AMERICA: IS OUR COLLAPSE IMMINENT?

BENEDETTO CROCE

All history is contemporary history.
         Benedetto Croce

The debt owed by the United States to China has now topped 1.3 trillion dollars. Money to service that debt amounts to tens of billions each year. That money, if left in the American economy, could be used to spur growth.  If China even hints at a lack of confidence in the ability of the U.S. to pay what is owed, interest rates rise and all Americans are affected.  Predictions are that the Chinese economy will surpass the American economy within a generation, and history shows that economic strength begets political power.

Perhaps the Chinese are much more patient in playing their waiting game than Americans would be; after all, Chinese history is replete with at least 24 dynasties dating back to before 2,000 B.C.  And, if history is a cyclical process, then the U.S. is very much a johnny-come-lately.

Just 4 years ago, Russian economist Igor Panarin was predicting the approaching fragmentation and break-up of the U.S.  The dollar, said Panarin, was based on nothing of substance.  Furthermore, American debt was picking up speed like an avalanche.  Such insane policies would see the demise of America as a great power, whose portion of time wielding global strength represents merely a tiny blip on the continuum of history

Benedetto Croce (1866 - 1952) was an Italian philosopher of the first-rank.  Croce proffered that all history was dependent on previous history; and, drawing on the 16th and 17th century historian Gianbattista Vico, concluded that human history was cyclical in nature.  That is to say that all of the major impulses that influence human endeavors run and return in inevitable cycles.

JARED DIAMOND

Examining failed societies in his COLLAPSE:  HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED, UCLA professor Jared Diamond (1937 - ) looks at environmental factors, including environmental problems that are affecting present day human beings.  But, underlying all of the negative elements affecting societies, there is the human factor and how humans choose to address the problems they face.  For, when all is said and done, decisions determine outcomes and, ultimately, survival.

ARNOLD TOYNBEE

Much earlier, British historian Arnold Toynbee (1889 - 1975) published a multi-volume work, A STUDY OF HISTORY.  In arriving at his thesis, Toynbee expanded on the premises of German historian Otto Spengler, which saw history as a stair-step process, where progress is based on innovation and struggle. In this light, societies are like human organisms.  They go through life processes that may be likened to birth, childhood, adolescence, maturity, decline and obsolescence or death.  The key to remaining vibrant is the ability to meet new challenges with new solutions.  When societies habitually offer up old solutions to new challenges, then the road to ultimate  decline is embarked upon.

As we consider the present American state of affairs, it might be well to ponder as well our present leadership and in what direction our nation is going.  Are we truly being innovative in dealing with the challenges with which we are faced?  Is it true that innovation may delay any cyclical process leading to decline?  Are the decisions being made in our behalf arrived at after due consideration of all factors and undertaken with the best possible outcomes in mind?

Regrettably, I must conclude that those who now plot our course do so with old, drab and failed solutions and schemes.  Wherever we look in Europe, statism has failed.  Those societies which have limited freedom and liberty in behalf of bogus equality now reside in the dustbin of history.  We are the solution.  If we settle for leadership selling the snake-oil of failure, then we, in turn, receive the government and the leadership we deserve.  Is it possible for us  to determine to reverse our present disastrous course?  Or shall we conclude, as did Will and Ariel Durant, that the main thing we learn from history is that we don't learn very much from history?

Deo Vindice!

May God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

THE FRENCH TRIANGLE: IS IT REALLY SUCH A BIG DEAL?

THE FRENCH TRIANGLE

It sounds as though French president Francois Hollande has gotten himself between the proverbial rock and a hard place.  With a pregnant girlfriend and a hospitalized mistress., it is said that Monsieur Hollande will soon be making a decision as to which of the two ladies his heart belongs.

The interesting thing about the situation is that it is not getting that much attention on Hollande's home front, as the French are somewhat more casual about such circumstances.  Generally not known for prudishness, the French do have an established reputation for sexual laissez-faire. 

When I read of President Hollande's dilemma, I could not help but think there would be far more curiosity in the U.S. concerning the story.  Somehow, in the U.S., our so-called public-servants can remain credible despite serious shortcomings in all areas of life except marital and sexual fidelity.

