Hello all, this is a musing of mine while sitting here at work with nothing to do. This is something that I have taken time to think about and work out in my head...and is definately speculative and not easily proved without much personal observation and prior knowledge. I am an American citizen, and a proud one, for the most part. I know a considerable amount of US history, and know that the US has a tradition of taking advantage of others while assuming the role of protector, leader of the free world, and self-proclaiming itself as "the best country."
Well, here's the hard, bitter truth. Look at the graphs on this page:
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/views_on_countriesregions_bt/114.php?nid=&id=&pnt=114&lb=btvoc
Notice how the US is seen as having a future of negative influence on world affairs. I propose that the reasons for this aren't too hard to grasp- they're simple enough to the common man, and especially to people living in developing and underdeveloped countries.
-The US uses, as of 1998, 40% of all world oil consumed in 24 hours.
-It uses 23% each of natural oil and coal in the same period.
(
http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/energy/stats_ctry/Stat1.html)
However, the US has only 300,000,000 citizens. This means that we, only 4.5% of the world's population (est. 6.6 Bil @ May11 2006) use up around 30% of the world's energy. You may be familiar with the 80/20 rule, which is applicable to many situations in society and economics. It states that the upper 20% of a group produces or contains about 80% of the group's wealth or product. It also states that the remaining 80% produces or contains only 20% of the group's total product or wealth. Obviously, the US is part of a group of countries in the "upper crust." We are part of the 20%, and the rest of the developed countries of the world make up the rest of it. However, the US is in the cream of the crop group- we are the 20% within the 20%- around 4%. This lines up well with the statistics on the graphs in the second linked page.
If you are familiar with Hamiltonian economics, or Keynesian economics, you will know all about the trickle-down effect. This states that the principle strength of an economic system will be determined by the group's upper class, which has wealth that flows down the rungs of the class ladder until it satisfies the most basic needs of the poor. Now, socialism tries to even this out, but it eventually ends up in a similar state of things in which a small percentage of ultra wealthy hoard the wealth and no trickle-down occurs. Consider this carefully. The US does indeed participate in a worldwide trickle-down, with aid to foreign nations and trade. However, ever since the end of WWII, the state of the US loans to other nations has been flipped on its head. Whereas the US was once a loaning nation, providing a source of considerable wealth, the US is now leading the world in debt. This also coincides with the slide in US oil production. The States were once the largest world producer and refiner of oil. Obviously, the Arab nations of the world and many in S. America have usurped this role. One look at the above stats can tell you what is wrong with America, and how this all ties in to world and domestic economics. 40% of world oil use daily, almost all imported. Just as good ole Bush said, "America is addicted to oil." And when it comes down to it, without considerable economic and social change, the US is setting itself up for a collapse...and the "20%" that controls the oil, the big oil companies and the Eastern monarchs, who profit extravagantly from their sales, won't let the US slip through their fingers without a fight.
Recall the Cuban missile crisis. The military brass wanted to pressure JFK into launching a first-strike and invade Cuba, to prevent missiles from being armed and aimed at US lands. Obviously, doing this would have ignited World War III. JFK had to assert his position as commander in chief of the US military, before his underlings catapulted the world into doomsday. In a similar way, the big oil companies and foreign royalists who depend on profits from US consumption may do all in their power to keep the US in their hands, by either pressuring the White House, or manipulating things on their side. This is American neoimperialism- imperialism out of the sake of necessity. We are addicted to oil, and can't change the
status quo until American industry finds new sources for energy.
Herein is part of the cause for the data seen in the first linked page, above, where many foreign nations find the US to be a negative influence on world affairs and would like to see a shift towards European dominance. The comman man of the nations that we are manipulating, like Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Venzuela, and the UAE, will see that their nation is feeding a beast of oil while their own poor become poorer and their rich become richer. Their rigid society with even more rigid morals from the lowest to the highest classes, founded in a strong Islamic tradition that promotes loyalty and continuity, won't let themselves be oppressed for much longer. Eventually, "radicals" (consider Hitler/Nazi party after WWI/Treaty of Versailles) will rise to represent the emotions of their people and make a solvable problem into a world crisis.
A little food for thought...maybe the US needs to reprioritize spending away from "defense" and towards alternative energy sources. Whatever the outcomes, causes, or effects, the situation the US is in right now is precarious and can only worsen. I hope you will all take this into consideration within your own nations, and as we move into a new age of politics where world concerns for humanity will be the new topics of deliberation.
