Forecast: Death of the American Constitution
Summary: The American political regime, with the Constitution as its foundation is dying. This presents some evidence, discusses possible causes, and speculations about the consequences. The most important section is the end. America is more than our Consitution. We can survive its death and go on to an even greater future. That we cannot see what lies ahead does not mean that we need fear the future. Reposted from 4 July 2006.
The world changes but America seems unable to see this and adapt as the post-WWII global order collapses around us. The post-WWII era was defined by:
- America as a model state: a capitalistic democratic republic which values its citizens’ liberty.
- American as a superpower, or even the sole superpower.
- The American dollar as reserve currency; “good as gold” for holding the world’s savings
- 3rd generation warfare as the dominant mode of military force.
- Growing American wealth through the “debt supercycle”, continuously expanding debt of both Government and households.
- Cheap energy, largely from coal, oil, and natural gas.
Today we see all these things slowly fading away. The daily newspapers record its passing, although most journalists are unaware of the larger significance of what they report. We are suffering from “change blindness,” a flaw in our mental processing in which we fail to recognize large changes which should be clearly visible.
Change blindness must be experienced to believe it. Take the test at this website. Read the instructions! Right click on the picture to move to the next one. (Note: if you cannot see the change, reduce the “gap” to zero.)
A brief check on the health of the American nation-state.
Aristotle said that the political regime of a state dominated other aspects of its society. Let’s have a quick test about the health of the American Nation-State. Following Aristotle’s view, it looks at the foundations of our polity. The correct answers are given directly after the list of questions.
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