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America Is Not Yet Lost
We’ve always known that America’s reign as the world’s greatest nation would eventually end. But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic.
What we’re getting instead is less a tragedy than a deadly farce. Instead of fraying under the strain of imperial overstretch, we’re paralyzed by procedure. Instead of re-enacting the decline and fall of Rome, we’re re-enacting the dissolution of 18th-century Poland.
A brief history lesson: In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Polish legislature, the Sejm, operated on the unanimity principle: any member could nullify legislation by shouting “I do not allow!” This made the nation largely ungovernable, and neighboring regimes began hacking off pieces of its territory. By 1795 Poland had disappeared, not to re-emerge for more than a century.
Today, the U.S. Senate seems determined to make the Sejm look good by comparison.
Last week, after nine months, the Senate finally approved Martha Johnson to head the General Services Administration, which runs government buildings and purchases supplies. It’s an essentially nonpolitical position, and nobody questioned Ms. Johnson’s qualifications: she was approved by a vote of 94 to 2. But Senator Christopher Bond, Republican of Missouri, had put a “hold” on her appointment to pressure the government into approving a building project in Kansas City.
This dubious achievement may have inspired Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama. In any case, Mr. Shelby has now placed a hold on all outstanding Obama administration nominations — about 70 high-level government positions — until his state gets a tanker contract and a counterterrorism center.
What gives individual senators this kind of power? Much of the Senate’s business relies on unanimous consent: it’s difficult to get anything done unless everyone agrees on procedure. And a tradition has grown up under which senators, in return for not gumming up everything, get the right to block nominees they don’t like.
In the past, holds were used sparingly. That’s because, as a Congressional Research Service report on the practice says, the Senate used to be ruled by “traditions of comity, courtesy, reciprocity, and accommodation.” But that was then. Rules that used to be workable have become crippling now that one of the nation’s major political parties has descended into nihilism, seeing no harm — in fact, political dividends — in making the nation ungovernable.
How bad is it? It’s so bad that I miss Newt Gingrich.
Readers may recall that in 1995 Mr. Gingrich, then speaker of the House, cut off the federal government’s funding and forced a temporary government shutdown. It was ugly and extreme, but at least Mr. Gingrich had specific demands: he wanted Bill Clinton to agree to sharp cuts in Medicare.
Today, by contrast, the Republican leaders refuse to offer any specific proposals. They inveigh against the deficit — and last month their senators voted in lockstep against any increase in the federal debt limit, a move that would have precipitated another government shutdown if Democrats hadn’t had 60 votes. But they also denounce anything that might actually reduce the deficit, including, ironically, any effort to spend Medicare funds more wisely.
And with the national G.O.P. having abdicated any responsibility for making things work, it’s only natural that individual senators should feel free to take the nation hostage until they get their pet projects funded.
The truth is that given the state of American politics, the way the Senate works is no longer consistent with a functioning government. Senators themselves should recognize this fact and push through changes in those rules, including eliminating or at least limiting the filibuster. This is something they could and should do, by majority vote, on the first day of the next Senate session.
Don’t hold your breath. As it is, Democrats don’t even seem able to score political points by highlighting their opponents’ obstructionism.
It should be a simple message (and it should have been the central message in Massachusetts): a vote for a Republican, no matter what you think of him as a person, is a vote for paralysis. But by now, we know how the Obama administration deals with those who would destroy it: it goes straight for the capillaries. Sure enough, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, accused Mr. Shelby of “silliness.” Yep, that will really resonate with voters.
After the dissolution of Poland, a Polish officer serving under Napoleon penned a song that eventually — after the country’s post-World War I resurrection — became the country’s national anthem. It begins, “Poland is not yet lost.”
Well, America is not yet lost. But the Senate is working on it.
126 Comments so far
Show All"Instead of fraying under the strain of imperial overstretch, we’re paralyzed by procedure. Instead of re-enacting the decline and fall of Rome, we’re re-enacting the dissolution of 18th-century Poland."
Seems like with wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and operatives in Iran, Colombia, and God knows where else, imperial overstretch is fraying the Empire, too.
That's what I was thinking. Why can't we have it all? Why can't we fail because of both imperial overstretch and dysfunctional government? I think we, or really the plutocrats running this place, are doing a heckuva job at both.
Yes, and Rome seems to have fallen from both. Their govt in the 4th and 5th centuries was eerily similar to America's -- as was their economy and foreign policy.
Yes, the Senate is working very hard at it!!! And in the process it is destroying the last dregs of respect that Americans had for this lying, looting, self-serving body!!!!
