On his way to the New World in 1630, John Winthrop described his vision for America with the following words: “We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.”
The words of the future governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ring true even today, as our nation is the world’s only superpower. I am afraid, however, that his thought is rapidly approaching its expiration date some 376 years later.
As I am writing this, the U.S. national debt stands at about $8.3 trillion, increasing at a rate of about $2.42 billion per day. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that we, the American people, owe more than half of that sum to foreign investors.
In March, for the fourth time since 2000, Congress increased the debt ceiling to almost $9 trillion, so that the federal government would not default on Treasury notes for the first time ever.
Yes, in the so-called “land of the free,” each and every U.S. citizen will soon owe over $30,000 to pay for things such as the war in Iraq, federal tax cuts and other fun things like the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.”
Our global military dominance is at least partly due to the money that we continue to pour into defense spending. However, as some of the world’s other powerful nations (e.g. Japan, China, Russia) come into parity with the United States economically, we will see them become our relative equals with respect to militaristic might, too.
This is not to mention the fact that China has about four times as many warm bodies readily available than the United States. If we continue to overextend our troops by fighting unnecessary wars that we may never win, we are essentially tobogganing headfirst down the so-called “slippery slope” on the way to losing our position as king of the hill.
Other fields that America is used to dominating aren’t looking great, either. Take the sciences, for example: not only is it becoming more and more common for academically talented students to study at their own country’s most prestigious universities, but some of the United States’ best and brightest are opting to pursue careers overseas.
Blame legislators for limiting things like stem cell research, educators for not emphasizing the importance of a basic science education or parents demanding special treatment for their children in the classrooms; it won’t matter in the long run, as all roads lead to a national brain drain.
Things may not be a bleak as they seem, though. Although a loss of status seems somewhat inevitable, we should use our foresight to prepare our nation for the decline in power. Our top priority should be to work to make the other powerful countries less likely to want to go to war with us, even if/when we lose the title of undisputed “world-beaters.”
Can this happen? Certainly, it can.
Will this happen? Who knows? Are we willing to sacrifice things such as federal tax cuts in order to stave off more increases to the federal debt ceiling? Do we believe it’s more important to ban research using discarded embryonic tissue than to lose America’s best researchers to South Korea? Will we continue to allow the government to hand out no-bid contracts to corrupt corporations that spend money faster and with less regard than a teenager loose in a mall with their parents’ credit card?
I don’t know. Yet I do know that if something doesn’t change soon, I’m afraid that Winthrop’s beloved “city upon a hill” is going to be shining its light on the rest of the world from the bottom of that hill.
Are you ready to accept this challenge? Don’t know?
Then ask yourself this: “In the year 64 A.D., when Nero’s Roman Empire was burning to the ground, would I have been a fiddler or a firefighter?”