Diagnosis for America (Version 4)

Written by Frank Li

America is deeply in trouble. “We the People” simply do not know what to do, other than periodically casting our vote of “no confidence” to elect someone, anyone, very different to be the President – first Barack Obama, then Donald Trump. Unfortunately for America, neither has worked out …

What’s really wrong with America?

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Simply put, two main reasons:

1. Foreign competition: The rise of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), led by China, as viable economic competitors to America, which virtually monopolized the world economically throughout the second half of the 20th century.
2. Self-destruction: America has been badly self-destructing for the past few decades, thanks to democracy (e.g. Democratic Imperialism and Democratic Socialism)!

Specifically, here is what happened to America after WWII:

1. America thrived from 1946 to 2000 for one key reason: America’s chief competitors either were destroyed by WWII (e.g. Germany and Japan) or self-destructed badly after WWII by continuing/adopting a fundamentally flawed system called “communism” (e.g. the USSR and China). As a result, America was left as the only chief producer on earth, making and inventing virtually everything and dictating prices. This not only finally lifted America out of the Great Depression, but also created unprecedented prosperity in America throughout the second half of the 20th century.
2. While America’s superb capitalism has been driving the economy, politics has been progressively driving America deeper and deeper into democracy (e.g. Democratic Socialism and Democratic Imperialism) – We became victims of our own success! However, no big problems showed up before 2000, because America, as the virtual economic monopoly, could afford anything and everything, even democracy!
3. The bottom fell out at the turn of the 21st century, when BRICS began to show their strength. The rise of BRICS not only signaled the end of America’s virtual economic monopoly, but also revealed a brutal truth about American democracy: It does not work! As a matter of fact, democracy is failing in America for the same reason it failed in Greece, ancient or modern: debt! Debt will eventually bring down the American Empire, as it did to the Roman Empire as well as to the British Empire.

The rise of BRICS was inevitable, but America’s progressively worsening self-destruction was not, is not!

“It’s the political system, stupid!”

Unfortunately for America, our politicians have been trying to fix everything but our failing political system. In other words, we have a cancer, but we have been treating it like anything but a cancer!

1. What is the cancer?

Today, most American politicians are career politicians, working for one paramount purpose only: getting re-elected ad nauseam, even if it means destroying America in the long-haul (e.g. by emptying her public treasury).

It is an insidious cancer, killing America from within, slowly but surely, one election at a time …

Here is the most extreme example of getting re-elected ad nauseam: JFK!

By signing Executive Order 10988 on January 17, 1962, President Kennedy allowed public-sector workers to unionize against their employers: the people of the United States of America! This communistic act (i.e. master-servant relationship reversal) did help millions of public-sector workers join the ranks of the middle class, at the cost of America’s future though: It ensured a spectacular failure of America down the road, city by city, state by state, as we have been experiencing over the past decade, with no end in sight. For more, read: Detroit, Public-Sector Unions, and JFK.

Now, why did JFK, against the explicit warning by his idol FDR (Letter from FDR Regarding Public-Sector Unions), allow public-sector unions? To maximize his chance of re-election in 1964!

JFK was not re-elected, as he was assassinated on November 22, 1963. But the damage to America was done – Executive Order 10988 was planted as a time bomb! It’s time for America to recognize it and undo Executive Order 10988 as soon as possible!

2. How was the cancer developed?

Let’s look at the U.S. Congress …

According to Salaries of members of the United States Congress, the members of Congress were virtually unpaid until 1855. In other words, to be a member of Congress, first you had to make it (i.e. becoming financially independent), then you served for a few years, and finally you went home. Serving was never meant to be a way of life – not even to make a living, let alone a career!

Below is an excerpt from Congressional offices and staff.

All hell broke loose during the 1970s, as the era of “career politicians” began! Since then, most, if not all, Members of Congress have been serving for one purpose only: getting re-elected ad nauseam. In other words, it stopped being about us, or about the U.S. – It became all about them!

3. How has the cancer been killing America from within?

For most, if not all, politicians, the re-election campaign starts immediately upon election. How do they keep getting themselves re-elected? By any and all means! Two examples:

1. Blindly robbing the public treasury by introducing socialistic programs at home (e.g. affordable housing) and waging wars abroad (e.g. Iraq and Afghanistan), to such an extreme now that work is optional for many (New Slavery in America: Pay without Work!) and foreign war is perpetual (The Evil Military-Industrial Complex). Still wondering about our crushing national debt? Wonder not! The money has been used to buy votes!
2. Money, money, and money! Below is an excerpt from this article: Are Members of Congress Becoming Telemarketers?

And your job, new member of Congress, is to raise $18,000 a day. Your first responsibility is to make sure you hit $18,000 a day.

Neither was a huge problem though, thanks to our superb capitalism, until 2000, when BRICS, led by China, showed up as viable economic competitors …

4. A few words on China

I was born in China in 1959 and grew up in the horrible days of the Cultural Revolution. So, I know what communism is: it destroys any incentive of work in people, resulting in a country being dirt poor. Three examples (China before 1980):

1. Economy: It was totally ruined because the working class took over the economy from the rich in 1949, without knowing what to do with it.
2. Housing: It was basically free, but most urban families ended up living in dorms.
3. Health-care: It too was basically free, but it was low quality and long waits in line.

Then what happened? Chairman Mao died in 1976. China changed, fundamentally and big, thanks to one wise leader named Deng Xiaoping!

