Debates about dominance

I was bored at some point last night so I started flipping channels. No, that isn’t exactly how it was, I was really flipping channels because what I was watching had been interrupted by commercials and I am not having that. As I was going by CNN, I noticed that there was some form of group debate on the current economic issues that the United States is going through or facing however it should be described.

There was all this talk if America was bowing out from world leadership and dominance and what that means and how they could come back and etc. A yawn was my response. I am so tired of this empire talk that seems to keep on repeating itself over and over again. Everyone keeps seeing the sun setting on the American Empire as we know it and here comes another dark age again right?

I am not buying it. Not yet anyways. I don’t think China is really as strong as everyone is betting on them being. I still think America has a couple of Aces up their sleeves and if the right people play them at the right time, that things will be back up and running in no time. I also think that Europe should stop waiting for the United States to act on all things, be it economics, social politics, or international issues. Europe should do their thing. Why should we expect someone else to do all our work for us?

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I realize that I sometimes get funny looks when I tell people that I wanted to live in Europe. I guess its always that notion that the other side of the pond is always so much more intriguing. Luckily for me, I come from both sides and since I can’t live in both at the same time, I picked the one that appealed to me the most. Best decision of my life says I.

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Doom and Gloom

Things aren’t good. Everyday I get slapped in the face with harsh economic news with very dark and evil predictions of things to come. I think it’s a bit early to prophesy doom, but on the other hand the indicators aren’t exactly pointing up at the moment.

The governments of Europe and the United States are all talking about restraint and cutting spending. The problem with such a course of action is that it will inevitably hurt the poorest of the poor and mean nothing to the rich. If we look closer at the United States as a whole, the current political philosophy being espoused by the right wing block and from some centrists is some form of Beatlesque “Let it be” mentality. Where am I going with all this? Well for starters the infrastructure of the United States could use a serious upgrade (ports, rail, and airports), but no one is willing to shell out the cash for it. These kinds of things allow the creation of jobs and allow for the creation of jobs in the private sector as well as it allows for better production and shipping options for firms.

However, the populist scream of the moment is that we do nothing, because in the United States the notion is that government is the problem (I seem to recall it was the private sector that got us into the whole mess but hey why go against the rage on the street). Since we won’t be building for the future, I am going to continue the dark prophesies with my own: if you don’t build it, they (prosperity) won’t be coming.

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