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Statistics highlight an American empire in decline
Published: 23 October, 2010, 02:59
Edited: 25 October, 2010, 12:07
TAGS: Crisis, Politics, USA, Economy
The US has long regarded itself as an exceptional nation, a beacon of democracy and progress throughout the world. Yet the statistics don’t exactly match the rhetoric.
Last week, the US slipped to 49th in the world in life expectancy and ranked dead last among developed nations in terms of child well-being. The millions of uninsured Americans left out of America’s increasingly expensive healthcare system show a very different side of the world’s lone superpower.
Just two blocks from the White House, many line up for free food, free blankets and free check-ups from mobile soup kitchens and mobile health trucks.
“This is my 60th year and we’ve just seen the lines grow and grow and grow, and unfortunately it isn’t just homeless people. There is also a new group called the working poor, and because the cost of living is so high, people can’t just meet basic needs,” said Seton Cunneen, a Catholic nun who volunteers with the mobile soup kitchen Martha’s Table. “One of my big worries is that we always used to pride ourselves on having a big middle class, but it seems that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.”
Americans’ access to credit and identity as consumers leads them to live far beyond their means, said anthropologist Brett Williams. And rather than be a vehicle for social mobility, higher education in the US only exacerbates the income gap.
“It’s an engine of inequality, because you have to either be wealthy or take on a lot of debt to get an education, and more and more people aren’t willing to do that,” Williams said.
But if Americans are blissfully unaware of their crumbling empire, it’s nothing new, said Robert Jensen.
“There have been empires before this one with illusion, and delusion, of permanence, but they all eventually fell, and of course the United States will be no different. We are seeing the beginnings of that right now,” said Jensen. “That mythology is very useful to people in power because it gives the American people this right to rule.”
He explained that American newspapers and media outlets write all about positive American stories America, but not about negative topics. Nor do they report what other countries do right.
“Our media doesn’t give us that information and so we don’t learn,” said Swanson.
The US spends the most money in the world on healthcare, but is still 49th in life expectancy.
“The dominant factor being simply the incredible inefficiency of our healthcare system,” added Swanson. “This would have been a useful debate to have when we were doing healthcare reform in Washington, and yet it never happened.”
American leaders often boast that other nations depend on US, that the US is a global problem solver. However, the US is unable to solve its own problems at home.
The US superpower image is diminishing as the nation enters a decline. China and Europe however are expanding.
“I think China may be a bit overblown, but the European Union is bigger and stronger economically than the United States,” said Swanson. “It’s a model for development that is ahead of the United States.”
23.10.2010, 02:37
2 comments
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America could be a wonderful country. Nevertheless, this topic, like all the comments related to it forgot the main problem. Since 1945, considering inflation the USA have wasted each year, between 500 millions to ONE TRILLION $ on military equipment. In 2010, the real US military budget, considering a few untrue numbers will have been reached those 1000 billions. Mr Obama cannot do much about it because the MIC (Military Industrial Complex), the Pentagon, wall-Street and the Worldwide billionaires control the situation. The US president was told the exact distance existing between the White-House and the Arlington-Cemetery. The USA = 5% of mankind but nearly 70% of Humanity military spending. Unless competent US politicians master that awful situation, there will be no hope and America will implose. It should be the responsibility of notorious worldwide politicians to warn gently the American people. In 2010 the USA have become a military economy which is contagious through their NATO accomplices. Personally I call my country (France) "Little America" where young Frenchmen are incited to join the military or security companies, or work for those industries. We cannot export anything else (except luxurious products). This explain, in part, the actual retirements benefices crisis ( See my other comments). Sorry Future Generations... Jean-Claude Meslin
Bharma these Russians are highly skilled and the U.S needs people with high skills-- in other words-- highly skilled people have been coming to the U.S to work to work and make good living. This does not mean the U.S is better than Russia. What is means is that U.S corporations have been forced to fill high tech jobs by enticing highly skilled workers for higher pay. The real question what does this trend mean for the future of the United States. I am also curios of your use of the term “North America”! This is because Canada has higher quality of life than the United States. So the term North American is not applicable in this case. Canada has publicly funded education system, publicly funded healthcare system. The United States does not have publicly funded universal healthcare system nor does it has universally accessible publicly funded education system. The key issue in this report is that the U.S capacity to entice highly skilled workers is diminishing with the diminishing of the U.S social system and the economic system and the political system. The U.S is decline empire that cannot face reality.
The majority of white Amerians are driven by their '5 RAGES' - Racism, Arrogance, Greed, Egotism & Self-Agrandizement. as a consequene, they refuse to see the 10,000-20,000 Wealthy White Men who have been LOTTING the US Tresury of 10'S OF TRILLIONS, ROBBING Taxpayers of 100'S of TRILLIONS since the 1980's! Internationally, these same Liars, Thieves & Murderers have been regularly PILLAGING Resource-Rich NON-WHITE Nations and GENOCIDING their Populations using 'The War on Terrorism' as the sole excuse! White Americans have sat quietly 'popping another cold one' while watching 'Dancing with the Stars' as .1% of their number have dragged this nation into thew TOILET. Because they sat by and did NOTHING since 1980, this nation has become a depraved, arrogant, racist BULLY the world's many populations have come to secretly - and NOT so secretly - DESPISE. And given US 'work' in Iraq, Iran & Afganistan, the rage of the world is entirely justified. The question now is who will step on America when she goes DOWN...