Certainly, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky  come to mind.  Their sad affair of infidelity had such a paralyzing effect that it succeeded in totally diverting attention from what should have been the great issues of the day and resulted in a disproportionate amount of time and energy being invested in the impeachment process. Could it be that our traditional Anglo-Saxon primness has led us to judge politicians based on fidelity, or the lack thereof?

Any number of completely incompetent buffoons may be singled out in Washington.  They are essentially do-nothings who enrich themselves at the cost of the taxpayers, while picking the pockets of various interest groups.  But they are not known to be philanderers, or, at least, they have yet to be caught in the act.

Oh, the marvelous things that our public servants in Congress can do with their PAC's!  All sorts of personal expenses may be written off to a PAC, and there are always official junkets and also special goodies and hand-outs from the lobbyists to be looked forward to.  Then one can always craft bills that will keep those funds flowing from all sorts of interest groups and lobbies.

When it comes to family, life in D.C. is nothing if it is not a family affair.  There are always the ways and means of getting parents, spouses, siblings, children and even cousins on any number of payrolls, if not directly paid for by the public servant, then paid by campaign committees and from family services rendered to special interests.

It must be admitted that, if a politician cannot keep his pants zippered, then that politician should not be applauded; however, I am of the opinion that genuine service and commitment to constituents and to the country should be judged as far more important than personal shortcomings, flings and pecodillos.

If impeachment proceedings were to be considered against a public figure, surely it would make better sense to base any such charges on actions that unreasonably endangered the lives of one's countrymen, that abused  power by unleashing the divisions of government against its citizens, that lessened the ability of the nation to defend itself and that permanently bound future generations to debt and national penury.  As citizens, let's focus on the real essence of public service and leave the other matters to the cerebrally-challenged who are drawn to the pages of National Enquirer and The Globe.

Deo Vindice!

God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

DECEPTION, INVEIGLING AND OBFUSCATION CONTINUE

Despite an anemic public opinion standing and growing distrust of presidential "promises," the administration in Washington continues on its merry way,  doing its best to ensnare as many Americans as possible in a growing web of government control.

Concerning the grotesquely  named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the anticipated numbers of young people signing up have not materialized.  With the whole apparatus of O'Care hinging on legions of young and healthy people paying the way for the old and sick, the program is looking shakier and shakier.  Then, too, those who have enrolled are reportedly slow on the draw with payments.  But maybe that's the way this monstrosity was designed in the first place.

If insurance companies are left holding the bag on this scam, certain events will surely follow:

1.  The government will have to bail out the insurance companies.

2.  Taxes will be raised to facilitate the bailout.

3.  The cost of insurance will rise.

4.  Government, through another executive decree, will convert O'Care to a single-payer, government system, and our dear old government will just keep growing.  And, possibly, that was the desired outcome all along.

That's a scary outcome to ponder, isn't it?

From the Department of Justice comes word that a "non-partisan" investigator is set to dig into the IRS efforts to undermine conservative political groups.  The person chosen to carry out the inquiry is Ms. Barbara Bosserman, a DOJ trial attorney.  In addition to working at the DOJ, Ms. Bosserman is well known as an active Democrat, in fact one who has donated $6,500 to the campaigns of one Barack Hussein Obama.

Talk about the foxes guarding the hen-house, this must stand as a prime example.  If the stink of Washington corruption was not strong enough to be detected beyond the Potomac River, the Bosserman appointment will surely succeed in spreading the odor.

News has also finally gotten out that the president knew at the same time as the attack at Benghazi was taking place that the violent action which  was raging was, indeed,  an instance of well-planned terrorism.  Instead of authorizing immediate retaliatory action which might have saved the ill-fated Americans who would die there, the canard of an out-of-control demonstration was conceived. and a cover-up that included the American ambassador to the United Nations spreading the lie on national TV was commenced.  For sure, we have not seen the last of this deceptive episode; and, hopefully, if Congress can resurrect its intestinal fortitude and oppose the presidential assault on its prerogatives, we might have a chance of finally seeing the blame for this tragedy satisfactorily appropriated.

