It’s an old story that Columbus started out in search of India and in the process discovered America. This land of the native red Indians was colonized by white people from Europe and beyond. The country came into existence when thirteen colonies rebelled against England in 1775. After seven years of bloodshed, she was given recognition by England by the peace of Versailles. USA came out with a federal constitution, drawn by the Philadelphia Convention, in 1787. The USA’s constitution is the best example of a federal constitution with spheres of federal and state influence clearly demarcated. George Washington became the first president and held the term from 1789 to 1797. These were the times of war between France and England (French Revolution ) and by maintaining neutrality US escaped the consequences associated with war. Thomas Jefferson, the third one to hold office of president, purchased the state of Louisiana from napoleon in 1803, for a sum of fifteen million dollars.
The declaration of independence doctrine that “ all men are created equal “, more or less led to the civil war (1861-1865). The then president, Abraham Lincoln , handled the issue superbly and forged the nation into steel through the fire of hatred. The southern states who had tried to secede were defeated and towards the end Lincoln was assassinated by a southern fanatic.
The monumental epoch event that saw US emerge as numero Uno superpower was the dropping of “little boy” and “ fat man” on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The oncoming decades saw major rivalries between the aspirant and the leader. It was a clash of culture, belief, and way of life. The era also saw one of the most rapid advances made in the realm of science. It came to an end symbolically with the demise of USSR as a nation towards the end of 1991.
The victory gave a new meaning to American way of life where consumption was the first priority. All resources of the world started pouring into America and she became the engine of globalization. She was, and is , the largest importing country in the world. The dollar is the world currency, and American way of life, aspirant world behavior. However all that seems to be changing with the current crisis going on in US of A.
The USA so fuelled on by the baby boomers generation, came into a quagmire created by its own hands.Alan Greenspan days saw the lowest level of federal interest rates and a mad rush for credit expansion. The numerous financial institutions present in USA, in a bid for higher and higher profits (the remuneration of employees was based on this),started doling out loans to each and every Tom, Dick & Harry.This was successful initially as the housing industry was booming then.Then came the next masterstroke from such firms- Cutting the subprime mortgages into different tranches –and bundling them into different and complex instruments that even the rating agencies couldn’t understand (or,how would it explain the high ratings given to such instruments). It was a case of unbridled corporate greed all around.
The proverbial house of cards started coming down as the circumstances began to change. The housing market started falling, at the same time interest rates of NINJA’s (no income, no job, no assets) started rising(they were given teaser loans when the initial down payment is absurdly low only to rise higher and higher with passage of time.) .Also the economic outlook at that time wasn’t very positive. So many decided to default on their loans. The banks seized the properties and put it on sale: putting a further downward pressure on prices. The banks in order to avoid uncertainties started holding cash and tightened the credit given to other banks (inter bank lending).
This credit squeeze led to a number of companies going bust. While Freddie mae & Fannie Mac and AIG could tide over this mess with the help of Govt’s generosity Lehman and Bear Stearns folded. The crisis soon spread to other parts of the globe and is an ongoing crisis.
The Bush govt came out with a 750 billion dollar financial package and president elect Obama announced another 350 billion financial stimulus.But these packages havn’t had much effect on ongoing crisis.
Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, who is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, paints a bleak picture about the future. He says that 2012 America could see revolution marked by food riots, tax revolts and job marches.
"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas....we're going to see a fundamental shift take place....putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree," said Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the great depression".
Celente, successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis and the current subprime fiasco . He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 percent.
Ravi Batra a cyclical analyst also discussed about the coming end of US dominance.His Law of Social Cycles states that there are four different types of people who find basic fulfillment in four different kinds of ways: Warriors- (having strong bodies, vigorous physical energy and a sharp intellect.They are prone to taking physical risks);Intellectuals (have a more developed intellect than the warriors, but generally lack the physical strength and vigor);Acquisitors( money minded);Laborers (The laborers are the peasants, serfs, clerks, waiters, janitors, doormen, cabdrivers, garbage collectors, truck drivers, night watchmen and factory workers who keep society running smoothly by working diligently ).
These divisions crept in from the purushsukta of Rig Veda in India. In local nomenclature they are known as kshaktriya, Brahmin, vaishya and sudra.
Batra suggests that each of these classes find their fulfillment in various cycles.No single class can remain dominant indefinitely, and power passes from class to class in a prescribed order, or cycle. The age of warriors is followed by an age of intellectuals, which over time merges into an age of acquisitors.The current times saw” growing poverty and a vanishing middle class, overwhelming CEO greed and ruthlessness, mounting official corruption and incompetence and above all the demoralizing war in Iraq “.According to him the world is in the throes of change :
“All of the symptoms that I expected to see before the start of an anti-acquisitive rebellion are now here. I anticipated many social and economic cancers, such as abysmal wages, growing poverty, rising homelessness, educational decline, family breakdown and loose morals. They are all here, so revolution cannot be very far away.”
So what is the future going to be? Well, no one knows that for sure. But we can definitely sense the changing times. And such a time is now. America no doubt has been a holder of individual dignity, freedom and liberty. It has been a great country. It achieved in a century what Europe and other civilizations took thousands of years to achieve. The 21st century belonged to America. And I’m afraid it’s time as a ruler may come to an end. Terrorism, delusion and stagnation have started taking their toll. The oncoming depression may well spell an end, or if managed may shift the decline to a few more years.
But “death comes to us all”, and,” all things that have a beginning must have an end”. NO MATTER HOW GREAT.
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