government profligacy by inflation also explains why we are now owned by China, without whose loans, we could not afford the very weapons that we would use to defend ourselves against any power that could threaten us in the future, and, indeed, to keep our word to the Taiwanese to defend them against any hostile Chinese action. Of course, this point is moot, since promises are things we keep only when we can afford to, and we cannot afford to keep that one, just as we cannot afford to keep our promises to ourselves to deliver the benefits of such badly planned programs as medicare and social security.
Clearly, financial bankruptcy when not admitted and in an absence of changes to behavior, is moral bankruptcy.
The extent to which Americans still own ourselves will shrink soon enough when we inflate (debase) our currency further to be able to pay our public debt, now standing at $400,000 per family, making our assets dirt cheap to outsiders but more expensive to us.
We have made ourselves hollow, and the global re-alignment of power is well under way. It has passed a threshold and now those on the ascendancy can speak of their rise openly without fear of the consequences.
More and more of the articles that appear these days on Watching America.com, the website that translates foreign news about the USA, directly address this issue.
Here are just a few from the Eastern hemisphere translated in the last few days.
Xinhua News, China
Why Obama Constantly Shows Off His “Muscles” to China
Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore
Sino-US Relations: Aunt Flo is Visiting
NFDaily, China
China vs. the U.S.: In the End, Who’s Afraid of Whom?
NFDaily, China
Why China’s Warnings to the U.S. Fall On Deaf Ears
Zaobao, Singapore
U.S.-China Relations: Who’s the Pawn?
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russia
China and the U.S. Are Moving Toward a Cold War
For those interested in where this is all going, this , while not entirely reflecting my own views, is an excellent read.
Robin Koerner is a British-born citizen of the USA, who currently serves as Academic Dean of the John Locke Institute. He holds graduate degrees in both Physics and the Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge (U.K.). He is also the founder of WatchingAmerica.com, an organization of over 100 volunteers that translates and posts in English views about the USA from all over the world.
Robin may be best known for having coined the term “Blue Republican” to refer to liberals and independents who joined the GOP to support Ron Paul’s bid for the presidency in 2012 (and, in so doing, launching the largest coalition that existed for that candidate).
Robin’s current work as a trainer and a consultant, and his book If You Can Keep It , focus on overcoming distrust and bridging ideological division to improve politics and lives. His current project, Humilitarian, promotes humility and civility as a basis for improved political discourse and outcomes.