And, finally, as all of the propaganda about income inequality gets going, it might be well to remind our 44th president that a blow against the crony-capitalism that has spread throughout his administration would be a great equalizer as far as income is concerned.  But, apparently, that is not a part of the presidential plan.  A look backward in history reveals that, of those ideologies basing their actions on equalizing social and income status, there were always elites whose standing was in no way affected downward, while the great mass of the population experienced an equality of poverty, drabness, misery and fear.  As Will and Ariel Durant noted in THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION, the main thing that we learn from history is that we do not learn very much from history.

Deo Vindice!

God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS RIGHT AND REASONABLE, TO WHAT SORT OF "LEADERSHIP" HAVE WE ENTRUSTED OUR COUNTRY?

AL-QAEDA ENTERS FALLUJAH

With the number of American dead and wounded in the Iraq and Afghan wars now numbering over 60,000, America has paid a terrible blood price in these two conflicts. Their cost in dollars has now topped 2 trillion, with 238 billion added in to service the resulting debt.  That cost will continue to rise precipitately to more than 4 trillion, owing to medical treatment for the wounded and replacement of war materiel.

And what, pray tell, has our nation gained from the sacrifice?  What do we say to the families who have lost their sons, daughters, fathers and mothers?  When all is said and done, why were these sacrifices made?  

SYRIAN CHRISTIAN MARTYRS TO AL-QAEDA 

As our valiant troops return to a country seemingly preoccupied with issues as to how our society will order itself and what lifestyles will be acceptable, the enemies they fought, despite presidential assurances to the contrary, now appear to be resurgent  in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  In Afghanistan, the Taliban has bided its time and now appears poised to topple the America- supported corrupt Karzai regime, while in Iraq al-Qaeda is gobbling up territory that once had been liberated by American forces.  And, in Syria al-Qaeda, leading rebel forces, is on the verge of  defeating the Assad regime.

On the home front, an inordinate amount of energy now goes into what are considered the overriding questions of the day, which at one time would have been considered peculiar and even absurd. Shall we institute gender-neutral restrooms?  Should the compulsion of the state be resorted to in insuring that same-sex marriage becomes the law of the land?  Is it correct to compel Americans to participate in a government-run health insurance scheme which is making medical care less affordable and less available, and, for all practical purposes, is a blow against the religious scruples of certain faiths and individuals?  Is it proper for the state to participate in aborting the unwanted children of its citizens?  Shall all references to God be removed in all areas in which the state interacts with the people?  Must we insure that incomes considered inequitable by the state be subsidized by the minority of citizens who work and are productive?  Does our southern border exist solely to be violated by those who desire to illegally enter our country, and must we accommodate those individuals with amnesty once they have settled in?  That these 

OBSESSION ON THE HOME-FRONT

questions result in such division and discord is symptomatic of both the lack of leadership and the grave malady of cerebral paralysis affecting American society today.

That a great nation should indefinitely squander its vitality in the consideration of inane issues while recklessly wasting its blood and treasure in conflicts in which no benefits rebound to its citizens is untenable.  That we have become a laughing stock on the international scene, owing to policies of ignorance and accommodation that reflect the twin poisons of domestic political correctness and multiculturalism, is something that has cost us friends and bolstered our enemies.  Simply put, a great power cannot long sustain its standing and distinction with leadership that seems bound and determined to bring societal decline and chaos crashing down on the heads of  those it is charged to defend.

The disintegration of America seems well underway.  Rather than a people with a common culture, we are fast becoming a melange of competing bantustans, with little or no ability to articulate commonalities.  No matter our finances being in tatters, we drearily proceed down the path of class warfare and envy, with even more division, seemingly oblivious to the eventual downfall that our actions could cause.  As John Adams said, "...democracy soon wastes and murders itself.  There never was a democracy  that did not commit suicide."   And, as we fret and fray, those who seek our demise become even bolder in their denunciations.