"But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic."
Why would anyone imagine that? Most things--both biological and institutional--wither and die out slowly. There is nothing strange at all about the US disappearing into "silliness". Its corruption is eating away at it--it's a very natural process.
Was wondering where, as I neared the end of his piece, was the argument to justify the headline.
Many here at CD accept it as a fact, but for the majority of Americans that don't yet realize that we are about to hold the biggest yard sale in history, reality is going to be a severe jolt.
Of course they won't blame the ones really responsible. It will be the liberals, the blacks, the gays, the environmentalists, the labor unions, the atheists and the agnostics, the scientific community.
Sound familiar? Zig Heil!
It might be that he's arguing that after the collapse and deluge, the usa will rise again like Poland did. Of course, comparing the histories of nations in Europe and the nations of the Americas is a very dodgy thing to attempt. Europe is a much smaller continent, and has nation states that have very long histories. Europe has had many wars that were waged over the nations that fell, died and were sometimes resurrected.
He's quite wrong, if he is suggesting it, to believe that if the usa were chopped up like Poland was that it could be resurrected. No, like the Roman and Mongolian empires, once the usa breaks apart fighting over who owes what for the wars of empire fought by the usa it will not be rebuilt. Some of the better ideas the yanks had might survive, but the nation itself is not likely to survive the idiocy that the politicians have perpetrated over the last forty years or so...
The things Mr Krugman says are true...but not the whole truth.
The part of the government that tries to do the peoples' business doesn't work. But the part that guarantees the continued flow of treasure into the pockets of the MIC, Wall Street, mercenaries, etc is working just fine, thank you.
"Democrats are institutionally & organically incapable of opposing them"
The Democrats serve the same paymasters as the Republicans, they just use different marketing to reach a different market segment.
well said. Really, BOTH parties need to be exposed.
Both parties were exposed years ago.
Then came 9/11, the coup d'etat, televised live, in the open. The only ones cheering were the MIC owners and shareholders.
which makes us beleive we have a "choice" when the true choice is whether our suicide will be by hanging , injesting pills or a gun in the mouth.....
the result is still the same!
How strange that criminals act as criminals. But there's a reflection of a reality here. The United States from its inception has been a lying, looting, self serving nation and so it goes. This country does not have cancer, it is cancer. We announce it with pride. Sick!
Whose to hold any of these asswipes accountable?
They rally against pork and the deficit and then hold everything hostage til they get their cream off the top.
Stil Krugman is such a partisan hack. Note how he frames the Right as bullying Clinton by demanding sharp cuts in Medicare, but when it comes to the corporate Democrats, efforts to reduce the deficit are "any effort to spend Medicare funds more wisely"
The fall is worse than you think, Mr Krugman, considering your blindness to half of it. Paralysis may be preferrable to Obama's efforts to transfer the burden from your class to the majority of the citizens.
Yes, we all know Democrats suck, but look at outcomes. Look at the 5 corporatist, activist Supreme Court Justices that Republican Presidents have saddled us with for the next few DECADES. Then go ahead and vote for a Republican or independent, knowing that it's not much different than slow motion suicide.
Don' be a blooming idiot.
Krugman makes the case that the Republicans--in the minority--are putting the brakes on the most minor issues, yet it was THE DEMOCRATS who folded, cynically postured, deflected responsibity and calculated to appoint the Bush appointments.
I understand your point, Greg, and to some degree, have held them. I voted for Obama and other Democrats purely as a defensive measure.
Yet, I find that tactic harder to defend. In a functioning system, with a functioning citizenry, the Democrats would be a good stopgap for some good work to be done. They would allow the citizens some breathing room to work, without the constant assaults that the Republicans foist upon us.
Sadly, we are no longer living in a functioning system - at least, not functioning for the people. And, we no longer have a citizenry that seems capable of doing the work necessary to turn things around. Too many distractions and divisions amongst us to mount a cohesive and coherent offensive for democracy and justice.
Yes, the Supreme Court is a factor. However, it has become crystal clear now that the Democratic Party has no interest, nor intent, in moving this nation in the direction of empowering the people. Look at their votes, their alliances, and especially their benefactors, and it is clear whose bed they lie in.
While I will not vote for a Republican, and probably won't vote for an independent, I will be hard pressed to vote for a Democrat. Where does that leave me? Well, do the math. As the late, great, George Carlin opined in his final years: "They don't give a fuck about us." And he wasn't just talking about Republicans. Carlin's solution was to not vote. Instead, he let his words, which he used masterfully, do his voting. As with Carlin, I am seeing that what I do outside of the political arena has more power than my one misplaced, disgraced, erased, vote.