China started embracing capitalism in 1978, and is now more capitalistic than America in many ways. Overall, China’s system (i.e. capitalism + autocracy), albeit with many endemic problems of its own, appears to be slightly better than America’s (i.e. capitalism + democracy), especially in terms of running a country like a business.

For more, read: The People’s Republic of China at Age 70.

5. Our responses to China’s competition

Practically none, until Donald Trump became President!

Unfortunately for America, President Trump has been doing it all wrong! For example, instead of reforming our failing political system, as I have suggested (American Democracy – Why is it failing & how to fix it?), he chose to “contain” China. Two informative readings:

1. China Is Paying for the Tariffs like Mexico Is Paying for the Wall!
2. The U.S. vs. China: From the Trade War to Commercial Sabotage!

Worse yet for America, many American politicians have simply resorted to China bashing, a bipartisan sport, just as they did to Japan in the 1980s. Here is a big problem, though: It will not work this time. Four main reasons:

1. Unlike Japan and Germany, China has both the size and strength to fully compete with America.
2. Unlike Japan and Germany, China is not a post-WWII American “colony”.
3. Like Japan, Germany, and even America in its early days, China has been building its initial wealth through exports.
4. Like America, China is a big market on its own. For example, today, more cars are sold in China than in America.

For more, read: The U.S. vs. China: A Great Experiment vs. A Great Civilization!

6. America’s self-destruction

America has been self-destructing in two major ways:

1. Democratic Imperialism, with the Iraq War being the worst example.
2. Democratic Socialism, with public-sector unions being the worst example.

In short, and once again, “it’s the political system, stupid!”

7. Is our political system really so bad?

Yes, it is, thanks to getting re-elected ad nauseam! It’s everything and everywhere, including presidential politics!

Specifically, the ugliness of our presidential re-election seems to have deeply affected the two wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan, respectively.

1. President George W. Bush recklessly turned off the beacon to launch the Iraq War in 2003, at least partially, for the sake of his re-election in 2004. For more, read: 9/11 Attack vs. Pearl Harbor Attack.
2. President Obama chose to escalate the war in Afghanistan in 2009, but with a troop withdrawal plan so ridiculously hasty and rigid that there could have been only one possible explanation: it was perfectly timed for his re-election bid in 2012! For more, read: For Obama the Road to Reelection Runs through Kabul.
3. President Obama kept his campaign promise to end the Iraq War by pulling all American troops from Iraq by December 2011, regardless of the situation over there. As a result, he was re-elected in 2012, but Iraq collapsed – He had to renew the war in Iraq in September 2014, after losing all the gains previously made. For more, read: President Obama and War.

Now, enter President Trump …

The image below is worth more than 1,000 words. For those who get it, no explanation is necessary. For those who don’t, no explanation is possible!

So, here are two basic but serious questions:

1. Is our President, throughout his (or her) first-term, concerned about nothing but his own re-election, with everything else being secondary?
2. If the answer is yes, which seems patently obvious, we cannot ever expect the President to always do the right thing for the country (vs. for himself) throughout his first-term, can we?

Fortunately, the American Presidency is limited to two terms. For Congress, it’s infinitely worse, because of the lack of term limits! In other words, we cannot ever expect our Members of Congress to always do the right thing for the country (vs. for themselves), as long as they are running for re-election! For more, read: Term Limits for Congress!

Need more concrete examples to show how profoundly wrong American democracy has become?

Let’s see: voting vs. drinking:

1. Ages 18-20: Too young to drink, but old enough to vote.
2. Age 21: Show your ID to drink, but no ID is needed to vote.

For more, read: Repealing the Twenty-Sixth Amendment!

8. What will happen if we stay the course?

We will become an also-ran, second to China!

To win (i.e. to remain #1), you must actually be better than all your competitors!

Specifically, here are two projections if we stay the course:

1. By 2030, China will overtake us as the largest economy in the world in terms of the GDP (China’s economy is already bigger than ours in terms of the PPP), thus ending America’s leadership, not only economically, but also politically.
2. By 2040, China’s RMB will replace the U.S. Dollar as the world’s major reserve currency, thus ending an important American way of life: printing money to cover the trade deficits in general and to buy oil in specific (i.e. Petrodollar).

Frightened?

Then change!

9. Is American democracy doomed?

Yes, most likely!

Read: America: It’s Democracy, Stupid!

Frightened?

Then change!

10. Deep diagnosis

For a deep diagnosis of America, we must go all the way back to its founding. Nine informative readings:

1. History 2.0 (Version 2)
2. What is The American Revolution, Anyway?
3. What Is America’s “Declaration of Independence”, Anyway?
4. What Is the U.S. Constitution, Anyway?
5. Correctly Assessing Thomas Jefferson
6. Vision for America: Alexander Hamilton vs. Thomas Jefferson
7. American History 2.0 (Version 2)
8. America: A Great Country Without A Working Government?
9. America: An Empire Without an Emperor?

Everything is relative. Nobody can truly understand America without understanding China, and vice versa. Three informative readings:

1. American Revolution vs. Chinese Communist Revolution
2. China vs. America: Communism vs. Democracy
3. The U.S. vs. China: A Great Experiment vs. A Great Civilization!

11. Closing

The diagnosis is cancer: “getting re-elected ad nauseam” by self-serving career politicians!

What’s the solution? Stop career politicians with term limits, with the American Presidency being limited to one term (e.g. six years).

For a complete solution, read my publication next week or read this book: American Democracy – Why is it failing & how to fix it?.

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