Narcissism Catalyzes Decline of American Strength

Post-World War II, the U.S. has relied on military and technological superiority to do as it pleases and revel in self-centeredness. Its immorality in military matters, although already doing great harm to the American spirit, has not inspired any intention among the Washington elite to self-reflect or self-criticize; they persist in the old way of doing things, day by day guiding the ruination of U.S. finance. The American deficit is increasingly large, debt is snowballing and its level of trust is increasingly low. America had the greatest number of patent applications in the world over the long period following World War II, even higher than the rest of the world’s countries combined. But since 2011, China has superseded the United States in the total number of patent applications, demonstrating that U.S. dominance in science and technology is already in decline. A country that is not good at “unnecessary” critical reflection and exceedingly narcissistic will continue to catalyze its decline in economics, science, technology, military and other areas.

The Technology World Will Reshuffle

Entering the 21st century, the U.S. was successively involved in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars thus wasting immense financial resources, greatly harming U.S. vitality and causing funding systems for investment in research and higher education to steadily decline. Scientists have no means to obtain enough funding to do relevant research and patent applications have shown a declining trend year by year. In 2010, the number of U.S. patent applications still ranked first in the world, but the quantity had already shrunk considerably, accounting for only one fourth of the global total. This drop demonstrates that the superiority of U.S. science and technology is gradually fading away. By contrast, in the 30 years following China’s reform and opening, its economy has developed at a fast pace and comprehensive state power has rapidly expanded, which has positively affected research and higher education investment mechanisms like a boat which rises along with the tide. In 2011, China’s patent applications surpassed 520,000, for the first time exceeding the long-time hegemon of the patent kingdom — the United States, with its 500,000 patent applications — to become first in the world.

China’s patent applications exceeded the United States’ to rank first in the world, for the first time becoming “boss” of the patent kingdom, making it clear that U.S. leadership in science and technology can no longer compare to what it once was. Scientific and technological innovation is in sharp decline, highlighting that America’s and other Western countries’ era of global invention is already a thing of the past. The number of U.S. patent applications has fallen to second in the world. Americans’ unwillingness to look at the facts along with their longstanding narcissism have put them in a helpless situation. Meanwhile, the perplexing European economic crisis has also forced them to continue tightening policy, reducing funds for investments in innovation. American and European patent applications have declined considerably, reflecting that traditional Western superiority now faces a new crisis: The future technological world will experience a big reshuffling.

Without Cutting the Deficit, There Will Never Be a Way Out

America’s huge debt crisis has its origins in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The White House relies on the U.S. dollar as the worldwide currency, with its unparalleled U.S. dollar printing press it makes every country’s foreign exchange reserve “from dry rice into porridge,” therefore engaging in unscrupulous military expansion, research and development of new versions of every weapon, the establishment of a huge espionage network, the stationing of 400,000 troops and military personnel in 124 countries and regions across the world, and an excess of 100 military exercises each year. In the end, the enormous “money-burning” operations force Washington to rely on borrowed money to get by. Since 2000, their national debt of $5.7 trillion has quickly increased to $16.7 trillion, with an annual increase of nearly 1 trillion. Washington may be able to evade a crisis today, but according to this trend, they will inevitably face tomorrow’s “bomb.”

While Obama is a skilled orator, during his five years in office he has had no power to keep the debt from continuing to rise. If Washington still doesn’t know how to engage in some introspection, continues to be narcissistic and does not think of a way to lessen the deficit, they will fail to find a promising path. The U.S. can continue to raise the debt ceiling, but the nearly $1 trillion of interest it must pay out each year is a “huge mountain” on Washington’s back. In theory, the immense debt has already brought America to the edge of bankruptcy. There is no way to cope with this “bottomless pit” — no matter how much wealth it generates — because it needs to pay more than $1 trillion each year for huge military expenditures and a trillion dollars in interest. Perhaps America can continue to use its dollar “printing press” to print money, heedless of the results, postponing bankruptcy. But the U.S. prints too much, leading the common people to lose faith in the American nation and the American currency — this, in fact, is the dreadful “American requiem.”