The Geopolitical Future

Just for a moment, only for a moment and then go back to your normal way of thinking, imagine what a person in any other part of the world thinks about America. This country, America, this 4% sliver, struts about the world acting like they own the planet. This America, with all their positive attributes, and these you acknowledge, was at one time the undisputed leader in technology, political freedom, and other aspects. But now, grown fatter and weaker, but somehow still the military leader, it demonstrates a belligerent, arrogant treatment of the rest of the world. The fact is that you realize that Europe and China and possibly others, including India, will pass America in many areas and arenas within the next generation or two. But yet here is America, acting as if they are the Master Race, and they have the right to decide the fate of other countries. This includes invading some of those other countries for their own ostensible self-interest.

But preeminence of empire rarely lasts long, if by long we mean 500 years. The progression into mediocrity for the United States, from its pinnacle peak to second-class status, will be way less than 200 years. Within 30 or 40 years there will be several countries/alliances on a par or actually superior to America.

The European Union will include all of Eastern Europe and, yes, Russia. The Asian Alliance which will unite China with Japan and Korea and the Pacific Rim nations and possibly Indonesia. This will be a formidable entry into the geopolitical arena of the future. Call it The Yellow Republic, and the Europeans The White Republic.

Then there is India, a behemoth of over a billion, modernizing and maturing by leaps and bounds for several decades now. Their technological aptitude and work ethic will place them on a parallel with the United States, the White Republic and the Yellow Republic.

A name for the US? Let's call it the Gray Republic, to symbolize not only its mongrelized racial mixture, but also its moral and ethical standards. Of course, by then, South America and Canada will likely be united in this conglomanation.

A fifth entry, speaking now of 30 or 40 years in the future, will be the Black Republic. I refer, of course, to the continent of Africa. Into this designation, more than likely under this broad-brush scenario, would be Egypt, Libya, and the Arabian states. Perhaps even Iran, but as usual the Persians are a wild card. This grouping may still be lagging somewhat in 2050, but by no means should that be considered a permanent placement.

Republicans

Three great forces for evil are greed, religious fundamentalism and nationalism. All three motivate men to kill. Tied in with all three is the common thread of absolute evil, which is the thirst for power over the masses. The bald fact of the matter is that the Republican Party of America derives its constituency from appealing to those three great forces, catering to them and manipulating them.

So now the Republicans are acknowledging that the healthcare system is broken. Yet for eight years they did nothing about it. How could that be? Why would that be? What was their motivation? The answer, sad to say, comes down to whom it is that they really work for. They are employees, bought and paid for, of the power elite, which includes the banking, insurance and pharmaceutical industries. The powers-that-be have been totally content with the status quo, and pay their employees to maintain it.

This is why the GOP was the source of hot smoking canards, stinky red herrings, left-handed monkey wrenches and overheated mud pies in their failed quest to defeat healthcare reform. Anything to maintain the status quo.

Obamacare Passes

So it looks like there’s now a healthcare reform on the books. Compared to other industrialized countries, it’s pretty weak tea. The fact alone that it preserves and expands the evil for-profit insurance company industry is beyond amazing, until you consider the fact that those folks have a huge influence, thru lobbyists and campaign contributions, on Washington’s decision-makers. When you consider it that way, it’s amazing they passed anything at all.

The GOP played this to the hilt, trying to force a Waterloo failure on President Obama, but it clearly backfired on them. In fact, it may prove to be the Republicans’ Waterloo, as they’ve hitched their ammo wagon to a failed agenda, and the American people, as they find out what the bill does, will for the most part embrace it. If a voter likes healthcare reform, they won’t vote for a candidate vowing to try to repeal it.

Perspectives

In all of the world, no country has better-tasting food than America, nor less healthy food. In all of the world, no country has more entertainment and more entertainment choices, with less moral responsibility than America. No country has higher paid doctors and lawyers than America, nor doctors and lawyers with lower ethical standards. No country has a more hyperactive news media than the US, and none have a news media with shallower standards. And certainly no country in the world has a more vainglorious political culture that America, nor one beset by more rampant corruption.

