|
The American people are complacent. We still believe that those "waves of amber grain" somehow make us superior to everyone else. The US has been blessed with an abundence of natural resources, but our stewardship of these is poor at best. The Gulf oil spill is only the most recent example of this.
We seem to believe that when we deplete a natural resource here at home, we have the right to extract what we need from any country that is militarily weaker than us. We invaded Iraq for its oil, but at a very high cost both in terms of dollars and world goodwill. We cannot afford the mounting costs of continued military incursions without any end in sight.
Americans take democracy for granted. They stay home from elections in droves. We have evolved an electoral system of plutocracy rather than meritocracy. Big business buys itself presidents and congressmen. A glaring example of this is Dick Cheney, former Halliburten CEO. Halliburten grew even fatter, feasting off the Iraq war gravey train without even participating in the bidding process that other contracters must go through by law. The Supreme Court has endorced the corporate stranglehold on our electoral process by ruling that a corporation should be treated as a single individual when it comes to campaign donations.
The US educational system has become frayed at the seams. Young people who can barely read are being given GEDs and high school diplomas. The disparity in public education between children from upper income gated communities and those from lower income neighborhoods continues to grow. There is increasing tax payer resistance towards funding a good education for all children, regardless of the economic status of their parents. The country western song "Only in America" is a typical instance of how we lie to ourselves and proclaim that every US child has an equal chance to make something of their adults lives.
Since the beginning of time empires have arisen only to fall. The US is no exception to the lessons of history. We will fade, not with a bang, but a whimper.
|