The descent of the United States of America as an Empire is evident following the shenanigans of its last election and (former) president Donald Trump’s reluctance to vacate office. The claim of a coup d’etat or civil war is exaggerated, but the fact remains that unrestricted gun ownership is advocated by the right-wing constituency should be concerning.
The seeds of deep divisions in American society has now been firmly planted, with almost half the electorate, 74 million people, endorsing the former president’s white supremacist, xenophobic and racist views.
Trump’s failure to “make America great again” has become apparent both domestically with the economic downturn and spreading the Covid virus rapidly infecting and killing millions of Americans.
With the highest GDP in the world the US failed to tackle the pandemic that has claimed almost half a million lives, and counting. It also has the highest number of infections in the world. Unemployment is soaring even as the super-rich rake in hundreds of billions in profits. At nearly $27 trillion, the US also has the highest debt in the world.
American cities with ‘third world’ like conditions are on fire because of systemic racism and police brutality against people of colour. Many inner cities look like war zones. At least 40 million people live in absolute poverty. Homelessness is rising. US broadcaster National Public Radio published found that 135 unarmed Black people have been killed by police since 2015, often by police with red flags on their record. NPR looked at “thousands of pages” of police records in its reviews of the deaths and found that 75 percent of the officers are white.
Trump, who has refused to denounce white Right-Wing groups, has promised to return, hinting at the formation of a “patriotic” party. He will perpetuate the inherited American system built on the genocide of indigenous Native peoples and centuries-long slavery.
This same genocidal mind set has been at work in projecting American power beyond its shores. With the largest military budget in the world spending $2.5 trillion on its military in the last four years, America has a pathetic record of failures. It has sanctioned, plundered and sown enormous destruction in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Cuba and Venezuela, failing to achieve any political or military objectives.
Trump’s bashing and bullying of the illegitimate Arab regimes and monarchies, extorting billions of dollars under blatant threats that their rule will collapse within a week if the USA withdraws its support. All of these entities propped up by the USA and their puppet leaders in the oil rich region, and the hugely subsidised Zionist entity Israel, will be vulnerable once the mighty Empire disintegrates.
The 2020 election result is simply a reflection of the social, economic, political and moral phenomena underlying the end of the American Empire.
Dr Firoz Osman is the co-author of Why Israel? The Anatomy of Zionist Apartheid-A SA Perspective, and an executive member of the Media Review Network, an advocacy group based in Gauteng.
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