There was a time when the United States was the envy of the world, and seemingly in every way possible. This might almost be hard to believe these days, when we have an elected President who is widely despised and regarded as a joke around much of the world (hell, even within the United States, most people seem to at least dislike the man), yet indeed, there was such a time. It was known as the "Golden Age" for Americans, and was a time when the United States, fresh off their victorious contribution in liberating Europe, seemed to be defending freedoms for many around the world. Back then, Americans enjoyed more freedoms, arguably, than anyone else in the world, and they enjoyed a higher standard of living. The infrastructure was great, and the education system was the highest rated in the world. The United States was the leading superpower, and was the strongest nation economically, militarily, politically, and even culturally. No nation or empire had ever asserted as much influence globally, nor enjoyed such an incredible way of life.
Indeed, there was clear evidence everywhere you looked that the "American Dream" was alive and well. Unlike today, our elected leaders were at least respected and, in some cases, loved. Indeed, by the early 1960's, we saw the rise of "Camelot," and the entire world seemed to love the Kennedys. At that point, the United States still seemed like a quite enchanted place, and still seemed to be the envy of the world.
So, what the hell happened?
Most of us are not old enough to have been born back then, let alone to remember it. Yet, for me, it was not some distant dream when I was growing up, because there were more reminders perhaps than other kids had of that past. It did not feel so far away, and in fact, it only felt that it was still very much alive and well for the people who helped to bring me up, and so I mistakenly assumed that a return to such glory days was not only possible, but that it was just a matter of making a few changes, that we had simply wanted a little way from the straight and narrow, and needed simply to find our way back, and that it was still in view.
In other words, I did not then believe that we were hopelessly lost as a nation. Unfortunately, my suspicions that we have reached that point are becoming increasingly undeniable to me, even though I do not want to believe it. From around 1870 or so, shortly after the Civil War, until 1970 or so, shortly before I was born, the United States as a nation rose quicker and more strongly than any nation has, before or since.
That is an incredible fact, and perhaps the only thing more startling has been that the decline has occurred even more quickly.
Somehow, certain other countries have risen while we here in the United States have declined, although not all of these countries did not really benefit from our decline. Some did, like Japan in the 1970's, and like China is doing now (although China is a long way off still from rivaling the American standard of living...for now). However, there are other countries, such as Canada, Australia and Germany, which rose rather dramatically in almost every way. And, of course, there are the Nordic countries of Scandinavia, where the standard of living surpassed the American one quite some time ago, and enjoy a higher standard nowadays by quite a bit.
Frankly, I think it is important for us Americans to understand some of the reason why so many countries were able to surpass us in so many ways, particularly with standard of living. Let us not forget that the United States had, far and away, the highest standard of living in the decades following World War II. The United States was the envy of the world, enjoying a quality of life that no other country could rival, and led the way in science, technology, entertainment, and education.
Part of the reason - I would say a large part of the reason - that some of these nations have far surpassed us is that we Americans have allowed ourselves to fall victim to what President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us against - the military industrial complex. Not unrelated to this, we also have allowed a privileged group of elites to feather their nests at the expense of the American taxpayer, much like our Founding Fathers, and the two Roosevelts, warned us against. We have spent trillions and trillions of dollars on defense, and have engaged in costly wars. Costly both in terms of money, as well as it terms of lives lost and/or often irreparably harmed, to say nothing of the damage sustained to the nation's morale and formerly stellar reputation around the world. We still seem to be actively looking for wars to fight in, often with the lightest pretext just for appearances. That was what Iraq was all about, as big oil companies aggressively pined for war, and then made a killing once there. That was not even a well-kept secret, although far too many Americans conveniently allowed themselves to ignore this, despite how readily this information was available to one and all here.
All of that money spent on our war games and war toys has taken away from our ability to spend money on things that matter back here at home. Since then, we have seen economic inequality grow to staggering levels, and I have heard that we have not seen anything quite like this level of disparity since France just before the revolution broke out there. We have not invested in our own people, which is why we see our infrastructure crumbling, with bridges and overpasses collapsing, with highways badly outdated and wildly congested, and with our education system, which once also ranked atop the world, now ranking low compared to almost all other industrialized nation, and seemingly still sinking. We elect leaders who pay lip service to the importance of education, yet who display astonishing, and frankly alarming, levels of ignorance, and who actively and aggressively pursue slashes to the education budget.
