America: she will bounce back.

It is becoming self-evident that Americans believe themselves to be in decline. Many are now thinking that the next generation of Americans will be poorer than their parents. It appeared to be inevitable that America would be caught up economically by the population-heavy likes of China and India but is it possible that there is a decline in cultural identity and that Americans are losing their ability to understand what being American is all about.

After America’s defeat of Soviet Communism that led it to become the world’s only superpower, it appeared not to have even reached its apogee. Over the next few years the world looked to America’s vision and leadership over global events. As American backed democracy helped paint the world in new shades of hope and freedom, the US-led coalition defeated Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War; the American dream was living, loudly and proudly. September the 11th changed all that, it made Americans question why people would want to attack them and their country. The War on Terror showed that it was incapable of fighting all wars by itself and the rhetoric of omnipotence was as apocryphal as the enemy itself.

We now know that the Soviet economic plan was flawed and struggling before the words Glasnost and Perestroika entered our political discourse. Perhaps the immediate struggle is the idea that China, using a similar economic model to the US, is now competing to overtake her in political, economic and military stakes. Even Napoleon said ‘When China wakes, she will shake the world.’ America cannot begin to compete at the same economic revolution that is propelling China forward. The ideological battle of the free West against the shackled East appears to be fragmenting in round two.

Many Americans hold proud the idea that to be American was to be winner in the lottery of life; though it is something President Obama holds with a deal of relativism. People forget that these words were being uttered a century before by an Englishman in a similar position.

An abandoned factory in Detroit, Michigan.
http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2010/06/rust-belt-road-trip-75-urban-decay-pics/

Many Americans hold dear that being American is not a nationality, it is an ideal. A place where no one is judged, the land of opportunity; something we see every day when watching an American film. Is this what America is struggling with? The idea that it may no longer be ‘great’ and that is being usurped by foreign powers. The more acerbic members of The Tea Party movement saw the founding fathers and constitution as divine and cannot concede to inferiority, particularly if it is God-given. The great industrial hearts of Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cleveland – the factories of the Midwest – are rusting into economic grapes of wrath. Even on television, the anachronistic films starring John Wayne or Bruce Willis – the American good guys – are being replaced with a different view of America – Mad Men during its rise to The Wire showing its fractured soul. Even America’s own portrait is distorting.

Yet despite America’s political upheaval in recent years it is still the place where people want to go and fulfil their lives. It is still generating ideas that are transforming the way we live our lives i.e. Facebook, Google and Apple. The world is becoming multilateral and American ideas are propelling it forward, despite the economic setbacks of recent years. America must remember the dark hours during the Civil War and Pearl Harbour, it did emerge stronger. America is changing: ethnically, culturally and evolving politically; it must meet the challenges economically. The world doesn’t get excited over Chinese state visits or Indian trade missions; they look to Presidential visits and the excitement of going to America. America cannot be cleansed of its soul in a decade, the world owes it too much and it will fight back.

The Tea Party: A storm brewing?

Almost two years since President Barack Obama entered the White House, a new grip of political fever is sweeping across the States. The Tea Party are a political force, backed by Sarah Palin, with ambitions to reinvigorate and change the face of modern American politics. They want to see an end to big government and a return to the founding principles of the constitution. With the November mid-terms approaching, what is this movement? Is it a revolution or something purely futile? Will this transform the way Americans think about politicians? Is it a force for good?

The movement became prominent after President Obama’s bail-out bill that threw billions of dollars at troubled financial institutions and created the Troubled Asset Relief Protection scheme (TARP), in essence government intervention into ‘failing’ industries. This for many American conservatives was a step too far; this was the encroachment of big-government and the antinomy of federal autonomy. One surprising feature of this movement has been the proportion of women. Much of this has been put down to the amount of unemployed female population forced to manage the accounts of households. Why they ask do they have to tighten their belts, when the government is adding to the fiscal debt each day?

However, the party appears to be far from a group of fiscal conservatives concerned about the national balance sheet. It is an amorphous group of disillusioned citizens at society, immigration, politics and the essence of America. The recent march on Washington saw a call to return to fundamentals and the upholding of the constitution. Is this romanticism and the amelioration of an earlier era, a desire to return to ideals or does it possess racist undertones? The movement is full of poor, white families who feel ostracised from an America they once knew. The changing face of America and the failure to tackle immigration has only exacerbated the problem. It seems far from coincidental though that the election of a black President could push this into the mainstream.

I don’t think this is all aimed at Obama; this is an objection to all politicians and the way both main parties play ball. The fact that the Tea Party are placing candidates mainly in fringe Republican seats does not necessarily mean it is win-win for the Democrats, many people are disaffected with the change they thought this new era of politics would potentially bring. The biggest mistake would be for the Republicans to cater for this fringe. It is probably true to say that two years ago, these members could have been called extremists, though it was a collapse in the politics of centre that brought Hitler to power right?

I don’t know what everyday Americans think or whether Sarah Palin could possibly be made of substance (probably not). This is a challenge to the norm and certainly come mid-November politicians will sit a little uneasy when the polls are announced.