clap hands is a tumblelog.

America and Where We’re Going

I think the main problem with America right now is too much nostalgia.  We’ve always been a nation attempting to live with one foot firmly in the future, but lately we’ve become too bogged down with what it really means to be an American in the context of our past.  I’m not talking about retro fashion or the I Love The 80’s series, although it is fascinating to watch culture consume itself over and over again like an ouroboros.  It’s more our general concept of what it means to be American in the current world hegemony.  Since America’s birth the power struggle internationally has always been vertical, a metaphorical game of King of the Mountain where the US was always able to bully out competition in one way or another to stay on top.  Now, with the rise of China and India along with our disastrous national economy, Americans more than ever are frightened that our very way of life is threatened and that we must defeat these foreign threats before they defeat us.  These fears are leading us down a path where past economic and social behaviors are being championed by the ever growing Rogue Masses.  Isolationism, de-regulation and a general distrust in the government are the bullet points of these rebels, who don’t seem to understand the only entity not throwing them under the bus right now is the American Government.  Job losses and economic woes are directly related to improper business management by unregulated corporations, whether its moving jobs overseas, hording the wealth for the top 1%, or simply having tunnel vision for the bottom line until unsafe practices eventually cause the whole system to come crashing down.  Many Americans want the US to come out on top, but they’re so blinded by what may have worked in the past that they either don’t realize or refuse to admit the entire game has changed now.  America may not be King of the Mountain anymore, but neither is China, India, or any other country for that matter.  There is no longer a mountain, but instead simply cogs turning in a global system.  China and India are rising are indeed rising in wealth, but without regulation their fate will soon be just as bad as America today.  If we don’t put all our faith in the government, we’re soon going to be a nation of hungry corporations, who will either exploit us as hard as they can, or simply forsake us for profits elsewhere in the world.  The way you spend your money can steer a corporation for sure, but how much does your voice matter when your dollar is worthless?  Your vote in American politics cannot be bought, sold, taken away or devalued.  America was founded by those trying to escape the tyranny of government, but soon if things continue the way they are we’re going to have to try and escape the tyranny of capitalism.  The American Government can only forsake its people if it refuses to regulate.  We must evolve as a nation, not attempt to go back to go back to policies that brought us here in the first place.  We must put our stock in the one entity that can never be shipped overseas: The US Government.

eternal struggle.

Needs: haircut, exercise.

Wants: pizza, cigarettes.