Keeping an Eye on Technology Futures, No Hidden Agendas, New Attitudes, No Platitudes!
Yes, the author is French. However, Michael Lind (Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation) who wrote the Foreword says, "Todd's purpose is not denunciation, but diagnosis". This is NOT an anti- American book; rather, it is a sobering analysis of America's behavior based on a mix of anthropology, economics, and demographics.
Todd contrasts the "Good America" of 1950-1965 with the "Bad America" of the new 21st century. Good America was marked by democracy, free speech, expanding social programs, and the civil rights movement at home, supported by a productive economy based on manufacturing and exports, and represented abroad by a generous foreign policy.
"Bad America" has renounced the principle of equality and replaced it with a selfish oligarchy (government by a privileged few), allowed itself to fall into massive debt (including an unsustainable trade imbalance), and returned to its obsession with race. It is driven by militarism, is suspicious of international cooperation, and has become a force more for disruption than stability. The unilateralism and militarism is a sign of frailty, not strength. The militaristic foreign policy does little more than prop up the industrial/military business complex.
The respected French historian and demographer, takes a look at past empires, tracks their decay and eventual failure, the rise of the upper classes, and loss of democracy. He makes several points worth considering. For example: What if the countries which collectively support our huge debt demanded immediate repayment? China holds the most US debt - $1.3 trillion; what if they revalued their currency and stopped supporting the dollar?
Misguided free trade policies, have hollowed out our industrial base and decimated our middle classes. Dependent on imports, America is injecting demand into the world economy while producing little world value. Our trade deficit is currently $500 billion per year, which means that the rest of the world is financing our consumerism. How long can that continue?
Todd's characterization of the US hold more than a grain of truth. You may bristle when you read it, but you'll sense the echoes of truth.