Recently, abu-Mohamed al-Joulhani, al-Qaeda's leader in Syria, boasted that not only were his jihadis about to conclude their campaign in Syria that would bring them to power in Damascus,  but that  they were also engaging in directly exporting their terror tactics to America.  And that might not have been an idle boast, as numerous American Muslims have been known to come and go and participate in the Syrian war.  What better time could there be for more terror attacks in America?  With an obvious leadership vacuum and a growing tendency toward societal fragmentation, jihadis likely see a great opportunity to speed the process.   May we be awake to the challenge!

Deo Vindice!

God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

THE AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION AND THE TRENDY ANTI-SEMITISM OF THE LEFT

Although I spent many years laboring in the vineyards of Academe, I had never heard of something called the American Studies Association until recently, although it bills itself as "...the largest and oldest organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American history and culture." I suppose that's just as well, because, from recent actions, it would appear that the group is composed of individuals who appear intent on following the latest rash and injudicious trends in what passes as higher education in America.

In its recent national convocation, the American Studies Organization called for an academic boycott of Israeli Universities, supposedly because of discrimination against Palestinians.  I find that more than a little odd, as Israeli universities admit students without reference to race, gender, ethnicity or creed.  With an Israeli-Arab population amounting to approximately 20% of the whole, Israeli universities have an Arab enrollment of around 14%.  In addition, official policies call for efforts to bring into the university fold more Israelis of Arab ethnicity.  

Any criticism of percentages of ethnic groups represented in Israeli higher education should take note of a cultural disparity which, perhaps, affects numbers attracted to higher education.  A most striking contrast is that, as Nobel Prize laureates, Jews have claimed 193 of the prizes, while Arabs have received 9.  Historically, Arab scholarship tended to lag after a high point in the Middle Ages, and it has only been since the 1960's that Arab oil states began to pour petrodollars into higher education.  

Having spent a number of years living in the Middle East in a country controlled by an absolute monarch, I am well aware that, of all the countries of the region, Israel possesses the only governing structure in which democratic institutions prevail.  If one seeks an open and free press in the area, only Israel can come close to this type of free expression.  If one looks for a land where basic rights for women are honored and enshrined in law, only Israel can qualify.  To bring the point home further, it was only in 1962, for example, that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia abolished slavery.   To generalize, those states surrounding Israel are not noted for promoting liberty and freedom. On the contrary, they are, for the most part, despotisms, theocracies, dictatorships and absolute monarchies, which have purged themselves of their Jewish populations.  In contrast, 59 Israeli- Arabs  have occupied seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

Looked at in comparison with surrounding Arab states, Israeli-Arabs fare much better than their neighbors.  Since Israel became an independent state in 1948, the lifespan for Israeli-Arabs has increased by 27%.  Recent studies show that Israeli-Arabs have improved their pass rate on exams qualifying them to enter universities from 26% in 2001 to 31% in 2012.  From 1990 to 2013, the percentage of Arab Israeli men having 13 or more years of education rose from 14% to 24%, a gain of 10%.  Arab-Israeli men, aged 25 to 64, show an employment rate of 71%, despite a drastic drop after age 45.  Lastly, the infant mortality rate for Israeli Arabs is 6.8 per 1,000, as compared to 3 for the Jewish population; however the Israeli-Arab figure surpasses that of rates in surrounding Arab countries.

As scholars with  what possibly could be construed as enlightened minds, it would appear that a far better strategy for the American Studies Association would be one of engagement.  If the ladies and gentlemen of the group are so convinced that Israel is the major  transgressor of peace and freedom in the Middle East, then it would seem that traditional American academic freedom would lead to a forum of open inquiry and dialogue.  Hopefully, the members of the association are aware that academic freedom was once the sine qua non of intellectual life in our nation.  However, given the dominance that the left now wields in higher education, any such assumption may not be accurate.

Finally, hypocrisy - at least in this instance - seems to have overcome good judgement in the American Studies Association.  I would hazard a guess that most ASA members have never traveled, much less lived, in the Middle East.  For most of them, too, their discipline of American studies would connote little academic familiarity with the region.  For starters, it might be a good idea for these savants to use some of their extended sabbatical time for some Middle Eastern studies and travel.  What the research from such efforts, honestly undertaken, could reveal might possibly serve to open certain minds.

