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.”
Dustin Ensinger is a journalist and member of
the staff of Economy In Crisis.