Indeed, that might seem like a long time ago, but we are not talking about ancient history. There are plenty of people still around who remember those days. In fact, the United States still enjoyed a privileged status, and was far and away the world's leading superpower, in more recent times, during the 1980's and 1990's. And if the JFK assassination marked a turning point that more or less marked the end of that privileged American status during the so-called "Golden Age" of America, than it seems to me that 9/11 marked the beginning of a turning point when the United States no longer could automatically feel itself invulnerable and virtually invincible. In many respects, everything that has come to pass since has served to underscore America's weaknesses, including the ridiculous and unjustified Iraq invasion, and more recently, the rise of Donald Trump to the nation's most prestigious position of power.
Frankly, I think it is important for us Americans to understand some of the reason why so many countries were able to surpass us in so many ways, particularly with standard of living. Let us not forget that the United States had, far and away, the highest standard of living in the decades following World War II. The United States was the envy of the world, enjoying a quality of life that no other country could rival, and led the way in science, technology, entertainment, and education.
Part of the reason - I would say a large part of the reason - that some of these nations have far surpassed us is that we Americans have allowed ourselves to fall victim to what President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us against - the military industrial complex. Not unrelated to this, we also have allowed a privileged group of elites to feather their nests at the expense of the American taxpayer, much like our Founding Fathers, and the two Roosevelts, warned us against. We have spent trillions and trillions of dollars on defense, and have engaged in costly wars. Costly both in terms of money, as well as it terms of lives lost and/or often irreparably harmed, to say nothing of the damage sustained to the nation's morale and formerly stellar reputation around the world. We still seem to be actively looking for wars to fight in, often with the lightest pretext just for appearances. That was what Iraq was all about, as big oil companies aggressively pined for war, and then made a killing once there. That was not even a well-kept secret, although far too many Americans conveniently allowed themselves to ignore this, despite how readily this information was available to one and all here.
All of that money spent on our war games and war toys has taken away from our ability to spend money on things that matter back here at home. Since then, we have seen economic inequality grow to staggering levels, and I have heard that we have not seen anything quite like this level of disparity since France just before the revolution broke out there. We have not invested in our own people, which is why we see our infrastructure crumbling, with bridges and overpasses collapsing, with highways badly outdated and wildly congested, and with our education system, which once also ranked atop the world, now ranking low compared to almost all other industrialized nation, and seemingly still sinking. We elect leaders who pay lip service to the importance of education, yet who display astonishing, and frankly alarming, levels of ignorance, and who actively and aggressively pursue slashes to the education budget.
Indeed, that might seem like a long time ago, but we are not talking about ancient history. There are plenty of people still around who remember those days. In fact, the United States still enjoyed a privileged status, and was far and away the world's leading superpower, in more recent times, during the 1980's and 1990's. And if the JFK assassination marked a turning point that more or less marked the end of that privileged American status during the so-called "Golden Age" of America, than it seems to me that 9/11 marked the beginning of a turning point when the United States no longer could automatically feel itself invulnerable and virtually invincible. In many respects, everything that has come to pass since has served to underscore America's weaknesses, including the ridiculous and unjustified Iraq invasion, and more recently, the rise of Donald Trump to the nation's most prestigious position of power.
Clearly, the United States has not come up with any real answers for what certainly appears very much like a decline. In fact, this decline still seems to be actively occurring, with people who would identify themselves as true patriotic Americans contributing strongly towards the decline. Many of these people would also proudly deem themselves "American exceptionalists," but what is starting to be truly exceptional about far too many of them is that they remain willfully blind to certain realities in the world. Unfortunately, I am not just talking about members of one particular party here, although this mindset seems much more unquestioningly accepted by Republicans. However, it is clear that many, many Democrats also believe in American exceptionalism. This is particularly true of mainstream Democrats, who often believe the myths of "American exceptionalism" hook, line, and sinker.
Indeed, "American exceptionalism" does, on the surface, sound like something that patriotic Americans would or should believe in, much like the so-called PATRIOT Act sounded like something that most patriotic Americans should support. But much like the PATRIOT Act was misnamed (much like the Clean Skies Act), it did the opposite of what it sounded like it would do. In fact, there was nothing patriotic about the PATRIOT Act, and there is nothing exceptional about "American exceptionalism." The PATRIOT Act allowed government greater powers of surveillance, even giving it the power to access files on individuals from public libraries. I would add a side note here, which I do not feel is entirely irrelevant, that the proposed second PATRIOT Act had a clause in it that would grant the government the right to revoke citizenship if an individual criticized the government too much. How patriotic is that?