Regarding health, Americans don't even understand the basic-basic things. The need for fresh air, not air-conditioned air. Water, not soda or coffee. Natural food, not processed food. And all that debilitating (to the colon and the planet) cow-beef! And an average of 125 pounds of refined sugar a year! Sugar is sweet, but it’s the most unnatural thing in the world, containing no vitamins or minerals. Yet they’re allowed to sell it s “natural.” What wholesale moral bankruptcy spawns a food industry which can get away with that, while damaging the health of hundreds of millions?

There are so many misconceptions. Most Americans are dehydrated, compounded by the practice of when they're thirsty they think they're hungry, so the heavy bottom line is that two thirds of Americans are overweight, one third obese.

Miscaneous Jabs

I was raised with strong respect for the military and the government for the wealthy, for doctors and lawyers and business leaders. I learned how misplaced that adulation was. Many have chosen to not see the full truth. The evidence is not lacking or hiding. Those individuals are themselves hiding -- from reality, from the hard truth that their idealized fantasy about America is a sham, and worse than a sham, a danger to the rest of the world.

Please note that for every inch of anger at America, there is a foot of sadness and disappointment. I was raised, like so many, to believe in the wonderful sanctity of America. I’ve watched the tragic trajectory that has brought my native land to its present position, how it had a chance to be the true shining light on the hill, but opted instead for the halls of darkness -- of power, privilege, profits and polluted politics.

One piece of the multilayered proof of America's rotten core is that the evil rise toward success while good guys finish last. What hope is there for a decent man or woman in the cutthroat business world, or newsmedia, or in politics? Very little, actually.

In America, the mass media catered so much to the lower demographic -- once they realized the almighty numbers of the semi-ignorant, that they increased its numbers two-fold, three-fold, and beyond.

Bankers deeply wounded America, and to a certain extent, the world, with their foolishly headlong pursuit of risky profits. They were rewarded, and continue to be rewarded, with huge billions and continued obscene bonuses.

Democracy in the US is already up to its neck in corruption and inefficiency. Now with the Supreme Court opening the floodgates of corporate money onto the already drenched lowlands of political influence, there is little hope that the government can avoid being drowned by the corporate agenda.

So-called “conservative philosophy” is a phony ruse. The main purpose and goal of conservatives is deregulation and lower taxes, ie, keep government away from their greedfest.

Back in the Saddle Again

I'm back! I've been away with the ship (The Pearl) to a planet not far from here as the photons fly -- around 60 light years distant. The Service Corps, more specifically the Commander of our ship and his top staff (not inclusive of moi) had a negotiation to conduct, that of a planet entering memberhood. It went well, and they have now begun the process which will lead them to becoming part of the Astanian League of Planets. Hopefully, our Urth will also qualify at some point for such inclusion.

Anyway, I'll soon be back to posting on this site, as I've accumulated quite a few notes I'd like to share.

The Sad Modern State of Education

As for the declining state of education in America, it’s easy enough to understand. There’s too much else in the environment of any and every youth for them to be much interested in the boring and difficult process of learning. To diagram the problem: The original villains in this piece were – and still are to some extent – television, popular music and movies. These are much more exciting and sensation-producing than anything a parent or teacher or minister has to say (drone on about) to the youngster.

The battle between parents and children over homework time and entertainment time ensued for a generation and a half, and eventuated in most children relenting to their parents’ strictures for study time, but with the compromise that the TV and/or music would be playing simultimely. So it was kind of a Mexican Standoff, but the knowledge and literacy levels saw a steady decline nationally

Then came the personal computer, with its expanded universe of stimulation and interaction, from chat rooms to texting to porn sites to fun websites to Facebook and now Twitter. And downloaded music, easily available and constantly necessary to hear and text/chat/tweet about. Now homework had become not just a dull chore but an evil intrusion into their lives, interrupting the funcitement they were cybernetically surrounded with.

On top of this, and building over the past 15 years into an irresistible force in its own right, are video games – so devilishly vicarious and jaw-droppingly addictive that, for millions of (mostly) males, it has become the diversion of choice. The real misfortune of this development is that, unlike most of the above distractions, many of the full-time video-game players are the more intelligent of the youth generation, youngsters who will now never come close to their potential in school, athletics or even a social life.

Further compounding this decline in education is the fact that something close to half of the children don’t quite understand the need for all the tedious schooling in the first place, since they’re convinced that they’re going to be singing stars or actresses or professional athletes or reality-show stars. Or, in some areas, drug dealers or pimps, like the guys they see in their neighborhoods wearing gold chains and driving expensive cars.