Linton P. Gordon
There is no doubt that the United States of America has fallen behind a number of countries in a number of significant areas. China has overtaken the United States of America in the production of computers and cellular phones. Indeed, nearly all laptops on sale in the United States of America are either manufactured in China or partially manufactured there.
Most cellular phones on sale in the United States of America are manufactured in South Korea or China. The Indians are now gaining a very significant foothold in the provision of information via telephone and the internet.
The United States of America continues to maintain superiority in the field of weapon technology. They have the most advanced defence and attack arsenal of weapons. They also have the largest stock of warplanes, aircraft carriers, armoured personnel carriers and main battle tanks.
The United States of America spends huge sums on espionage. Their intelligence gathering apparatus operates throughout the world. The National Security Agency (NSA) is far more secretive than the CIA. It is this Agency that the United States of America used to listen in on the telephone communications of the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, among other world leaders.
PROFIT FROM WAR
The American economy does best when that country is at war. For this reason several political and industrial leaders in the United States of America are always demanding and/or inciting the country to go to war. War generates a demand for goods (military equipment) which generates employment and of course profit for the manufacturers of military hardware.
The United States of America needs to be careful that it is not falling behind in small but significant areas. The constant demand, by the minority African-American population, for equal rights and justice is a constant reminder that the election of a black President (Obama) has not changed the practice of wide-spread racism in the United States of America. Labour and employment statistics continue to show that Blacks earn significantly less than Whites for the same jobs. There continues to be several instances where Blacks are treated at a lesser standard than Whites at the workplace.
Visitors to the United States of America constantly complain about the bundling and clumsiness at the Immigration Department. I recently had the experience of spending one hour and 45 minutes in the immigration line at Kennedy Airport in New York. There was no incident, nor difficulty facing the Immigration officers. There was just inefficiency, incompetence and lack of professionalism. Above all, there was a lack of pride in the immigration officers on duty. They were not ashamed or embarrassed by the situation. The state of affairs looked like that obtaining in a backward Third World country.
The balance of power is slowly shifting from the United States of America. They appear not to realize this. It will take more than military might to maintain the world dominance they are used to.
