Global Meltdown - America at Bay

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In 1851, when white Americans persuaded the Red Indians to sell two million acres of land for 150,000 dollars, chief Seattle, who spoke on behalf of the Indians in Washington state, said, "We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father's grave behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care. His father's grave, and his children's birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert". That remains one of the most profound and telling comments on American materialism.

We live difficult and exciting times. The coming days are going to be very tough because most of the world will have to learn how to live with less money or no money for a few years.

The coming days are going to be very exciting because, we are witnessing a great shift in the world economy. The Yankees will no longer be the sole proprietors of the world economy.

American supremacy is coming to an end. They can no longer control or decide the course of the rest of the world. Our corporate houses and the media are shedding tears for the collapse of the US economy. They are behaving like there is no tomorrow for the world. It is true that the tremors of the economic earthquake in America are being felt in India and China. It has already started hurting us. It may continue to hurt us for two to three years. A matter of grave concern, but there is a positive side to it.

The confidence of the big brother of rhw global economy has completely been shattered. The US is now looking like a rudderless nation. The financial tsunami has wiped out half its wealth and power. What is worrying the Americans the most is loss of reputation and the fear of being sidelined.

It also knows that it will take at least a decade to regain confidence and rebuild its economy. It is a long time in today's world. Countries like India and China, which are still conservative and not as greedy as America, must sieze this opportunity. Unlike the Yankees, the 'conservative' Asians spend less than what they earn.

Social and government control also make economies like ours sustainable. Moreover we know how to deal with such a crisis. A

chaotic life has taught us how to survive in tough times. Americans who built their once invincible empire by bullying the rest of the world now look helpless. It is greed and an insatiable hunger for resources have finally pushed it to the brink.

I consider myself lucky because my generation is witnessing one of most significant shifts in political supremacy. We are living history. We are going through one of the most troubled times in the last 200 years. As the Red Indians prophetically said 'It is the end of living and the beginning of survival of America'.

Human history has proved that everything comes back to us. The United States had both arrogance and illusions about its invincibility. It never listened to the prophetic words of the Red Indians, on whose grave it built its wealth.

I hope it has now realised that nobody can escape from the justice of nature. As Charles Dickens famously wrote in his 'A tale of two cities', "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."

Is this going to be the end of American empire and beginning of a new era? I hope and pray it is.