Wednesday, August 19, 2020

4876 - The end of the American era?

 Here's an article by Wade Davis about the fall of the USA under tRUMP. First a few tidbits from the article... 

In a dark season of pestilence, COVID has reduced to tatters the illusion of American exceptionalism. At the height of the crisis, with more than 2,000 dying each day, Americans found themselves members of a failed state, ruled by a dysfunctional and incompetent government largely responsible for death rates that added a tragic coda to America’s claim to supremacy in the world.

The American cult of the individual denies not just community but the very idea of society. No one owes anything to anyone. All must be prepared to fight for everything: education, shelter, food, medical care. What every prosperous and successful democracy deems to be fundamental rights — universal health care, equal access to quality public education, a social safety net for the weak, elderly, and infirmed — America dismisses as socialist indulgences, as if so many signs of weakness.

Flag-wrapped patriotism is no substitute for compassion; anger and hostility no match for love. Those who flock to beaches, bars, and political rallies, putting their fellow citizens at risk, are not exercising freedom; they are displaying, as one commentator has noted, the weakness of a people who lack both the stoicism to endure the pandemic and the fortitude to defeat it. Leading their charge is Donald Trump, a bone spur warrior, a liar and a fraud, a grotesque caricature of a strong man, with the backbone of a bully.


Here's a link to the whole article. It's not 'that' long. Besides, you've already read three paragraphs.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/ 


6 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Harsh - but difficult to argue against. Very difficult (unless of course you simply label it 'fake news'.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Well, those three paragraphs are absolutely right.

Ami said...

And then there are people like my own mom... she believes trumpy is 'the lesser of two evils' and is planning to vote for him again. Why? Because he's 'doing a pretty good job'.

She knows this 'cause Fox news told her so.

Mike said...

EC - I hope we can pull out of this dive.

DSWS - If... When Biden wins, the next four years will be critical. I said before that his VP pick would be critical. I think his pick is excellent.

A - ARRRRRGGGGGGG!

Kirk said...

The end of American hegemony wouldn't bother me if I thought that the hegemony that replaces it was another democracy with civil liberties. Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, and a few others would be perfectly fine replacements. But as the writer points out in that article (I did read the whole thing), the leading hegemonic contender is China, an authoritarian nation with not much in the way of civil liberties. Thus, NOT a perfectly fine replacement.

Mike said...

K - Can we all move to Denmark?