Deo Vindice!

May God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

LIFT HIGH THE CROSS!

Lift high the cross,
The love of Christ proclaim,
Till all the world,
Adore his sacred name.

Oh, Lord, once lifted,
On the glorious tree.
As thou hast promised,
Draw the world to thee!

Driving through the town in which I live, I have often thought it would be a tremendous task to count the multitude of churches that one encounters.  There are Roman Catholic churches by the dozens and all sorts of mainline Protestant churches and innumerable churches readily identifiable as fundamentalist or evangelical.  Thus far, I have sighted only one structure bearing a crescent moon, which, by all indications, is a mosque.

By any gauge, America must still be deemed a Christian nation.  The Judeo-Christian tradition was planted early and deeply in the nation's consciousness, and it still resonates profoundly with the great mass of Americans.  Yet, one would never imagine that by virtue of what is encountered in American popular culture, the media and the nation's intellectual life.  

I once heard a sermon by a Catholic priest who opined that Christians should welcome the ridicule and opprobrium heaped upon them by hostile sources, for the Church has had its finest hours in environments considered  unfavorable to it.  Accordingly, I often think these days of the words of that priest; and, as one who worships in the Anglican tradition, I often think, too, of a recessional hymn heard often in that tradition, "Lift High the Cross."

If there was ever a time when Christians should be lifting high the cross, it is now.  Throughout the world, Christians are subjected to the worst sorts of persecutions, daily suffering pain and death for their faith.  Yet, in my own country and despite the denigration of a largely pagan popular culture,  American Christians continue unthinkingly to accept implicitly that religious freedom may be taken for granted.  At the same time, their incomprehension that the religion they profess is the most widely persecuted faith in the world is abetted by clergy so afraid of controversy that they fail to even mention the cataclysm of persecution in their sermons.

Although reluctant to be mistaken for a broken record, I have written time and time again from a perspective shaped by several years of residing in the Middle East, for it was there that I came face to face with the type of  rigidity and intolerance that can make an openly-lived Christian life a dangerous proposition.  Yet, despite the danger, persecuted Christians around the world continue to lift high the cross.

It is ironic that those entering the U.S., hailing from traditions of a monolithic/ideological framework and presumably immigrating in order to benefit from American freedoms and economic opportunity, do not deign to speak out when their coreligionists in other lands openly persecute individuals aligned with other religious traditions.     However, I remember well when Christians and other non-Muslims spoke out vigorously in objecting to Serbs who called themselves Christians persecuted Muslims in Bosnia.  As a Christian who objects to religious persecution regardless against whom it is exercised, I deplore the Islamic double-standard.

In contrast to the message of Christian love and forgiveness, wherever Islam prevails, it does so with compulsion and brute-force.  In place of viewing Islam as a religion, in many ways it is more proper  to see it as an ideological system, which has as its nucleus the audacity to claim that it should determine how life in its totality should be lived, prescribing  principles to be followed in economics, politics, hygiene, sex, law, family life, worship and and in virtually all areas of objective human reality.

Although it is out of keeping with the new orthodoxy of political-correctness to say it, it cannot be disputed that Christians, throughout their history, have taken the lead in fighting against human bondage, wage-slavery, child abuse and other forms of inequality and oppression.  No, America, those evils were not overcome in any setting by "progressives," leftists, communists, fascists and any other political extremists being in the forefront of opposition.  

Too often, I find that Christians in America, perhaps because of an unfettered popular culture of atheism and agnosticism which specializes in sensational attacks on the Church, seem embarrassed to acknowledge their faith.  Not only does this "head-in-the-sand" attitude lend a degree of legitimacy to those who would like nothing better than to see the ruin of Christianity, it also affects how we order our political life and conduct ourselves on the international stage.

That we have a president who cannot or will not speak out against the persecution of Christians speaks volumes about what we have allowed to transpire in a nation that has traditionally prided itself as being the leading defender of the world's oppressed people.  To prefer to court favor with Muslim tyrants and despots, rather than to decry the persecution of religious minorities in their beknighted  lands, smacks of moral and intellectual cowardice unbecoming  of our great Republic. As an American, I am very much ashamed.

