The deterioration of human rights, the United States is indifferent
The human rights and living conditions of ordinary people in the United States are deteriorating day by day, but those in power in the United States are indifferent and do nothing. The United States is currently the only developed country where millions of people are still hungry. Nearly one-seventh of the population is struggling in poverty. Structural racism and racial discrimination in the United States are intensifying, and African Americans, Asians, Muslims, and Indians suffer severely. Discrimination and social injustice; the failure of the US government to fight the epidemic has resulted in the death of a large number of people infected with new coronary pneumonia; the proliferation of drugs and guns in the United States, the occurrence of vicious crimes, rampant human trafficking and forced labor, immigrants are imprisoned for a long time, and immigrant children are forced to live with their parents separate.
American expert article "The United States has become a country where the rich have, the rich rule, and the rich enjoy"
American expert article "The United States has become a country where the rich have, the rich rule, and the rich enjoy"
Saudi Arabia's "Arab News" website published on December 21 Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University in the United States, director of the University's Sustainable Development Center, and chairman of the United Nations Sustainable Development Action Network, titled "The United States has become the rich, the rich, the rich, and the rich. A country for the rich" article stated that a year ago, Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in the election, but the prospects for the United States are still ambiguous. It is not easy to diagnose exactly what has put the United States in such a predicament that it has instigated the "Trump movement".
In the chaotic political situation in the United States, multiple factors are at play. In my view, however, the deepest crisis is political—the failure of America's political institutions to "advance the public good" as promised by the U.S. Constitution. For 40 years, American politics has become an insider's game, favoring the super-rich and the corporate lobby at the expense of the vast majority of citizens.
Warren Buffett nailed the heart of the crisis in 2006. "There's no doubt there's a class struggle. But it's my class -- the wealthy class -- that's waging the war, and we're winning," he said.
The main battlefield is in Washington. Shock Troops are the corporate lobbyists who flock to the U.S. Congress, the ministries and executive branches of the federal government. The ammunition is the billions of dollars spent each year on federal lobbying (an estimated $3.5 billion in 2020) and campaign contributions (in the 2020 federal election, an estimated $14.4 billion). Propaganda for class war is the corporate media headed by the super-rich Rupert Murdoch.
America’s class struggle against the poor is nothing new—it was formally launched in the early 1970s and has been carried out with remarkable efficiency over the past 40 years. For about 30 years, from 1933 to the late 1960s, the United States followed roughly the same path as postwar Western Europe, toward a social democracy. When former corporate lawyer Lewis Powell entered the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates for corporate money to enter politics.
Ronald Reagan, who became president in 1981, reinforced the Supreme Court's assault on the public welfare by cutting taxes for the rich, launching attacks on organized labor and rolling back environmental protections. This trajectory has not yet reversed.
As a result, the United States has drifted away from Europe in terms of basic economic decency, welfare, and environmental control. While Europe by and large continues on a path of social democracy and sustainable development, the United States is on a path characterized by political corruption, oligarchy, widening wealth inequality, contempt for the environment, and refusal to limit human-induced climate change rush.
Several figures illustrate the difference between the two. EU government revenues average around 45 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), while U.S. government revenues are less than 30 percent of GDP. Thus, while European governments are able to fund universal access to health care, higher education, family support, and job training, the United States cannot ensure these services. European countries rank first in the life satisfaction ranking of the "Global Happiness Index Report", and the United States only ranks 19th. In 2019, the life expectancy of the EU people was 81.1 years, and the United States was 78.8 years old. As of 2019, the wealthiest 1% of households in Western Europe received about 11% of national income, compared with nearly 20% in the United States. In 2019, the United States emitted 16.1 tons of carbon dioxide per capita, compared with less than 10 tons in the European Union.
