Re: While we have the US as the world's only superpower, Mammon will be the god that rules over all of us.
I'm afraid, however, that the US's "superpower status" is on the wane... "Superpower" can't be only a matter of military muscle. Soft power or the ability for a country to win over the hearts and minds of other peoples is equally important. I met an Algerian refugee the other day who told me, "the US will likely meet the same fate as the Soviet Union --a sudden, stunning collapse...." I've been pondering that omen for a while until I came up with the notion of "sudden collapse vs rotting". Most living creatures --be they biological or organizational-- die out either because of a sudden, fatal blow or because of some inner degenerative process. Somehow, the Soviet Union underwent the former in 1989 whereas the US is adrift in the latter....
Just think of the US's technological and scientific leadership: 50 years ago, to land a man on the moon --and bring him back alive-- was almost dismissed as a mere warmup for the real thing: a mission to Mars. Well, today, NASA folks are exultant and crying and cheering just because their space shuttle comes back and land --in one piece....
As for the US geopolitical clout, it ain't what it used to be... Times have changed. Just consider Latin America: in the Cold War era, troublemakers like Chavez and Lula would very likely have met the same fate as Chile's Salvador Allende. Bumped off and replaced. Well, today, the CIA could certainly snuff them out --but the US can't replace them! This is not the 1970s anymore! Latin American peoples can no longer be ruled by CIA-appointed, shades-wearing, Pinochets....
All in all, I think it's comforting, intellectually reassuring, for a lot of people around the world to fool themselves into believing that the US still is a superpower.... Just like it's comforting for all of mankind to take for granted that the Sun has enough hydrogen fuel to burn for the next four billion years --don't tell us solar hydrogen will run out in 50 years, you spoiler!
Gus |
