Cartoon 803: The Mirror

There are some lines in the movie, “Blade Runner”, that sums things up. The words, “…you are the prodigal, you are quite a prize. You have done some great things, revel in your time!”.

Only history will tell if the apex of American greatness has passed. I think it has. I believe the height of America’s greatest impact domestically and internationally was in the 1950s. Since then we have been on “cruse control” in a very gentle dissent. It was so gentile a slope it has taken decades to seriously acknowledge the situation as anything other than a blip. This is because the approaching ground is obscured and we are still up in the clouds of achievement and power. It belies our direction.

The author Thomas Friedman has said on more than one occasion, that what is really happening, is not so much American falling as the rest of the world rising up in terms of achievement. Some of this is true. But the execution of American foreign policy and strong suggestions are increasingly resisted. The vanguard achievements in science and technology are becoming more international. The technological prowess America enjoys is greatly fueled by skilled immigrants. America domestically does not produce the required numbers of scientist and engineers. What America excels in is creating capitalist apostles through higher education.

Immunity from prosecution is an attribute of our power. But as power wanes? There is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. One day America will be held accountable for being the largest deplorer of land mines that have killed and maimed so many young people. America will be held accountable for the environmental and human catastrophe of Agent Orange in South East Asia. America will be held accountable for the hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties during the Iraq War. America will be bought up on charges for actions at Guantanamo. America will be held accountable for its carbon foot print and roll in climate change. America will be remembered as the ultimate gamester in capitalism. These are just some of the charges.

The good will be buried, such America providing a measure of stability and order in the world. Who remembers the good performed by Nazi Germany?

America’s legacy will depend on how the story is written. Will it be written like the Roman Empire and little acknowledgement of its evils or will it be written like Nazi Germany?