Saturday, November 19, 2016

America has to turn inward to be great again

The world watches as the United States burn, its people going out on the streets and protesting the very same system which they once proudly announced to the world as the freest amongst every democracy that was ever invented. People are angry. They believed that the election of Donald Trump does not reflect the public sentiment. And they are willing to call for the downfall of the very system which elected previous presidents "democratically", just to avoid their country falling into the hands of a man they believe do not hold the values and ideals which the United States stands for.

The polls show former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posting a million plus votes more than what the Trump got. But since Trump got most of the electoral college votes, he is now the presumptive president. Is it still possible for the United States to correct what many believed as an infamy and turned it into a manageable calamity?

This is the first time in US history where people are calling for a 'reconsideration" of an election. US president Barack Obama urges his people to give Trump a chance, but many are still in the streets and are even taking part in some drastic moves to frustrate a Trump administration from taking hold of the reins of power.

What is happening in the United States is a classic example of how the failures of capitalism are in fact, seeped into the political structure of a country. We know that the US superstructure has fallen into depths which only a miracle can probably undo.

Capitalism is a system which is highly dependent on production. It is a system that feeds on the creation of wealth thru capital. And its foundation is simple---the lower the costs of production, the higher the revenues generated. More revenues means more capital to use for expansion of markets, and the more markets, the better the flow of capital into more geographical areas.

The thing about America today is that there was a shift in the locus of production. When China was focused more on developing itself internally, capital remained in the United States. Jobs were a-plenty, and therefore, more people have more money to spend in the markets.

When production shifted from the US to China (because it is cheaper to produce in China than the US), capital flows also changed. This resulted to many Americans without jobs. The internal market stagnated because America is both a consumer and manufacturing market. Consumption is high because people buy stuff especially those with jobs. Without jobs, lesser people have monies. When people bought less stuff, this translates to a closure of hundreds or even thousands of firms and industries. Repeat this a thousand times and you have a capitalist system that is in the brink of despair.

This is where Trump comes in. He came in preaching to bring back America to its previous glory. Americans agreed, but what many Americans failed to ask Trump is how would he do it? Americans did not realize that for Trump to do what he promised to do--jack up the economy by at least 4%--Trump must turn America's head upside down.

Trump knows that capitalism breeds in a more controlled environment. Meaning, capital must be concentrated and not dispersed, just like what the preachers of globalization want. The more capital is dispersed, the riskier it becomes, because the more distant capital gets, control becomes less and less. And the freer the markets are, the more risk for local or domestic capitalists.

Analyze the US stock market, and you'll see that more and more Chinese firms have invested themselves in US-based companies. Investments have a dual character, with one, having a sinister nature. Its benevolent face shows of how more monies are poured into operations which benefits people. What Americans failed to realize is that those monies which Chinese firms invest in US-based companies do not translate into growth of the US economy because many of these US companies have manufacturing operations in China. So, when Chinese investors invest in a US firm, the US firm then uses the monies invested in expanding its operations in China, and capital, in reality, stays with China, not with the US.

Meaning, when Chinese investors invest their monies, they invest with the anticipation of getting those monies back thru the creation of more jobs domestically and expect more people buying more stuff in its consumerist market.

Seventy years ago, the situation is different. More firms operate in America. America back then, was a manufacturing center. Now, what America is, is basically a big capitalist acting as a middleman. Its banking system is being used by other countries with more monies and is living off the interests of those monies being put into the system by other peoples, mostly rich capitalists from Asia.

Trump sees the solution as a very simple thing--bring back America to its feet by reviving its former status as a manufacturer. He cannot do that by allowing government to spend more money helping other countries out of their financial misery. America needs to look inward before it goes outward. America needs to generate money and for America to do just that, it needs those capital back and be concentrated into America.

And for him to do just that, Trump needs to undo years of democratization of the economy of America which his predecessors did. By reviewing those lopsided trade deals and discouraging participation in regional trade blocs, Trump thinks that it is a good start. Money must stay in the United States, and it can only be done by asking US companies to consider moving their operations back to America first, and second, creating a more protectionist America.

But the more important work for Trump is to change the mindsets of Americans. Americans must believe in themselves first. Americans must re-ignite their "nationalism" by making Americans believe that they are the most dominant of the human species. Racist tolerance makes Americans believe in the equality of skills and of intelligence, which lessens America's belief of itself as a glorious nation.

Meaning, America, for it to be great again, must look inwardly, ignore the equality among races, and think of itself as the most dominant race. Trump must invigorate the rapacious side of Americans, and make Americans the most efficient conquerors not just in the military field but moreso, in the economic side, something which can be solved through social re-engineering.

Right now, most Americans are resistent mainly because of years of neoliberal indoctrination. However, when Trump begins his administration, chances are, he would slowly start destroying this neoliberal framework by first showing Americans a marked improvement in the economy. Of course, Trump can do this just by increasing tariffs on the entry of foreign goods and by managing interest rates. Note that this strategy does have its risks, but these are risks which many see as manageable ones. And heaven forbid, when Americans begin seeing more jobs created, and the economy on the "up and up", many would then reconsider their perspective on Trump and without even knowing it, unconsciously accept the "social message" that Trump is promoting.

Meaning---America has to undo decades of efforts of modern Americans to realize the ideals by which America was founded upon because "ideal America" does not conform with the economic system by which its founding fathers adopted.

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