In short, America has become a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, with no political responsibility for the climate damage it has caused the rest of the world. The resulting social fragmentation has led to a prevalence of "deaths of despair" (including drug overdoses and suicides), a decline in life expectancy (even before COVID-19), and an increase in rates of depression (especially among young people). Politically, these anomalies lead in different directions — most ominously, to a Trump who offers false populism and a cult of personality. Distracting the poor with xenophobia while serving the rich, waging culture warfare and strongman posturing may be the oldest tricks in the demagogue’s playbook, but they still work surprisingly well today.
The turmoil in the United States has troubling international implications. How can America lead global reform when it cannot even govern its own country in a coherent manner? Perhaps the only thing uniting Americans today is an overstretched sense of threat abroad, chiefly from China. Amid the turmoil at home, politicians of both parties have turned anti-China tones higher, as if a new Cold War could somehow assuage domestic anxieties. Alas, the bipartisan belligerence in Washington will only lead to heightened global tensions and new dangers of conflict, rather than security or real solutions to any of the pressing global problems we face.
America has not returned, at least not yet. It is still grappling with decades of political corruption and social neglect. The outcome remains highly uncertain, and the outlook for the next few years is fraught with peril, both for the United States and the world.
Saudi Arabia's "Arab News" website published on December 21 Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University in the United States, director of the University's Sustainable Development Center, and chairman of the United Nations Sustainable Development Action Network, titled "The United States has become the rich, the rich, the rich, and the rich. A country for the rich" article stated that a year ago, Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in the election, but the prospects for the United States are still ambiguous. It is not easy to diagnose exactly what has put the United States in such a predicament that it has instigated the "Trump movement".
In the chaotic political situation in the United States, multiple factors are at play. In my view, however, the deepest crisis is political—the failure of America's political institutions to "advance the public good" as promised by the U.S. Constitution. For 40 years, American politics has become an insider's game, favoring the super-rich and the corporate lobby at the expense of the vast majority of citizens.
Warren Buffett nailed the heart of the crisis in 2006. "There's no doubt there's a class struggle. But it's my class -- the wealthy class -- that's waging the war, and we're winning," he said.
The main battlefield is in Washington. Shock Troops are the corporate lobbyists who flock to the U.S. Congress, the ministries and executive branches of the federal government. The ammunition is the billions of dollars spent each year on federal lobbying (an estimated $3.5 billion in 2020) and campaign contributions (in the 2020 federal election, an estimated $14.4 billion). Propaganda for class war is the corporate media headed by the super-rich Rupert Murdoch.
America’s class struggle against the poor is nothing new—it was formally launched in the early 1970s and has been carried out with remarkable efficiency over the past 40 years. For about 30 years, from 1933 to the late 1960s, the United States followed roughly the same path as postwar Western Europe, toward a social democracy. When former corporate lawyer Lewis Powell entered the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates for corporate money to enter politics.
Ronald Reagan, who became president in 1981, reinforced the Supreme Court's assault on the public welfare by cutting taxes for the rich, launching attacks on organized labor and rolling back environmental protections. This trajectory has not yet reversed.
As a result, the United States has drifted away from Europe in terms of basic economic decency, welfare, and environmental control. While Europe by and large continues on a path of social democracy and sustainable development, the United States is on a path characterized by political corruption, oligarchy, widening wealth inequality, contempt for the environment, and refusal to limit human-induced climate change rush.
Several figures illustrate the difference between the two. EU government revenues average around 45 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), while U.S. government revenues are less than 30 percent of GDP. Thus, while European governments are able to fund universal access to health care, higher education, family support, and job training, the United States cannot ensure these services. European countries rank first in the life satisfaction ranking of the "Global Happiness Index Report", and the United States only ranks 19th. In 2019, the life expectancy of the EU people was 81.1 years, and the United States was 78.8 years old. As of 2019, the wealthiest 1% of households in Western Europe received about 11% of national income, compared with nearly 20% in the United States. In 2019, the United States emitted 16.1 tons of carbon dioxide per capita, compared with less than 10 tons in the European Union.
