Crescent International
By Dr Firoz Osman
The descent of the United States of America as Empire is evident following the shenanigans of the November elections and (former) president Donald Trump’s reluctance to vacate office.
Claims of coup d’etat or civil war are exaggerated but the fact remains that unrestricted gun ownership advocated by the right-wing constituency should be concerning.
The seeds of deep divisions in American society have 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 the rapid spread of the Covid virus infecting and killing millions of Americans.
Despite the highest GDP in the world, the US has 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 $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 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 review of the deaths and found that 75 percent of the officers are white.
Trump, who has refused to denounce white supremacist 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 mindset has been at work in projecting American power beyond its shores.
With the largest military budget in the world spending $13.34 trillion from 2000 to 2019 and another $3.18 trillion for the Veterans Administration, its total outlay adds up to $16.52 trillion.
Yet America has a pathetic record of failures.
It has sanctioned, plundered and caused enormous destruction in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Cuba and Venezuela, but has failed to achieve any of its political or military objectives.
Trump has bashed and bullied the illegitimate Arab regimes and monarchies to fork out billions of dollars under blatant threats that their rule will collapse within a week if the US withdraws support.
All of these entities propped up by the US and their puppet rulers in the oil rich region, and the hugely subsidised Zionist entity Israel, will be vulnerable once the mighty empire disintegrates.
The 2020 US 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 South African Perspective, and executive member of the Media Review Network, an advocacy group based in Gauteng.
America may have the world’s largest economy and the biggest war machine but it is a deeply divided country. To the traditional fault line...
