The age of American exceptionalism is over. The nation is indebted to the point of bankruptcy and is desperate for foreign investment to artificially prop up a broken economy that would completely collapse if not for the “generosity“ of nations like China, Japan and others. Unfortunately, that “generosity” comes with a price tag: American sovereignty, power and influence.

As Joel Hilliker of The Trumpet.com reports, the U.S. is now so reliant on foreign financing that, “the United States -- broke and utterly dependent on foreign creditors -- has little choice but to submit [to foreign demands]. As it does, more and more it is looking like a jilted and desperate lover.” 

Unable to sustain itself without foreign cash, the U.S. is now more open for foreign investment than ever, and with that foreign investment comes the loss of our best wealth producing companies and more foreign influence over U.S. affairs.

That growing foreign influence is becoming more and more evident. At the most recent G-20 summit, European Union leaders chastised the U.S. for its economic failures and signaled its intention to displace the U.S. as the world’s economic superpower, or at least put itself on par with the U.S. 

“The results of the G-20 economic summit amount to nothing less than the seamless integration of the United States into the European economy,” former presidential advisor Dick Morris said of the meeting.

China has recently surpassed Japan to become the biggest creditor to the U.S. “China’s new status -- it now owns nearly $1 out of every $10 in U.S. public debt -- means Washington will be increasingly forced to rely on Beijing as it seeks to raise money to cover the cost of a $700 billion bailout, the Washington Post reported. “The growing dependence on Chinese cash is granting Beijing extraordinary sway over the U.S. economy.”

Middle Eastern nations are beginning to throw their weight around, as well, demanding that in exchange for refinancing U.S. debt, the money is used in accordance with Sharia Law, Islamic religious law.

“[I]t’s our money and we shouldn’t be abiding by Islamic laws. Period. I don’t want to have any kind of association with any laws that dictate wife-beating in Saudi Arabia,” said Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the American Center for Democracy.

As Hilliker points out, the U.S. is in a precarious situation, a Catch-22 if you will. Unable to finance its own government, it must rely on others, however, to keep that money flowing in it must also be open to foreign investment, otherwise the money could suddenly dry up and the U.S. government would cease to function. “How could America ask them to lend their money but not allow them to purchase U.S. assets?” he asks.

The answer is to stop relying on foreign imports and restore America’s manufacturing base. Without a critical domestically controlled industry to generate opportunity and wealth and provide security for its citizens, it is difficult to imagine how any country could call itself a “superpower.”