Where are we? What have we become as a people? Has the American spirit died?
The United States has never been in such a situation as we find ourselves today. We are fighting two official wars, and two or three more unofficial wars overseas today. Beyond that, we are in the worst economic slump in generations. According to Marx, these economic booms and busts are just what come with the system of capitalism, and until the system is put on its head, not modified or adjusted, but actually fundamentally changed at its roots, it is destined to repeat itself.
Now, perhaps having only been alive for the last three decades, I may be wrong here, but in my lifetime there have been several cycles of this boom and bust that Marx predicted over a hundred and fifty years ago. Beyond the general trend of boom and bust, the ownership class now owns more of the wealth and industry than ever before in the history of this country. To further exacerbate the problem, for the first time in this nation’s history the people are stunningly silent about what is going on. It seems almost as though our population has been so dumbed down that we believe we cannot fix these problems on our own, but rather need a member of the ownership class to fix it for us. This goes entirely against the fundamental existence of the American Spirit. We are a people who have, through every generation, relied more upon ourselves and our own laurels to make changes and the world better for ourselves.
Where are we now? We are sitting idly by, watching reality TV, discussing nonsensical political solutions to problems utterly misdiagnosed by so called ‘experts’, and hoping that someone else with more money and smarts fixes everything for us. What have we become as a people? Where are the populist voices standing up for the people, the working class, the vast unwashed masses?
I am fortunate to have been born in America. And I am proud of where my country has gone in the past, and parts of the world we’ve built for ourselves and future generations. I am, however, ashamed of my current generation and our utter ineptitude to get anything done or changed for the better. I am ashamed of what my country has become; the global war machine. I am ashamed of what my country has become, a global power with advice and remedies for the rest of the world to follow, which is unable to take care of its own problems.
I will once again be proud of my country, and perhaps my own generation once we come together and do something for ourselves. Barack Obama could not in 2008 fix this mess, and can not now. Nor can any one of the Republican presidential nominees. We as a people can, and only after we stand up against the powers to be that have led us to this terrible position at home and in the world.
Though I remain pessimistic about who and what we’ve become, I do honestly believe that we have this in us. This country is what it is because of past generations of people less educated and qualified than my own generation standing up and doing things for themselves. My only question is when and where will we decide that enough is enough, and we’re going to make this country better than how we found it?
Sean M Henry