Likewise, "American exceptionalism" seems to suggest that Americans have a unique history and standing in the world, and thus, can be deemed exceptional. This is true to a point, although I would also ask whether there is any country that is not exceptional in this sense. Every nation has it's own unique identity, it's own history and culture and geography that makes it it's own unique entity, and thus different than any other countries in the world. But what "American exceptionalists" sure seem to believe is that the United States could and should do whatever the hell it wants, wherever the hell it wants to do it. If that means starting an unjustifiable war in Iraq while we are already fighting a war in Afghanistan, then so be it. If that means we launch deadly airstrikes against sovereign nations that we do not like, and then back out like it's nothing to get too excited about, as we have done with many nations (Libya and Syria are only the most recent examples), than so be it. In my living memory, the United States, literally overnight, invaded two sovereign nations in our own backyard, in Grenada in 1983, and Panama in 1989. Support for these military actions was strong in both cases, with Americans lending their seemingly unconditional support, even though most Americans did not seem to understand the issues leading to the invasion, and likely being unable to point to these countries on a map of the world if asked.
So, "American exceptionalism" is precisely what much of the rest of the world intensely dislikes and understandably distrusts about Americans on an international level. Domestically, acceptance of "American exceptionalism" seems to justify spending cuts to everything but defense (and they really should rename that, since we too often use our military not for defense, but for attacks). Obviously, a nation that spends as much as we do on the military will not likely be able to afford so many of the programs that helped to dramatically increase the living standard in many of those other countries, and so "American exceptionalists" work hard to try and discredit the thinking in those countries. They argue that those programs, like the healthcare systems of every other industrialized nation, are "socialist" or even lead to communism, although there really seems to be no evidence of that in most of the industrialized nations that have such a system in place, such as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Israel, etc.. I have heard American exceptionalists argue that this country is bigger than those other countries, and so it could not possibly work here, that those systems are less efficient, that there is a longer waiting time, that they have inadequate resources, that any attempts to bring that to the United States is an inevitable first step towards communism or fascist dictatorship, and that such systems are unAmerican and anti-capitalist. The same arguments are used to discredit any social betterment programs like childcare, raising the minimum wage, increasing vacation time, environmental programs, from better public transportation, to even spending towards achieving a better education system.
Here was what Jones noticed happened during the 2016 Presidential election debate between Bernie Sanders and the supposedly progressive Hillary Clinton:
"Bernie Sanders was denouncing America’s crooked version of “casino capitalism” that floats the already-rich ever higher and flushes the working class. He said that we ought to “look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people.”
"He believes, he added, in “a society where all people do well. Not just a handful of billionaires.” That certainly sounds like Norway. For ages, they’ve worked at producing things for the use of everyone—not the profit of a few—so I was all ears, waiting for Sanders to spell it out for Americans.
"But Hillary Clinton quickly countered, “We are not Denmark.” Smiling, she said, “I love Denmark,” and then delivered a patriotic punch line: “We are the United States of America.” (Well, there’s no denying that.) She also praised capitalism and “all the small businesses that were started because we have the opportunity and the freedom in our country for people to do that and to make a good living for themselves and their families.” She didn’t seem to know that Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians do that too, and with much higher rates of success."
Jones tells us that the Nordic model starts with a deep commitment to equality and democracy, because you can’t have one without the other.
Also, and this is not a minor point, Americans work far more than their counterparts in Europe. Jones explains:
Also, and this is not a minor point, Americans work far more than their counterparts in Europe. Jones explains:
In the United States, full-time salaried workers supposedly laboring 40 hours a week actually average 49, with almost 20 percent clocking more than 60. These people, on the other hand, worked only about 37 hours a week, when they weren’t away on long paid vacations. At the end of the workday, about four in the afternoon (perhaps three during the summer), they had time to enjoy a hike in the forest, a swim with the kids, or a beer with friends—which helps explain why, unlike so many Americans, they are pleased with their jobs.
One of the problems is that Americans seem to have been conditioned to view time off from work as somehow a bad thing. Many Americans feel guilty over the idea of taking time off, and that means that vacation time that they are entitled to often is not taken. Some people even feel guilty with the idea of calling off, even for real emergencies. Trust me, this is a problem, because I know some people like this. They are entitled to vacation time, and they just do not take it. It's something in the American mindset, and it is not a good thing, as study after study shows that contrary to what might seem to be logical, people need some time away from work in order to be more efficient. Also, there is the not immediately obvious problem of a certain peer pressure. If some people are okay with less vacation, or perhaps even no vacation, than it puts some pressure on people who like to take all of their vacation days. There is this perception of milking the system and/or of being lazy.