Those of us who are Americans and call ourselves Christians must not be fearful.  If we believe in a risen Lord and Savior, we have nothing to fear.  We must not be apologetic.  And, if we are to honor the almost 2,200 Christian martyrs who gave up their lives throughout the world in 2013, mostly at the hands of Muslim persecutors, we must LIFT HIGH THE CROSS.

Deo Vindice!

God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

WHITHER THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS?

With much fanfare in the offing concerning "promise zones" as a solution to the lingering problem of poverty in America, it is to be hoped that, somehow, the challenges facing the great American middle class do not get lost in the shuffle.

It was no so long ago that a common assumption was that one could gain employment with a corporation and, after a career of 35 or 40 years, receive an adequate pension, complemented by Social Security, and be set for life.  Such expectations, except perhaps for government workers, are no longer valid.

American society is unique in its trust in the principle that a growing middle class will sustain its dominant position in the world; however, 21st century America is vastly different from its historical counterpart of 50 years ago, and American dominance, along with middle class standing, is no longer to be taken for granted.  In fact, a continuing decline of middle class standards of living may very well presage a parallel decline of American global prestige and power.

In terms of dollars adjusted for inflation, the average middle class family of 2013 was $4,000 poorer than its equivalent in 2000.  And this is a trend that has been building since the 1980's.  With the advent of emphasis on a global economy and a redirection toward service and knowledge-based industries, American corporations have been restructuring in various ways to promote efficiency.  And, quite frequently, the restructuring has adversely affected the middle class.  In re-engineering corporate structure, value has increased; but, to be sure, that value did not benefit a slimmed-down workforce, which, more often than not, was now expected to reinvent itself periodically in order to remain competitive and employed.

The theoretical basis of American capitalism has seen a sea-change from the 1950's and 60's to the 21st century.  This transformation of thought has moved from a time in which prominence was given to the maintenance of a loyal, long-standing workforce to one in which dividends for stockholders and the availability of more stock options for management became overriding concerns.  In the process, management began a sharp reversal in what tenure, benefits and remuneration could be expected by its employees.

Consequently, the middle class has been squeezed by traditional pension funds being replaced by IRAs and 401(k)s, while shouldering  increasingly heavy tax burdens.  Concurrently, with government schemes driving up the cost of health care and employers jettisoning employer-provided health insurance, the future for the American middle class does not appear to be appreciably brighter.

The assumption that there would be continuous upward mobility in America came crashing down with the housing bubble preceding the great recession.  To suppose that those who were significantly below the median could be expected to maintain even sub-prime mortgages and somehow be elevated into the middle class proved to be a disastrous fallacy and an even greater economic blunder, inasmuch as it would be the middle class that would suffer the greatest consequences of resulting economic decline.

America is now at a crossroads.  It is obvious that our society is much the worse for moving in a direction in which there are two segments of America, one thriving  while the other falters.  On one hand, we have a government which places great store in an ideology of redistribution.  But a study of the outcomes of redistributionist efforts throughout history is far from encouraging, as they invariably waste  resources and remove assets from economies  On the other hand, those who are considered to be of a more economically conservative bent would favor free-market solutions.  And, indeed, capitalism does grow economies and promote efficiency, but clearly, under the current circumstances, there are no guarantees that a rising economic tide will lift all of our societal boats.

As a nation, we have a history of performing best when we are challenged.  At present, all too many of us seem not to recognize the seriousness of the economic challenges facing us.  In short, we are distracted by the false rhetoric of elements that would seek to disunite us with flawed cries for the equality of first one cause or segment of our population and then another.  Somehow, anger has superseded reason and common sense, bringing on an even larger sense of frustration.  Only when our challenges become apparent to the greater part of the whole, will we have the potential to recognize the necessity of undertaking innovative measures to preserve our middle class and, thus, to preserve a dominant role for America in the world. In the meantime, we cannot afford the luxury of unlimited concessions and expenditures to assuage shortcomings perceived by disparate parties.  Our future is too important to be lost and sacrificed on an altar of political correctness and multiculturalism. 

Deo Vindice!

God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!