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February 20, 2008 at 04:27:05
The Great Global Power Shift: It's Already Here by Glen Ford Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford The American disinformation regime - a hermetically sealed "bubble" - convinces its citizens that the U.S. is and forever will be supreme on the planet. Ignorance may be bliss, but cannot alter the facts of rapid U.S. decline, a spiral that is the inevitable "blowback" of 60 years of undeserved, coerced, and artificially constructed dominance. The tools and traps that were designed to ensnare the planet in the U.S. corporate/military web, have instead led to American shrinkage in all things except military might. But weapons of war cannot replace a bulldozed manufacturing base, or reinvigorate a service sector whose services are increasingly unwanted, or repair a U.S.-led financial system that is terminally choked with worthless paper "instruments." The West-East, North-South shift is well underway - whether Americans know it or not. Americans of all races behave as if the United States is the center of the world. This is quite dangerous, not just to the 95 percent of the world's people who do not live in the United States, but to the U.S. population, as well. The planetary financial pyramid atop which the U.S. has perched its over-fat and undeserving butt for over 60 years, is in a state of transformation. The countries that actually produce things - oil, gas, manufactured goods, minerals, and most of the planet's agricultural commodities - can no longer support the dead weight of artificial and pretentious U.S. claims to supremacy. Most of us are somewhat familiar with the dollar's problems, its ever-falling value. But the global system, itself, is hopelessly out of balance, and has outlived its usefulness. The grand schemes and dreams of corporate globalism, centered in the U.S., haven't worked out as the American ruling elite expected. 
Corporate globalism was supposed to open up vast new markets to U.S. companies and money-masters, and to hopelessly entangle foreign governments and elites in a system controlled by U.S. financial institutions and their servant organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The United States wouldn't have to manufacture anything anymore, but would remain top dog by "servicing" the world economy - at a premium, of course. That's why all those office skyscrapers have replaced factories in American cities.
"The era of U.S. domination is coming to a close, whether the American people know it or not."
If anybody in the rest of the world didn't like this arrangement, the U.S. military was available to Shock and Awe them into submission. That's why the United States spends more money on weapons than all of the rest of the planet, combined.
The dollar was a weapon, too. Since it was the only world reserve currency, the dollar could be used as a club to beat down resistance among nations that wanted to cut a better deal for themselves in the world market.
But for a host of reasons too numerous to explain in a brief commentary, the American elite can no longer impose its will on the planet, not by financial intimidation and - as is now clear to all but the insane - not by force of arms. The era of U.S. domination is coming to a close, whether the American people know it or not. The United States enters the final stages of decline with its manufacturing sector in shambles and, for the first time, the service sector shrinking. Multi-billionaire George Soros says flatly that the balance of world power must shift to the countries that actually produce things.
But it's worse than that. The U.S. and European financial order is paralyzed, having created phony money in the form of hundreds of trillions of dollars in derivatives and other paper instruments that they can't sell to anybody - not even each other. That's the real definition of a "paper tiger" - and the world knows it. The U.S. subprime crisis is only a symptom of a much larger, global sea change.