The truth is that European countries - and particularly the Nordic countries - enjoy a higher standard of living than the United States. Indeed, they have passed the United States in numerous key categories, including infrastructure, working hours and conditions, economic equality and general fairness, healthcare, affordable childcare, vacation time, and education. These nations enjoy cleaner air and seas, because they take climate change and their roles to combat pollution more seriously than we do. They have lower crime, as well.
So, when President Trump asks why we have waves of immigrants from what he refers to as "shithole nations" and then asks why we cannot have more immigrants from countries like Norway, there is a reason for it. Why would any normal Norwegian want to leave all of the wonderful advantages that they enjoy in that country, for what we have here in the United States? Maybe if they are billionaires, and they heard that the ultra wealthy are having a great time of it here right now, I could understand. But if you are a regular person, knowing how costly it is to make a living here, why leave Norway? The grass is not greener here. Not only have they surpassed the United States in most meaningful categories, but they seem to have far surpassed Americans in many ways - not least of all the sense of hope for a bright future to come. These nations appear to be going in a much better direction than we Americans are, where a whopping majority feel that this country is heading in the wrong direction. Translation? Things are growing worse here in the United States, which means that things will likely indeed get worse before they ever get better. Need proof? Look at who won the most recent presidential election.
So, when President Trump asks why we have waves of immigrants from what he refers to as "shithole nations" and then asks why we cannot have more immigrants from countries like Norway, there is a reason for it. Why would any normal Norwegian want to leave all of the wonderful advantages that they enjoy in that country, for what we have here in the United States? Maybe if they are billionaires, and they heard that the ultra wealthy are having a great time of it here right now, I could understand. But if you are a regular person, knowing how costly it is to make a living here, why leave Norway? The grass is not greener here. Not only have they surpassed the United States in most meaningful categories, but they seem to have far surpassed Americans in many ways - not least of all the sense of hope for a bright future to come. These nations appear to be going in a much better direction than we Americans are, where a whopping majority feel that this country is heading in the wrong direction. Translation? Things are growing worse here in the United States, which means that things will likely indeed get worse before they ever get better. Need proof? Look at who won the most recent presidential election.
In fact, you would be hard pressed to find anywhere that the United States leads these nations decisively, except maybe for a grossly inflated military budget, and our unique ability to get involved in the affairs of other nations and launch military strikes, thus generating a lot of resentment and anti-American sentiment the world over. That is our choice, and it is clearly what we Americans have collectively chosen over the course of many decades now.
And even though there is a growing awareness among Americans that things are not working very well here, and that they are doing it better in many other places - Canada, much of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and probably a few other industrialized nations - there seems to be a lack of full understanding of how and why things seem to work better in those other nations. In fact, many Americans are convinced that these proposed changes are unrealistic, and I am not talking about hardcore Republicans, either. I saw some people who identified as Democrats who viewed many of the ideas proposed by Bernie Sander as "pie in the sky" notions of some Utopian state completely removed from reality. Yet, many of his ideas are concretely practiced and work in numerous other nations. The fact that we stand alone as the only industrialized nation with a for profit healthcare system, and that we have, by far, the highest healthcare costs in the world as a result, should be a source of shame for most Americans, yet many Americans obviously feel that any step away from that will inevitably lead to a socialist/fascist dictatorship, with complete government takeover. Ditto with commonsense gun control, where we have the dubious distinction of having the most gun violence of any supposedly peacetime nation, and it is not even close. We trail all other industrialized nations with the least vacation time, the lowest minimum wage, an education that constantly seems to be sliding solidly to the bottom among industrialized nations, and an infrastructure that is crumbling. On top of that, we have far and away the most people in prison than any other nation in the world, thanks again to a for profit prison system.