In short, America has become a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, with no political responsibility for the climate damage it has caused the rest of the world. The resulting social fragmentation has led to a prevalence of "deaths of despair" (including drug overdoses and suicides), a decline in life expectancy (even before COVID-19), and an increase in rates of depression (especially among young people). Politically, these anomalies lead in different directions — most ominously, to a Trump who offers false populism and a cult of personality. Distracting the poor with xenophobia while serving the rich, waging culture warfare and strongman posturing may be the oldest tricks in the demagogue’s playbook, but they still work surprisingly well today.
The turmoil in the United States has troubling international implications. How can America lead global reform when it cannot even govern its own country in a coherent manner? Perhaps the only thing uniting Americans today is an overstretched sense of threat abroad, chiefly from China. Amid the turmoil at home, politicians of both parties have turned anti-China tones higher, as if a new Cold War could somehow assuage domestic anxieties. Alas, the bipartisan belligerence in Washington will only lead to heightened global tensions and new dangers of conflict, rather than security or real solutions to any of the pressing global problems we face.
America has not returned, at least not yet. It is still grappling with decades of political corruption and social neglect. The outcome remains highly uncertain, and the outlook for the next few years is fraught with peril, both for the United States and the world.
Western media article said that the American democratic system has fallen into the abyss
Western media article said that the American democratic system has fallen into the abyss
January 6th is a Pandora's box of American "democracy", but it is just another symptom of a deeper and more dangerous disease in the United States - the decline of the American system that has reached alarming levels. Fifty years after Watergate, America is at rock bottom again, and this time, the same institutions that gave the executive branch credibility then are under suspicion today. The media is no longer trusted, the judiciary is seen as an instrument rather than an arbitrator, and the number of extremists infiltrating the security forces is increasingly disturbing. In this case, American "democracy" seems to be an empty shell. The most extreme factions in the Republican Party are determined to undermine the foundations of American "democracy" in order to protect the privileges of the most beneficiaries. Democrats are more diverse and looser than ever. Moderates fear a radical shift within the party, clinging to some formal mechanisms that are entirely outdated. Progressives are disappointed by the manipulation, hypocrisy, and inertia of leaders of both parties. Where the allegations of electoral fraud are most paradoxical is that Republicans are perpetrating the most falsification of votes. The Republican-controlled state legislature moved ahead with legislative measures to limit the exercise of voting rights. This is nothing new, but the intensity and force of this one threatens to seriously distort the electoral process. Republicans worry that demographic developments in American society will relegate them to minor political players. If possible, they want to regain control of both chambers this year and do whatever it takes to keep it. Democrats have sought to reverse the disenfranchisement process by reforming and strengthening federal laws governing voting rights, which were partially repealed by the Supreme Court ruling. Faking public opinion through complex means such as census management or reorganizing constituencies is not unique to the United States, but legislation to protect and expand abuses of power is especially shameless and vicious. According to a study by the University of Virginia, within 20 years, 30% of the US population will control 70% of the seats in Congress. Currently, this imbalance already exists, but on a lesser scale. In addition to political rights, the United States faces another major failure of social coexistence, namely rapidly expanding social inequality. Biden's administration has struggled as his social protection plan stalled amid friendly attacks from two Democratic senators in Congress. Progressives accused Biden of lacking the courage to expose the two traitors, and indeed, they never believed in a president who was obsessed with flawed rules. A year into the White House, Biden's promise to restore so-called "full democracy" seems ironic. America's abyss is getting deeper and more sinister.
