The American System Is Sick Indeed

On August 30 this year, the Financial Times in England published an editorial entitled “2011, the Year of Global Indignation” written by the newspaper’s chief foreign affairs commentator. The article mentioned the volatile political situations in many countries in the world this year and highly praised the United States as a “striking exception.” It pointed out that although the U.S. also had similar problems, these problems could all be addressed through the media and at the ballot box.

Only a few days later, however, this theory of the American exception was broken. Beginning on Sept. 17, a movement named Occupy Wall Street first erupted in New York and immediately spread all over the U.S. The spearhead of this movement pointed directly at the Wall Street capitalists who caused the global financial crisis in 2008 and the unjustified U.S. political and economical system hiding behind Wall Street.

On the surface, participants in this movement had various complicated demands and were unable to agree on a single agenda. Some of them were against the U.S. capitalists who are insatiably avaricious. Others were against wars. Some were against Democrats and Republicans who ignored national interests and engaged in endless partisan fights.

In fact, even though everyone had different demands, all made clear that they were extremely dissatisfied with the current situation in the U.S. Also, there was indeed a unified theme linking these different demands, one which emphasized the polarization of the U.S. economy and society. This theme, to a certain degree, reflected the sharp conflicts between different classes and strata in American society.

This movement was tightly linked to the current international situation. As the saying goes, “Current affairs are always impermanent.” Yesterday, the U.S. was still there to inflame and agitate people in the Middle East and North Africa’s ever-changing situation and to promote the so-called “democracy”, “freedom” and “justice”; but today the U.S. itself was unexpectedly hit by its own weapons. Therefore, its backyard was on fire and there was no peace at all. At first, the U.S. made great efforts to manipulate the so-called “Internet freedom” and instigated people in the Middle East and North Africa to rise in rebellion; instead, it drew fire against itself and picked up rocks and hit its own feet. Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, who has been hailed by some in the West as the Statue of Liberty regarding Internet issues, has been as silent as a winter cicada and kept her mouth tightly closed concerning the Occupy Wall Street movement in her own country. The mainstream media in the U.S. also carefully avoided mentioning the movement and filed reports about it, treating it as something no one wanted to reveal. The natural character of the U.S. is to place stringent requirements on others while being lenient on itself, and this has been revealed without a doubt.

As an old Chinese saying goes, “From a leaf we know that Autumn is here.” Judging from this movement it is very clear that American society is very ill indeed. The symbolic symptoms are that the unemployment rate is stubbornly high, the economy is down and sluggish and the financial deficit and government debt are huge. The truth is that extremely inappropriate measures were adopted to fight against the crisis, that American taxpayer money was used to save major banks which triggered the financial crisis, that these banks not only failed to receive due punishment but benefited greatly from the crisis, that the majority of the ordinary people and the middle class were just gradually getting emaciated. The roots of the illness were high concentration of wealth and the great inequality between the rich and poor. “We are the 99 percent,” the slogan that has stood out in this movement, was just the most obvious evidence of this. The so-called “1 percent“ refers to American elites and powerful classes which also include the super rich, while the “99 percent” refers to those ordinary Americans who are powerless — both classes are significantly different in terms of financial strength and are engaged in serious emotional confrontation.

The riots that broke out in some European cities not long ago and the continuing deterioration of the European debt crisis which has been triggering social unrest in European countries, when considered together with the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S. which seems to be catching up from behind, indicate that the financial crisis is evolving into an economic and social crisis in the West. This crisis is becoming a systematic and persistent trend in the Western developed countries.

2011 is the 20th anniversary of the dissolution of the former Soviet Union and the end of Cold War. Western developed countries, which looked at themselves as the victors of the Cold War, generally feel dispirited and panicked. Before, the West boasted about the “end of history” and was mightily arrogant and imperious; however, today’s U.S. and Europe just seem to be dejected. The difference between Western powers and newly emerging powers has been especially strong and sharp in the past twenty years. “Before the sickening tree, there are ten thousand plants in the spring”; the sickening tree refers to the U.S. and Europe, which have fallen into systematic difficulties.

Currently the Occupy Wall Street movement seems to be having three major impacts on the U.S. First, it will impact both parties’ struggle to reduce deficit and debt and the presidential election in 2012. Both parties, based on each party’s interest, have reacted differently toward this movement. Traditionally, Republicans represent rich people and big business’ interests; therefore, they instinctively abhor and fear the movement. They also blame the unions providing support behind the scene, accusing them of initiating a “class struggle” on behalf of President Obama. On the contrary, the Democrats want to use this movement to push forward their expansion of employment agenda and plan to guide the movement’s spearhead toward the Republicans; however, the Democrats are afraid of being charged for creating class conflict and losing control of the movement. Therefore, the Democrats are being exceptionally cautious and ambiguous on the one hand while being opportunistic and acting as occasion dictates.

Second, it will affect the United States’ adjustment of its global strategy. This movement has proved that domestic difficulties are more severe than foreign aggression for the U.S., so its strategic emphasis may turn further inward; this includes investing in domestic construction and stimulating the economy in order to reinforce the base of U.S. hegemony. Outwardly it may incline to downsize or reduce unnecessary involvements and interferences, emphasizing more on using “smart power” and further utilizing its allies and new partners to contain and control opponents.

Third, it will have impacts on the U.S.’s image and soft power. Because it has piles of domestic issues to deal with, the U.S. is experiencing difficulty being the “master” and “moral police,” and the U.S.’s developmental model is also no longer an “example” and “standard.” It is obvious that the U.S. sticks to rules that are too old and out of date and therefore cannot adjust to economic globalization, which leads to the weakening of its competent power; however, American politicians want to blame their problems on foreign factors. The Occupy Wall Street movement exposed this lie. The difficult situation in the U.S. today has been linked to domestic causes such as living beyond means, abnormal consumption, wanton military aggressio, and expansion without limit. The decision makers in the U.S. should engage in deep self-examination, cast off their old selves and replace them with new selves, and honestly handle and resolve their own problems.