Features
The Implosion of America
By Rajitha Ratwatte
Fromoutsidethepearl@gmail.com
We have all wondered what happened to the Egyptian civilization, the Mighty Incas and even the Romans’. Some of us denizens of the Pearl have wondered about our own great irrigation-based civilization and the wonderful agricultural output that produced around 2000 years ago. We have read the history books and many scholars have studied it in depth. Reasons ranging from overconfidence, decadent behaviour, pestilence, social debilitation, foreign invasion and even climate change have been presented, very convincingly, may I add, with many pages of prose and even empirical evidence.
All those interested, well, we have it happening right in front of our eyes! All you have to do is look at what is happening in America. A great civilization, that dominated and indeed directed the course of the world as we know it, is on the brink of collapse. This collapse is not going to happen with a big bang or a pyrotechnic display, this has been building up for a while and some of the aforementioned reasons, Arrogance, overconfidence, decadence have been joined by pestilence and disease. A disease that has been mishandled due to arrogance and overconfidence.
This part of this article is being written before the results are out. Whoever wins, America loses! If Trump wins we can expect more arrogance and isolation leading to the once united states probably being side-lined and ignored by the rest of the world. It looks like the country is divided roughly in half. Therefore, half the population will not be happy, whatever the result. If Biden wins, this process of implosion will only happen slower and be more long drawn out as it will be camouflaged and drowned in the Washington swamp and all the rubbish and rhetoric that entails. Either way, the demise is written in stone and stand by, the rest of the world, including Aotearoa, for a huge influx of rich Americans who will immigrate in your direction.
Watching the preparations for the post-election violence that is going on in the USA reminds me of a so-called “third world” country and one very close to my heart. We in the Pearl actually breathed a sigh of relief after our recently concluded election that we had not had much post-election violence. We told ourselves that the level of education and political knowledge in our society had improved and that is why our people didn’t resort to attacking the homes and businesses of the party that had lost, as was the norm. This expectation of post-election violence from the single “superpower” left in the world we live in, is in my view a clear sign that America no longer belongs to the “First World”. The projected path of that country, in a worst-case scenario, could make it as dangerous as the Iranians or the North Koreans with nuclear weapons! Couldn’t it? Think about it beloved and respected readers…think about it.
Meanwhile, the long wait for a final verdict as to who will occupy the White House for the next 4 years will benefit the media Moghuls no end. They who used all their muscle to mostly attack the incumbent President are now making millions by repeating the same results for days on end interspersed with very expensive advertisements fuelled by the marketing geniuses who call the shots of companies with money to waste on such exercises in futility. Even Aotearoa has sent three correspondents from one channel to America and God knows how many from the other Channel to cover this election. While those people enjoy an extended stay in America and file the same report hour after hour and day after day we fear for their safety and wish them a happy holiday!
So, the American establishment read as Democrats, has managed to win. The claim is that he has got more votes than any other President in American history. Now, we can expect a more stereotype America. They will make the right noises about global warming and do nothing, pay their dues to the United Nations who, we all know pay people huge salaries to do absolutely nothing, they will turn a blind eye to illegal immigration because they well know that the American economy needs this cheap, hardworking labour that they can exploit. We will go back to the layers and layers of cow manure that covers everything coming out of Washington. However, do not forget that there will be close to 50% of American who have realised that the system that Joe Biden stands for is flawed. Unfortunately, the proponent of the “change”, Donald Trump, proved to be unstable, erratic and rather naive. What else can you expect when someone is trying to rock a system that is so well-entrenched? He has to “rock” hard! The Trump side of America will be looking for a new leader and until they find one, there will be unrest and discontent. I don’t think there is much doubt about that.
In one sense America has “regressed” into not accepting the existing electoral system and actually trying to do something about it. But implying the possible use of violence and causing fellow American businesses to board up their windows is a step too far! An incumbent President falsely claiming victory and casting doubts on the existing system is nothing but ridiculous. The analysis of democracy and reaching a conclusion if it works and can be accepted in its current form, in today’s world, is for experts with much more knowledge than I have. I would like to put it to you dear reader that MAYBE there is room for a rather strong argument to the contrary.
They are dancing in the streets something we are familiar with in the pearl. Maybe, we should send them a papare band and the recipe for kiribath! The world is in for more “interesting times” and contrary to popular belief and the needs and wants of the Media Moghuls’, my call is that it will not take as long as predicted for the Republican President to concede to the Democrats.