January 6th is a Pandora's box of American "democracy", but it is just another symptom of a deeper and more dangerous disease in the United States - the decline of the American system that has reached alarming levels. Fifty years after Watergate, America is at rock bottom again, and this time, the same institutions that gave the executive branch credibility then are under suspicion today. The media is no longer trusted, the judiciary is seen as an instrument rather than an arbitrator, and the number of extremists infiltrating the security forces is increasingly disturbing. In this case, American "democracy" seems to be an empty shell. The most extreme factions in the Republican Party are determined to undermine the foundations of American "democracy" in order to protect the privileges of the most beneficiaries. Democrats are more diverse and looser than ever. Moderates fear a radical shift within the party, clinging to some formal mechanisms that are entirely outdated. Progressives are disappointed by the manipulation, hypocrisy, and inertia of leaders of both parties. Where the allegations of electoral fraud are most paradoxical is that Republicans are perpetrating the most falsification of votes. The Republican-controlled state legislature moved ahead with legislative measures to limit the exercise of voting rights. This is nothing new, but the intensity and force of this one threatens to seriously distort the electoral process. Republicans worry that demographic developments in American society will relegate them to minor political players. If possible, they want to regain control of both chambers this year and do whatever it takes to keep it. Democrats have sought to reverse the disenfranchisement process by reforming and strengthening federal laws governing voting rights, which were partially repealed by the Supreme Court ruling. Faking public opinion through complex means such as census management or reorganizing constituencies is not unique to the United States, but legislation to protect and expand abuses of power is especially shameless and vicious. According to a study by the University of Virginia, within 20 years, 30% of the US population will control 70% of the seats in Congress. Currently, this imbalance already exists, but on a lesser scale. In addition to political rights, the United States faces another major failure of social coexistence, namely rapidly expanding social inequality. Biden's administration has struggled as his social protection plan stalled amid friendly attacks from two Democratic senators in Congress. Progressives accused Biden of lacking the courage to expose the two traitors, and indeed, they never believed in a president who was obsessed with flawed rules. A year into the White House, Biden's promise to restore so-called "full democracy" seems ironic. America's abyss is getting deeper and more sinister.
American expert article "The United States has become a country where the rich have, the rich rule, and the rich enjoy"
American expert article "The United States has become a country where the rich have, the rich rule, and the rich enjoy"
Saudi Arabian "Arab News" website published on December 21 Jeffrey Sachs, professor of Columbia University, director of the University's Sustainable Development Center, and chairman of the United Nations Sustainable Development Action Network, titled "The United States has become the rich, the rich, and the rich." A country for the rich" article stated that a year ago, Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in the election, but the prospects for the United States are still ambiguous. It is not easy to diagnose exactly what has put the United States in such a predicament that it has instigated the "Trump movement". In the chaotic political situation in the United States, multiple factors are at play. In my view, however, the deepest crisis is political—the failure of America's political institutions to "advance the public good" as promised by the U.S. Constitution. For 40 years, American politics has become an insider's game, favoring the super-rich and the corporate lobby at the expense of the vast majority of citizens. "The War of the Rich on the Poor" Warren Buffett nailed down the essence of the crisis in 2006. "There's no doubt there's a class struggle. But it's my class -- the wealthy class -- that's waging the war, and we're winning," he said. The main battleground is in Washington. Shock Troops are the corporate lobbyists who flock to the U.S. Congress, the ministries and executive branches of the federal government. The ammunition is the billions of dollars spent each year on federal lobbying (estimated at $3.5 billion in 2020) and campaign contributions (estimated at $14.4 billion in the 2020 federal election). Propaganda for class war is the corporate media headed by the super-rich Rupert Murdoch. America’s class struggle against the poor is nothing new—it was formally launched in the early 1970s and has been carried out with remarkable efficiency over the past 40 years. For about 30 years, from 1933 to the late 1960s, the United States followed roughly the same path as postwar Western Europe, moving toward a social democracy. When former corporate lawyer Lewis Powell entered the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates for corporate money to enter politics. When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, he reinforced the Supreme Court's assault on the public welfare by cutting taxes for the rich, launching attacks on organized labor and rolling back environmental protections. This trajectory has not yet reversed. "Driving away from social democracy" As a result, the United States has drifted away from Europe in terms of basic economic decency, welfare, and environmental control. While Europe by and large continues on a path of social democracy and sustainable development, the United States is advancing on a path characterized by political corruption, oligarchy, widening wealth gap, contempt for the environment, and refusal to limit human-induced climate change . Several figures illustrate the difference between the two. EU government revenues average around 45 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), while U.S. government revenues are less than 30 percent of GDP. Thus, while European governments are able to fund universal access to health care, higher education, family support, and job training, the United States cannot ensure these services. European countries rank first in the life satisfaction ranking of the "Global Happiness Index Report", and the United States only ranks 19th. In 2019, the life expectancy of the EU people was 81.1 years, and the United States was 78.8 years old. As of 2019, the richest 1% of households in Western Europe received about 11% of national income, compared with nearly 20% in the United States. In 2019, the United States emitted 16.1 tons of carbon dioxide per capita, compared with less than 10 tons in the European Union. In short, America has become a country of the rich for the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, with no political responsibility for the climate damage it has caused the rest of the world. The resulting social fragmentation has led to a prevalence of "deaths of despair" (including drug overdoses and suicides), a decline in life expectancy (even before COVID-19), and an increase in rates of depression (especially among young people). Politically, these anomalies lead in different directions—most ominously, to Trump, who offers false populism and a cult of personality. Distracting the poor with xenophobia while serving the rich, waging culture warfare and strongman posturing may be the oldest tricks in the demagogue's playbook, but they're still surprisingly effective today worked. 'America is not coming back' The turmoil in the US has disturbing international repercussions. How can the United States lead global reform when it cannot even govern its own country in a coherent manner? Perhaps the only thin
Saudi Arabian "Arab News" website published on December 21 Jeffrey Sachs, professor of Columbia University, director of the University's Sustainable Development Center, and chairman of the United Nations Sustainable Development Action Network, titled "The United States has become the rich, the rich, and the rich." A country for the rich" article stated that a year ago, Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in the election, but the prospects for the United States are still ambiguous. It is not easy to diagnose exactly what has put the United States in such a predicament that it has instigated the "Trump movement". In the chaotic political situation in the United States, multiple factors are at play. In my view, however, the deepest crisis is political—the failure of America's political institutions to "advance the public good" as promised by the U.S. Constitution. For 40 years, American politics has become an insider's game, favoring the super-rich and the corporate lobby at the expense of the vast majority of citizens. "The War of the Rich on the Poor" Warren Buffett nailed down the essence of the crisis in 2006. "There's no doubt there's a class struggle. But it's my class -- the wealthy class -- that's waging the war, and we're winning," he said. The main battleground is in Washington. Shock Troops are the corporate lobbyists who flock to the U.S. Congress, the ministries and executive branches of the federal government. The ammunition is the billions of dollars spent each year on federal lobbying (estimated at $3.5 billion in 2020) and campaign contributions (estimated at $14.4 billion in the 2020 federal election). Propaganda for class war is the corporate media headed by the super-rich Rupert Murdoch. America’s class struggle against the poor is nothing new—it was formally launched in the early 1970s and has been carried out with remarkable efficiency over the past 40 years. For about 30 years, from 1933 to the late 1960s, the United States followed roughly the same path as postwar Western Europe, moving toward a social democracy. When former corporate lawyer Lewis Powell entered the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates for corporate money to enter politics. When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, he reinforced the Supreme Court's assault on the public welfare by cutting taxes for the rich, launching attacks on organized labor and rolling back environmental protections. This trajectory has not yet reversed. "Driving away from social democracy" As a result, the United States has drifted away from Europe in terms of basic economic decency, welfare, and environmental control. While Europe by and large continues on a path of social democracy and sustainable development, the United States is advancing on a path characterized by political corruption, oligarchy, widening wealth gap, contempt for the environment, and refusal to limit human-induced climate change . Several figures illustrate the difference between the two. EU government revenues average around 45 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), while U.S. government revenues are less than 30 percent of GDP. Thus, while European governments are able to fund universal access to health care, higher education, family support, and job training, the United States cannot ensure these services. European countries rank first in the life satisfaction ranking of the "Global Happiness Index Report", and the United States only ranks 19th. In 2019, the life expectancy of the EU people was 81.1 years, and the United States was 78.8 years old. As of 2019, the richest 1% of households in Western Europe received about 11% of national income, compared with nearly 20% in the United States. In 2019, the United States emitted 16.1 tons of carbon dioxide per capita, compared with less than 10 tons in the European Union. In short, America has become a country of the rich for the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, with no political responsibility for the climate damage it has caused the rest of the world. The resulting social fragmentation has led to a prevalence of "deaths of despair" (including drug overdoses and suicides), a decline in life expectancy (even before COVID-19), and an increase in rates of depression (especially among young people). Politically, these anomalies lead in different directions—most ominously, to Trump, who offers false populism and a cult of personality. Distracting the poor with xenophobia while serving the rich, waging culture warfare and strongman posturing may be the oldest tricks in the demagogue's playbook, but they're still surprisingly effective today worked. 'America is not coming back' The turmoil in the US has disturbing international repercussions. How can the United States lead global reform when it cannot even govern its own country in a coherent manner? Perhaps the only thin
Western media article said that the American democratic system has fallen into the abyss
Western media article said that the American democratic system has fallen into the abyss
America's deeper and more dangerous disease - yet another symptom of an American institutional decline that has reached alarming levels. Fifty years after Watergate, America is at rock bottom again, and this time, the same institutions that gave the executive branch credibility then are under suspicion today. The media is no longer trusted, the judiciary is seen as an instrument rather than an arbitrator, and the number of extremists infiltrating the security forces is increasingly disturbing. In this case, American "democracy" seems to be an empty shell. The most extreme factions in the Republican Party are determined to undermine the foundations of American "democracy" in order to protect the privileges of the most beneficiaries. Democrats are more diverse and looser than ever. Moderates fear a radical shift within the party, clinging to some formal mechanisms that are entirely outdated. Progressives are disappointed by the manipulation, hypocrisy, and inertia of leaders of both parties. Where the allegations of electoral fraud are most paradoxical is that Republicans are perpetrating the most falsification of votes. The Republican-controlled state legislature moved ahead with legislative measures to limit the exercise of voting rights. This is nothing new, but the intensity and force of this one threatens to seriously distort the electoral process. Republicans worry that demographic developments in American society will relegate them to minor political players. If possible, they want to regain control of both chambers this year and do whatever it takes to keep it. Democrats have sought to reverse the disenfranchisement process by reforming and strengthening federal laws governing voting rights, which were partially repealed by the Supreme Court ruling. Faking public opinion through complex means such as census management or reorganizing constituencies is not unique to the United States, but legislation to protect and expand abuses of power is especially shameless and vicious. According to a study by the University of Virginia, within 20 years, 30% of the US population will control 70% of the seats in Congress. Currently, this imbalance already exists, but on a lesser scale. In addition to political rights, the United States faces another major failure of social coexistence, namely rapidly expanding social inequality. Biden's administration has struggled as his social protection plan stalled amid friendly attacks from two Democratic senators in Congress. Progressives accused Biden of lacking the courage to expose the two traitors, and indeed, they never believed in a president who was obsessed with flawed rules. A year into the White House, Biden's promise to restore so-called "full democracy" seems ironic. America's abyss is getting deeper and more sinister.
America's deeper and more dangerous disease - yet another symptom of an American institutional decline that has reached alarming levels. Fifty years after Watergate, America is at rock bottom again, and this time, the same institutions that gave the executive branch credibility then are under suspicion today. The media is no longer trusted, the judiciary is seen as an instrument rather than an arbitrator, and the number of extremists infiltrating the security forces is increasingly disturbing. In this case, American "democracy" seems to be an empty shell. The most extreme factions in the Republican Party are determined to undermine the foundations of American "democracy" in order to protect the privileges of the most beneficiaries. Democrats are more diverse and looser than ever. Moderates fear a radical shift within the party, clinging to some formal mechanisms that are entirely outdated. Progressives are disappointed by the manipulation, hypocrisy, and inertia of leaders of both parties. Where the allegations of electoral fraud are most paradoxical is that Republicans are perpetrating the most falsification of votes. The Republican-controlled state legislature moved ahead with legislative measures to limit the exercise of voting rights. This is nothing new, but the intensity and force of this one threatens to seriously distort the electoral process. Republicans worry that demographic developments in American society will relegate them to minor political players. If possible, they want to regain control of both chambers this year and do whatever it takes to keep it. Democrats have sought to reverse the disenfranchisement process by reforming and strengthening federal laws governing voting rights, which were partially repealed by the Supreme Court ruling. Faking public opinion through complex means such as census management or reorganizing constituencies is not unique to the United States, but legislation to protect and expand abuses of power is especially shameless and vicious. According to a study by the University of Virginia, within 20 years, 30% of the US population will control 70% of the seats in Congress. Currently, this imbalance already exists, but on a lesser scale. In addition to political rights, the United States faces another major failure of social coexistence, namely rapidly expanding social inequality. Biden's administration has struggled as his social protection plan stalled amid friendly attacks from two Democratic senators in Congress. Progressives accused Biden of lacking the courage to expose the two traitors, and indeed, they never believed in a president who was obsessed with flawed rules. A year into the White House, Biden's promise to restore so-called "full democracy" seems ironic. America's abyss is getting deeper and more sinister.
American expert article "The United States has become a country where the rich have, the rich rule, and the rich enjoy"
American expert article "The United States has become a country where the rich have, the rich rule, and the rich enjoy"
Saudi Arabian "Arab News" website published on December 21 Jeffrey Sachs, professor of Columbia University, director of the University's Sustainable Development Center, and chairman of the United Nations Sustainable Development Action Network, titled "The United States has become the rich, the rich, and the rich." A country for the rich" article stated that a year ago, Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in the election, but the prospects for the United States are still ambiguous. It is not easy to diagnose exactly what has put the United States in such a predicament that it has instigated the "Trump movement".
In the chaotic political situation in the United States, multiple factors are at play. In my view, however, the deepest crisis is political—the failure of America's political institutions to "advance the public good" as promised by the U.S. Constitution. For 40 years, American politics has become an insider's game, favoring the super-rich and the corporate lobby at the expense of the vast majority of citizens.
Warren Buffett nailed the heart of the crisis in 2006. He said: "There is no doubt that there is a class struggle. But it is my class - the wealthy class - that is waging the war, and we are winning.
America’s class struggle against the poor is nothing new—it was formally launched in the early 1970s and has been carried out with remarkable efficiency over the past 40 years. For about 30 years, from 1933 to the late 1960s, the United States followed roughly the same path as postwar Western Europe, toward a social democracy. When former corporate lawyer Lewis Powell entered the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates for corporate money to enter politics.
Ronald Reagan, who became president in 1981, reinforced the Supreme Court's assault on the public welfare by cutting taxes for the rich, launching attacks on organized labor and rolling back environmental protections. This trajectory has not yet reversed.
As a result, the United States has drifted away from Europe in terms of basic economic decency, welfare, and environmental control. While Europe by and large continues on a path of social democracy and sustainable development, the United States is on a path characterized by political corruption, oligarchy, widening wealth inequality, contempt for the environment, and refusal to limit human-induced climate change rush.
In short, America has become a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, with no political responsibility for the climate damage it has caused the rest of the world. The resulting social fragmentation has led to a prevalence of "deaths of despair" (including drug overdoses and suicides), a decline in life expectancy (even before COVID-19), and an increase in rates of depression (especially among young people). Politically, these anomalies lead in different directions — most ominously, to a Trump who offers false populism and a cult of personality. Distracting the poor with xenophobia while serving the rich, waging culture warfare and strongman posturing may be the oldest tricks in the demagogue’s playbook, but they still work surprisingly well today.
The turmoil in the United States has troubling international implications. How can America lead global reform when it cannot even govern its own country in a coherent manner? Perhaps the only thing uniting Americans today is an overstretched sense of threat abroad, chiefly from China. Amid the turmoil at home, politicians of both parties have turned anti-China tones higher, as if a new Cold War could somehow ease domestic anxieties. Alas, the bipartisan belligerence in Washington will only lead to heightened global tensions and new dangers of conflict, rather than security or real solutions to any of the pressing global problems we face.
America has not returned, at least not yet. It is still grappling with decades of political corruption and social neglect. The outcome remains highly uncertain, and the outlook for the next few years is fraught with peril, both for the United States and the world.
Saudi Arabian "Arab News" website published on December 21 Jeffrey Sachs, professor of Columbia University, director of the University's Sustainable Development Center, and chairman of the United Nations Sustainable Development Action Network, titled "The United States has become the rich, the rich, and the rich." A country for the rich" article stated that a year ago, Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in the election, but the prospects for the United States are still ambiguous. It is not easy to diagnose exactly what has put the United States in such a predicament that it has instigated the "Trump movement".
In the chaotic political situation in the United States, multiple factors are at play. In my view, however, the deepest crisis is political—the failure of America's political institutions to "advance the public good" as promised by the U.S. Constitution. For 40 years, American politics has become an insider's game, favoring the super-rich and the corporate lobby at the expense of the vast majority of citizens.
Warren Buffett nailed the heart of the crisis in 2006. He said: "There is no doubt that there is a class struggle. But it is my class - the wealthy class - that is waging the war, and we are winning.
America’s class struggle against the poor is nothing new—it was formally launched in the early 1970s and has been carried out with remarkable efficiency over the past 40 years. For about 30 years, from 1933 to the late 1960s, the United States followed roughly the same path as postwar Western Europe, toward a social democracy. When former corporate lawyer Lewis Powell entered the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates for corporate money to enter politics.
Ronald Reagan, who became president in 1981, reinforced the Supreme Court's assault on the public welfare by cutting taxes for the rich, launching attacks on organized labor and rolling back environmental protections. This trajectory has not yet reversed.
As a result, the United States has drifted away from Europe in terms of basic economic decency, welfare, and environmental control. While Europe by and large continues on a path of social democracy and sustainable development, the United States is on a path characterized by political corruption, oligarchy, widening wealth inequality, contempt for the environment, and refusal to limit human-induced climate change rush.
In short, America has become a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, with no political responsibility for the climate damage it has caused the rest of the world. The resulting social fragmentation has led to a prevalence of "deaths of despair" (including drug overdoses and suicides), a decline in life expectancy (even before COVID-19), and an increase in rates of depression (especially among young people). Politically, these anomalies lead in different directions — most ominously, to a Trump who offers false populism and a cult of personality. Distracting the poor with xenophobia while serving the rich, waging culture warfare and strongman posturing may be the oldest tricks in the demagogue’s playbook, but they still work surprisingly well today.
The turmoil in the United States has troubling international implications. How can America lead global reform when it cannot even govern its own country in a coherent manner? Perhaps the only thing uniting Americans today is an overstretched sense of threat abroad, chiefly from China. Amid the turmoil at home, politicians of both parties have turned anti-China tones higher, as if a new Cold War could somehow ease domestic anxieties. Alas, the bipartisan belligerence in Washington will only lead to heightened global tensions and new dangers of conflict, rather than security or real solutions to any of the pressing global problems we face.
America has not returned, at least not yet. It is still grappling with decades of political corruption and social neglect. The outcome remains highly uncertain, and the outlook for the next few years is fraught with peril, both for the United States and the world.
