American history and politics has often been propelled by an undercurrent of Evangelical Christianity, which one of its premises is -one can not tell if you are saved unless they can point out somebody who is damned. It becomes possible to identify one's self by identifying their enemies and America is looking for a new enemy.
During the Cold War years of 1945 -1989 Russia was a worthy adversary but it failed create the "worker's paradise" and "bury the United States in corn" (Khrushchev's actual quote) because of drag on the economy from its military and arms industry. Between the Stalin's purges and the destruction from the Great Patriotic War it's surprising the Soviet Union just didn't collapse a week after VE Day but instead the Soviets rebuilt their nation and tried to keep pace with the United States at the same time. Ironically the capitalist style of competition between US and USSR to dominate the world arms market made Soviet weapons either the best in the field or the best value for whatever hard currency you were paying in. There was no competition in their domestic markets, so you would never want to own a Russian car but if you were stuck on a battlefield you could always depend on a Russian made weapon.
After the collapse of Communism many politicians and fear mongers faced an existential crisis -again who are we without an enemy to fight? Ten years ago you would have thought the United States had found its enemy in the Islamic world. Two things had changed the scenario for an "endless war" that could become a perpetual stalemate (and defense industry cash cow) that can never be won or lost. One was the insanely complex maze of cultural politics that ran through North Africa into the Middle East and on into South and Central Asia. These people didn't just want to fight the Great Satan but they also wanted to settle every injustice inflicted upon them for the last 1,000 years. The old Cold War was more simply Capitalism verse Communism, us verse them.
The other game changer was (and is) The Arab Spring. It's not just a popular uprising against the old dictatorial governments in the region. As young people bought computers, they got on-line and began to see the rest of the world without filters and censorship. This generation has seen other people, mostly infidels, living in peace and prosperity. They want what other people have, a house, a car, meaningful employment, a spouse, children and the choice to have as little or as much religion in their life as they wanted. This is tricky stuff for America because a secular liberal Islamic world could be more troublesome as productive economic competitors than wild Jihadists and stereotypical terrorists for the evening news.
The power of the internet is to help people connect up with other people. China struggles with the internet because it's become a Goose that lays the golden eggs but also spouts out subversion. Cuba and North Korea totally fear the internet, though both nations are developing systems where computers in the respective countries can communicate within their boarders but not with the rest of the world.
North Korea has long ago devolved into the very model of George Orwell's 1984. Radios are pre-set to the one government channel, try to modify the radio and you can be sent to a labor camp for five years. There is no private ownership of cell phones and the government issued ones can not connect to the outside world. Every aspect of North Korean life is controlled by the government or the grinding poverty. In the book 1984 the whole world was controlled by three totalitarian super states that were equally brutal and inhuman. There was no hope because there was nothing better to compare your life to. In the Arab Spring, when news and information that conflicted with the government (and religious) propaganda came flooding in -the people saw they were lied to and they rebelled. This is what North Korea fears, this is what any dishonest government fears.
So who will be the United States new Cold War enemy? Scandinavia
That might sound like a joke but that wasn't an entirely satirical statement. The Scandinavian countries (Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland) challenge and threaten every assumption, postulate, and conceit America is built upon. The Scandinavian nations produce world class goods, usually run trade surpluses, have cradle to grave benefits for all its citizens and they balance their federal budgets. These nations are places where government works, people are not only legally equal but also socially equal and they not only have a standard of living about the same as the United States but they manage that with almost no poverty or violent crime.
I have already notice a decrease in news stories about Scandinavian countries. When Iceland started putting Bankers in jail for their participation the the worldwide fiscal crisis -not a word of it was printed in the US. The Icelandic government's decision to bailout homeowners (not the banks) with low interest loans and debt forgiveness was exactly opposite of what was done in America and though Iceland's economy took a huge hit the overall effects where only half as bad as in America and the EU.
In Norway the per capita income is higher than the United States, for the last several years at least 10% higher. Part of that comes from profits on the North Sea oil where ever citizen receives a dividend check because the government manages the resource and not private industry. The North Sea oil is seen as the property of the the people of Norway and not a handful of stockholders. As you can see this is a very Un-American concept.
Sweden is considered the most politically conservative of the Scandinavian nations. If you read any of the books by Stieg Larrson you might believe there's a decrepit ruling class of closet Nazis running things. From what I gather a conservative Swed would be so far left of center that in America that we would think of as a radical socialist. I wish I could remember who was speaking, he was a Swedish conservative reformer. When asked if he would like to see an American style health care industry in Sweden the man got quite indignant and answered some like -I want to reform what we have here, what they have In the United States is "uncivilized".
Denmark is working to be a carbon neutral nation -not because it's profitable but because they see it as morally right. They are becoming a leader in solar cells and bio-mass energy. They pay twice as much for electricity as the average American does but Danes don't sit at home in the dark and the cold -but they just don't waste electricity either. In one report I read that compared the health systems of Denmark and the United States -Denmark came out the clear winner. In Denmark people live longer, enter old age with less complaints and chronic illnesses, their children are taller and healthier (and far less obese) and all of these benefits come to the Danish people at about half the cost per person than in America.
I would say something about Finland but I don't know too much the country other than the people are friendly and they really like coffee.
So here are America's newest enemies. People who work hard, live in peace and share their wealth as socialists. Nations that demand every worker gets a "livable" wage and if you should fall sick, become unemployed or need a little help you suddenly don't become a "taker" , a "mooch" or some kind of social pariah. Most of all they respect the person as human being and not a unit of net worth.
So be prepared America, we can ignore Scandinavia but sooner or later the word is going to get out. They are living happy lives and not killing themselves over work. They are saying no thank-you to the American Dream because having peace of mind is priceless.
Watch out -the Socialist Vikings are coming.
Fewer and fewer western Europeans look to the US for inspiration and direction. They are looking north to Scandinavia.
No comments:
Post a Comment