Declining empire
Relationships around the globe are shifting rapidly. These shifts are not because of Donald Trump. Although his policies are likely to make things worse for everyone, the reality is that the American Empire is declining. All the bluster over tariffs and territorial expansion from Greenland to Gaza will not restore it. The ability of the U.S.A. to dominate others has been diminished by economic and political realities far beyond this current administration. Whatever moral influence we represented was lost long ago. The cruel ending of humanitarian aid is the latest act of a country that has given up all sense of compassion.
The US Empire emerged out of the devastation of WWII. With the industries of Europe and Japan destroyed, US manufacturing, strengthened by war, dominated the production of consumer goods. People drove US cars, listened to US radios, watched US TVs, depended on US refrigerators, washing machines, lamps and gadgets of all sorts. Movies made in the USA entertained audiences everywhere. But gradually, industries in Europe and Japan rebuilt. And more importantly, manufacturing industries left the USA. Following the logic of capitalist production, companies pursued lower wages and weak environmental controls. And nations began to organize in their own interests.
In 1973, the vulnerability of the global economic system fostered by the U.S.A. was exposed. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an embargo on the U.S. in response to support of Israel during the Arab-Israeli War. This ushered in skyrocketing oil prices and a global recession.
Meanwhile the struggles of people for freedom and liberation were capturing the moral energy of the 20th Century. Along with Black liberation struggles in the US, Liberation Theology was emerging in Central and South America, and the people of Vietnam were defeating US military forces. The desire for freedom, self-determination, and sustainable ways of living encouraged a belief that another world is possible.
All of these humanizing efforts offered a vision of a world organized on care and compassion, celebrating the creativity and consciousness of ordinary people.
Today these forces have already brought about new global alignments. Consider these facts:
The USA and its G-7 partners (who Trump is alienating rapidly) Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany and Italy produce about 26% of the global economy. In contrast the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa account for about 35% of global output. Over the last 15 years they have grown from 5 to 22 countries. Many are leading in the production of goods that hold the key to greener, regenerative futures.
And moral inspiration is coming from South Africa, as it both refuses to be bullied and dedicates itself to upholding world efforts toward peace and justice in Palestine.
Economist Richard Wolff summed up the current state of decline saying
I believe the United States is heading headlong into a dead end economically, and therefore also politically and ideologically. We as a nation were remarkable in the 19th and 20th centuries. We provided roughly from 1820 to roughly 1970 rising real wages for the American working class every decade for 150 years. That made us special. No other working class in any other capitalist country got that story. That’s why millions of people came to the United States from Europe, for example, during the 19th and earlier 20th centuries, because they expected a better deal here than they could get in Europe, and they got it… That is now over and it’s not coming back. And the question of the world right now is will there be a new empire to replace the American the way the American replaced the British? … the United States and its G7 allies together comprise somewhere around, let’s be generous, 12% to 15% of the world’s people. The BRICS today, with their 22 countries, comprise roughly 60% of the world’s people. The future is with them, not with us.
Or we can imagine a very different future. We can imagine a world where economies are organized to benefit life and regenerate the earth. As this empire falls, new worlds can be born, embodying values that affirm the sacredness of life.