The tipping point of American ideology

Got your attention?!?!

As those of you who follow my blog know, I live in Javea, Spain right now. So my perspective on the current liquidity crisis, economic trauma and political drama is very different than if I were still home in Boulder, Colorado watching CNN and CNBC, reading the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and chatting with my colleagues around the water cooler. I’m a bit detached, both literally and figuratively. Plus, I just had a couple glasses of a yummy Rioja…

My thoughts right now, when I can distract myself from the pain inflicted upon my ”investment” accounts, are of this particular moment in history. When we look back on this time, during what will now be our more meagerly funded retirement years, we will recall how the very nature of geopolitics and world history was altered. The United States (and by proxy the Anglo-Saxon or Western World) is losing the moral high-ground for having both a superior government model and economic system. Free-market capitalism (pursued at-all-costs and with absolutely no government intervention or regulation), is being exposed in a glaringly hot spotlight for the whole world to see. Today, even Alan Greenspan, the infallible master of monetary policy, in his testimony to the U.S. Congress, admitted that he “made a mistake,” and that he found a “flaw” in his ideology.

Many contemporary historians posit that our country’s leadership position (as viewed through the long-term lense of the rise and fall of civilizations) has already crested the apex of our  power and influence (which peaked with the fall of the Berlin Wall). I agree with their theses. And today, right now, what we are seeing is confirmation of the historical “tipping point” which will lead to a consistent and continual degradation of our dominance on the world stage. I believe the actual tipping point was on 15 September 2008 when Lehman Brothers failed (Lehman didn’t cause this mess – they are just the last straw).

After some 200+ years, the U.S. is no longer on the “rise,” but on the “fall.”

The United States is a glorious country based on inspiring ideals! It is perhaps the best nation to have ever existed so far. But it is not without its flaws. We have ideological shortcomings in our model of government, in our capitalist economic system, in our cultural practices, and in our religious beliefs. Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries the U.S. has led, often aggressively, the world through it’s perceived moral, and many would claim religious, position of superiority. But those actions and attitudes, over multiple administrations, both Republican and Democratic, which enabled us to become the world’s only superpower, are now turning against us like a well thrown boomerang and will eventually, over the course of time, lead to the eventual waning of our sphere of influence.

Please do not get me wrong, or misinterpret my comments. The United States of America is not going away. It will not disappear tomorrow. We will weather this current economic tsunami. Our country will continue to be large, powerful and dominant for many, many years. The American way of life (particularly our consumerism) permeates the very fabric of the increasingly interconnected, world quilt. But history shows us, over and over and over again, that no culture or nation-state is immune from the natural life-cycle of civilizations. What goes up, must come down.

Some recommend reading for those of you interested in learning more:

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Orderby Samuel P. Huntington
The Post American World by Fareed Zakaria
The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedman
The New History of the World by J.M. Roberts
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell