During The Past Decade Did The U.S. Change For The Better?

During the past several decades the U.S. has changed very quickly and in many ways. Is it changed for the better? As with most things in life, nothing is all good or all bad; however, it would be tough to argue that most of the changes are for the better.

Perhaps more than anything else, the George Walker Bush administration’s legacy was to create the greatest changes in recent U.S. history. Since Year 2000 we went from a representative democracy to a profiteering imperialist oligarchy. Is that a bad thing? Yes it is, pretty much.

The reason it become a bad thing is not because so many individuals and corporations earned gi-normous profits, but it was horrible because of how they did it. They put-away huge profits by scamming or stepping on and over the American people.

There were ponzi schemes and too much easy credit offerings. Banks jumped on providing and turning-over home and other loans virtually disregarding whether or not people could continue to pay them off.

In addition, many laws were bent or changed that afforded the President more power without the oversight of Congress, as had previously been determined by the US Constitution. Accompanying such power was the deterioration of our inalienable and civil rights. We become more of a nation of blathering sheep.

We became involved in more Vietnam style of thinking when we sent our soldiers off to fight an obscure Iraq war for many wrong reasons and became enmeshed in a long-term struggle in which there still is no sight of winning.

Now with the current President Barack Obama's administration, not only do we remain in Iraq, but we also invaded Afghanistan to crush supposed terrorist cells and activities that are supposed to cause us harm.

Furthermore, as if that was not enough warring to focus on, we are concerned about and are considering to move troops into Iran, North Korea and other areas of the world, e.g., several African nations.

In short, we are acting irresponsibly and sticking our imperialist noses into affairs across the globe. Imperialism and profiteering are not evil advances in themselves; however, they are irresponsible and reprehensible because we continue these activities without ensuring the political, social and economic stability of our own nation and our citizens.

We have become the nation of sheep. We Americans are walking, eating, drinking, and breathing zombies who have lost our direction. Our government has driven a wedge into the heart of our representative democracy, which we seem to have changed more often than our underwear.

There have our good leaders gone? That’s the question that boggles the imagination. Capitalism once was a good thing, but now it has driven the middle class into possible extinction. There are more wealthy extremists since Bush entered the White House, but there are increasingly more poor Americans, who stand on long unemployment lines or beg on more street corners with signs that scream for money and jobs.

Where has the middle class gone? It must have fallen into the trenches for its own survival, but so far, there is no climbing out from them.

Credit card usage burned the American people. What were we thinking?

Gasoline prices are escalating again as OPEC nations manipulate the oil markets by cutting production as spring moves closer to summer and we all drive more, highlighting the never-ending struggle of the laws of supply and demand as we continue to get screwed into the ground by our own government, which permits OPEC to do whatever it wants, and which refuses to open-up our gasoline and oil reserves to the public as we continue to stockpile our energy reserves instead of providing more affordable energy to all Americans.

Yet, Capitalistic Imperialism has its limitations. When profits made from bleeding Americans citizens reached its peak back in 2008, the corporate sector “suddenly” saw a downturn in all market. In actuality, “suddenly” had been brewing for the previous four years, but no one wanted to focus on what was occurring economically. Who could have determined that overnight the U.S. would change from a Capitalistic Imperialism to a Representative Socialism that diverted American jobs to overseas nations, pushed thousands of homes into foreclosure, and subjected US citizens into a hellish nightmare that destroyed the lives and dreams of future generations?

Once again the fix for all our folly is too excessive. Loose credit has been checked by virtually tightening and choking it to death. Credit reports are plummeting individual levels to a point of no return.

Where are the jobs?

There are more than 40 million immigrant living and working inside the U.S. Of those, more than 20 million are deemed illegal. President Obama wants to permit the illegals to become legal. Will it happen? Of course it will. When it does, long-time American citizens will be crushed to the ground, more jobs will fly-out the window, more elderly and college kids will have to go on government assistance and food stamps, as will millions of illegal immigrants who have turned legal.

How will government subsidized health care support all these people? Where will the tax dollars come from to serve this massive population? As for corporate profiteering, as they escalate how far down will the poor class be driven? Remember “Les Miserables” who catalyzed the poor in France to revolt and cut-off the heads of the frivolous reigning aristocracy? Will American citizens rise-up to the challenge, or will the sheep follow the herdsman into the corral to be slaughtered shortly?

Where are the jobs? Where are the inalienable rights of all American citizens? Where have all the good leaders gone? Has the past decade of U.S. history shown positive change? Currently our history books have little more than blank pages to show any positive change.



Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.