What will Obama, or Clinton, or McCain do about it? They don't have a clue. And the American people understand the real world less than citizens of any other industrialized nation. Which means, as the crisis deepens, we won't know what hit us, here in what we thought was the center of the world.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
www.BlackAgendaReport.com
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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great truth telling article
Just like the Spanish Armada was blown to smithereens in 1588 because they failed to realize their wooden ships could no longer controll trade,the united States is consumed by their own ignorance.Whoever controls trade controls the world and we gave up that distinction when the God of the right wing Ronnie Reagan led America in giving up its manufacturing base.The united States is truly a bankrupt and i mean that in many ways ,paper tiger by liberalsrock (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 256 comments [53 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 8:38:02 AM  (0+)
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It's inevitable
Although I like prosperity as much as the next guy, maybe this paradigm shift will not be a bad thing for America in the long haul. I have long maintained that our governmental and corporate focus on world domination has been at odds with what most of us need and want as good citizens. To my mind these are decent schools and hospitals, anti poverty programs, civic and racial tolerance, a few good jobs etc. As long as we keep fooling ourselves about what a great country we have we can't even muster the public will or attention span to control our own electoral processes, ceding control to the corporate donors and mass media. A good economic disaster might be just what the doctor ordered to wake up the American public to self education and a little more attention to a decent values system. by Torus (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 10 comments) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 9:03:21 AM (0+)
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Imperialism is dead as we knew it post WW II
The US military helped peoples with rich natural resources to become free from the tyranny of bankers and generals, generally from European nations. Yet in the last half of the 20th century, American citizens were willing to allow the United States to take on a super empire role. "The greatest generation" chant has kept us enthralled even as we see ourselves melt into increasing domestic poverty as we tout our military superiority. Many Americans understand this and others feel it in their very existence. It's not easy to find solutions to extricate ourselves from consumer excesses and military intelligence dominance. I do not think the preaching of "peace" activists will bring any clarity to the issues we face. Conventionally, educating the citizenry to their shared plight ought to work. However, that is clearly another way in which we are bankrupt. Politicians continue to flourish with "I can get it for you if elected" rhetoric. Because you lay out clearly the world view some of us see, I ask: How, when will Americans begin to realize it's a whole big world out there? For those of us who believe Senator Obama has insight, how will media of all types get his message past the parrots of early 21st century media? by Margaret Bassett (45 articles, 2909 quicklinks, 42 diaries, 1849 comments [99 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 9:16:32 AM (0+)
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Reply: Ideas
Margaret, I have traveled extensively for the last two years. In my travels I have constantly run across youth of the rest of the world 'exploring' and growing with the cultural exposure. What is so sadly missing is any eveidence of similar exposure to the youth of our nation. They just aren't out there for they have been scared into submittion and stayed home. Or are just too 'fat' and 'happy' to do anything different. With very little firsthand knowledge in our country of what the world is really like it is hard for us as a collective to know our appropriate place as 'one of' instead of 'my way or the highway'. An idea that floats in my mind is a non militant, manditory, national service of say, two years. No exceptions, rich, poor or the like of class privilidge. This service would be directed toward the infrastructure needs of our nation with the final portion being the reward of exsposure to 'the world'.(The plan is far more detailed than the current space provides for.) This would not show immediate cultural healing, but after a period of time we would have a much broader view as a nation of the immense size and complexities of the world. Perhaps such an awareness would bring us, as a whole, to a better tolerance of the differences that the world has to offer. The only way for people to know that there is a "great big world out there" is to go and discover it. Perhaps that is what we should be enabling. by Kahnaya Wasahtoha (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 28 comments) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 10:40:56 AM (0+)
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Spot on!
Excellent, short, and to the point article Glen. Obama, Clinton, McCain...clueless is correct and your point that the average American knows even less is priceless. We will never know what hit us. We live with an underlying economic strategy of exponential growth and infinite consumption in a finite world...that ought to work. by Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 10:25:58 AM (0+)
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Thank you, Glen Ford
But you are like an Old Testament prophet crying in the desert. Most Americans just do not understand that the center of the universe is a black hole. by delia (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 112 comments) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 10:47:45 AM (0+)
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London
London England is the center of the world's financial universe. It's here that all that false dichotomies of world ideology are contrived and manipulated. USA is only a vassel tool in the forces that really dominate the world. There's a shift going on, but it's a deliberate strategy from London not just as we fear our own politicians incompetence. by "Hoss" David P. (51 articles, 5 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 338 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 4:23:00 PM (0+)
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Reply: Not all economic ideas are bad
These words in the United Nations Charter can be people empowering: Article 16 of the Charter states that "it is the By those words, we have committed crimes against the Nation of Iraq and should be paying the consequences. by August Adams (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 583 comments [11 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 9:00:33 PM (0+)
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