There is that notion that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. You want to talk about "pie in the sky" ideas? How about this persistent idea - an idea that has been discredited numerous times, yet which Americans keep falling for time and time again - that trickle down economics works. Maybe it works for the wealthy, who grow more powerful every day. But for the rest of us, life is more and more difficult on a daily basis. Still, these defenders of this system - and they include both the mainstream Democrats and Republicans, folks - insist that anything different is unrealistic and Utopian. Yet, these same people will persist in the myth that giving the ultra wealthy and powerful - the very people who have revealed themselves to be the greediest and most ruthless among us - should receive more money and more breaks, because they will then do the responsible thing as patriotic citizens and create jobs and wealth for the rest of us. Somehow, this is not "pie in the sky" thinking, but supposedly grounded in reality, except for the times that it glaringly failed, such as recently in Kansas, and about a decade ago for the entire nation, and indeed the world, with the so-called Great Recession, or going back some decades, to the worst economic disaster in this country's, and perhaps the world's, history, with the Great Depression. And even when it does not create economic disasters, the general direction that this experiment takes is for meaningful, well-paying jobs to grow more scarce, and for corporations and the ultra wealthy to horse still more wealth in offshore accounts. Not exactly a direction that we necessarily want to see our nation going in, right? Yet, we keep voting for these idiots who keep this system going, and act surprised when it is revealed that these politicians are corrupt and are being richly compensated for serving their corporate masters? Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, the two most important Republican congressmen, have each taken millions of dollars in support of the for profit healthcare system. There have been countless other examples of blatant corruption. Somehow, though, we keep electing these same people in, and keep assuming that this system will work, once the kinks are ironed out? And you want to lecture me on "pie in the sky" ideas and policies which work in literally every other industrialized nation in the world?
There is that notion that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. You want to talk about "pie in the sky" ideas? How about this persistent idea - an idea that has been discredited numerous times, yet which Americans keep falling for time and time again - that trickle down economics works. Maybe it works for the wealthy, who grow more powerful every day. But for the rest of us, life is more and more difficult on a daily basis. Still, these defenders of this system - and they include both the mainstream Democrats and Republicans, folks - insist that anything different is unrealistic and Utopian. Yet, these same people will persist in the myth that giving the ultra wealthy and powerful - the very people who have revealed themselves to be the greediest and most ruthless among us - should receive more money and more breaks, because they will then do the responsible thing as patriotic citizens and create jobs and wealth for the rest of us. Somehow, this is not "pie in the sky" thinking, but supposedly grounded in reality, except for the times that it glaringly failed, such as recently in Kansas, and about a decade ago for the entire nation, and indeed the world, with the so-called Great Recession, or going back some decades, to the worst economic disaster in this country's, and perhaps the world's, history, with the Great Depression. And even when it does not create economic disasters, the general direction that this experiment takes is for meaningful, well-paying jobs to grow more scarce, and for corporations and the ultra wealthy to horse still more wealth in offshore accounts. Not exactly a direction that we necessarily want to see our nation going in, right? Yet, we keep voting for these idiots who keep this system going, and act surprised when it is revealed that these politicians are corrupt and are being richly compensated for serving their corporate masters? Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, the two most important Republican congressmen, have each taken millions of dollars in support of the for profit healthcare system. There have been countless other examples of blatant corruption. Somehow, though, we keep electing these same people in, and keep assuming that this system will work, once the kinks are ironed out? And you want to lecture me on "pie in the sky" ideas and policies which work in literally every other industrialized nation in the world?
To say that we have some issues to deal with would be an understatement. We truly stand out as an exception to the rest of the world, but it is not generally a flattering one. In fact, many people the world over scratch their heads at the logic that allows these ridiculous signs of what clearly seems an undeniable sign of the American downfall. Meanwhile, we lead the world in propaganda that constantly suggests that we are truly unique and special and the best nation in the world, even though we could actually learn something from what other countries the world over are doing. And that is part of the problem, as Jones explains:
Norway, Denmark, and Sweden practice variations of a system that works much better than ours. Yet even the Democratic presidential candidates, who say they love or want to learn from those countries, don’t seem know how they actually work.
It seems that the time as long passed for us to get over ourselves, to stop simply patting ourselves on the back with congratulations about being so exceptional, and instead to start to look and, more importantly, learning from the examples of other countries that are clearly doing things better than we Americans are doing here.
Is that really such a "pie in the sky" suggestion?
Here is the link to the article from Ann Jones about her life in Norway, and what she learned about both countries, and both approaches:
After I Lived in Norway, America Felt Backward. Here’s Why. A crash course in social democracy. By Ann Jones January 28, 2016:
https://www.thenation.com/article/after-i-lived-in-norway-america-felt-backward-heres-why/
Beautifully said ...
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