The Truth About America

The truth about America at this point in history -- and this is at the root of our problematic stance and stature in the world today – is that we represent only 4% of the world’s population, but most of us treat the rest of the planet as if they were the 4% and we were the 96%. That’s how inflated our opinion of ourselves has become, and why people in Europe and elsewhere want desperately to deflate us, i.e., puncture our big ego balloon.

A society that fosters those behaviors that are uniformly unproductive of positive virtue -- fashion, sports, voyeurism, passive recreations, drinking/drugs/mood pharmaceuticals, overblown commercialism, etc., will melt away from any previous primacy it may have achieved in hardier days. A society that glorifies such things onto a golden pedestal, and puts power and ego above truth and responsibility will crash within a generation or two of such misplaced veneration.

Remembering Rome -- and there are several other examples of crashed empires -- they had a short period of continued military dominance after decadence had beset their populace, but outwardly-exhibited power cannot be long maintained if the core is rotting from within.

Modern America depends on the sheep, er, the general public, operating in a functional fog, and dependent on “experts” to control and guide them. If it were suddenly possible for everyone’s IQ to be raised 50 points overnight, but this action needed the secret-ballot approval of 5 groups - the politicians, the corporate executives, the mass media executives, the doctors and the lawyers, I think we could expect a unanimous negative vote.

The major compromises in American society have already been made -- the big lines have long since been crossed. There's likely no going back in most cases. Companies which make unhealthy food and market it as healthy; TV networks which allow misleading commercials, some using semi-hypnotic techniques; corporate and interest-group lobbyists who funnel huge amounts of money to politicians in exchange for "access" and friendly legislation; and television, movies, music, magazines and video games which are a feast of casual sex, beauty as paramount and violence as the solution to most problems.