02-06 The USA - John Bulloch

The USA is in decline and China is in ascendancy. Covid-19 is a global killer and the US, which was half the world economy after WW2, has lost the pandemic war.

The cover of Time magazine tells it all. A nation that has troops in 150 countries, has to borrow $4 trillion dollar to pay its bills. This includes borrowing a trillion dollars from China, its new cold war enemy.
A nation that converted automobile factories to make planes and tanks for WW2 has had to rely on China for protective equipment and masks.
The more fundamental problem is the unique US culture that puts the consumer first. The individual above the community. And this is impossible when confronting a virus.
Examining all the successful nations dealing with the virus, like Germany, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand we find they all have what the US lacks. Self discipline. Trust in their leaders. A willingness to follow direction. The US handling of the virus is a symptom of a nation in decline.
Professor Wayne Davis of the University of British Columbia has written a thought provoking paper called, “The Unravelling of America”. He makes the point that societies in history rise and fall.
It was the Portuguese in the 15th Century. Spain in the 16th. The Dutch in the 17th. The French in the 18th. The British in the 19th. And the USA in the 20th and early stages of the 21st. But look to China to dominate the rest of the 21st and 22nd century.
Not a happy thought when you realize they are a nation operating something like 200 million surveillance cameras. And a nation that has its Uighur community imprisoned in labour camps.
And China’s strategic plan to dominate all key areas of technology is accompanied by a plan to invest in ports, railways and airports of nations in South America and Africa to protect markets and sources of raw materials. Nations that also supply the US.
But what China is doing is lending these nations the money, and if they default China will own the infrastructure and enable them to deny US access.
China also controls what are called rare earths, minerals necessary for making magnets for generating electricity in wind turbines, and batteries for making electric vehicles. China has a climate change hold over the world.
Remember the Black Death that killed half of Europe in the 14th century. The attached painting is from the period. And the Spanish Flu that killed something like 50 million world-wide. These great events changed history.
The Covid-19 pandemic is also transformational. It signals the decline of the US and the world divided into three powers, the US, Germany and China.