Vern, Ted, Rich-- I suspect some of you see 'scheme and device' in the Democrat's "collaboration" with Republicans. While undoubtedly some truth of this is more than apparent, I believe a great deal of the Democrats lack of enthusiasm for mounting a strong defense against Republicans is simple fear of corporate and rich interest money destroying their individual futures whether in politics or business. As I see it, more Republicans elected will lead to an ever increasing corporate dominance in our nation. It's possible that we are already so far gone down this path that a return is most unlikely, but I prefer a false hope to no hope (Ha! Take that yea of little faith!).
Greg,
While I feel your pain, and understand the notion of realpolitik, I think it's crucial that we understand the notion of cause and effect. We can discuss the causes 'til the cows come home, but the effect is that the people in this country are being ill served, if we are being served at all.
I voted for Obama and other Democrats in 2008 full of hope that after eight years of abusive rule by Bush and his crew, the Dems would finally get it. Of course, that was a fool's dream as they have little incentive to "get it" because the only way they can exist in political terms is to take money from the exact same corporations as the Republicans.
If you have watched Bill Moyers over the last year, you will note that his tone has changed (as has mine) from one of hope to one of realization of just how much the game is rigged. If you have missed Moyers, I highly recommend that you watch some of his shows: http://www.pbs.org/moyers.
I have not given up hope, yet I realize that false hope does not serve us well. Being false is the same thing as being not true. In short, false hope is a state of denial, which is a very dangerous thing...for us all.
This argument never ends. The Democrats have been "disappointing" or they "lack enthusiasm" to defend against Republican obstructionism, but their fears are understandable, they'll be crushed by big money if they show any resistance to the Borg, and things will be far worse if Republicans gain majorities and the White House so we must keep electing Democrats or we lose all hope and blah blah. If you can't see the self-defeating merry-go-round you advise we all stay on forever, then please don't pretend to any "progressive" inclinations. Be happy with Democrats too fearful to ever cross their "opponents" who command bigger war chests, and content with Republican policies carried out by Democrats. By your logic, refusing any longer to vote for Democrats means voting for Republicans, because you've accepted the whole Dem apologist line of crap that third parties, or voting only for independents (on the left) are just ways to elect Republicans. Some of us have long since refused to submit to that blackmail.
if someones drowning what's really the difference between being thrown a 25 lb rock(democrats) or a 50 lb rock(republicans)?
Well, the rope attached to the repub rock goes round your neck; so death is quick.
The rope attached to the dem rock goes around your foot; so death is not as quick.
Maybe I have that bass akwards...
If the water isn't too deep, you still have a chance to live with a rock tied to your foot, while the rock tied to your neck will kill you every time.
"....Democrats suck, but look at outcomes."
Greg, I have looked at outcomes. I've played the game. I've voted for Dems just to keep the Repubs out. Look where we are today. Bush's 3rd term is in full sway, albeit much better articulated.
You know what? I'm sick of playing defense. I'm sick of throwing my vote away on worthless Democrats.I'm sick of this political charade we have and I'm sick of seeing the real villains "getting away with it."
Enough. I strongly recommend a great book, Indispensible Enemies by the late Walter Karp. What an eye-opener. The 2 major parties truly fear reform far more than they fear each other. So lets begin now finding, building alternatives to the duopoly of misrule. If we wait for the Democrats to push through reform we might as well wait to see pigs flying through a frozen hell.
Indispensible Enemies was a very informative and important read...it is difficult to accept that one's entire life's substructure is fraudulent, but there is no way to make meaningful change until that realization occurs...
the American government is fraudulent...the American citizen has no representative...
"Cassius:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)
Reminds me of a quote on the Holocaust Museum:
"Be not a victim. Be not a perpetrator. Above all else, be not a bystander."
I beg to differ with the author.
I find it profoundly tragic! Torturers of the world tragic.
Maybe Nobel Laureate Krugman should read Chris Hedges piece of today.
And he thinks republican gameplaying is our big problem. Get real.
America's problem - has become the world's problem .
in one sentence it is this:
the PROBLEM is AMERICA and "our BIG BOSS: our Supernationalistic Capitalism" -- General Smedley Butler, US Marines, 1933.
for being the two faces of the same coin:
america and capitalism are the problem.
I truly believe that America is lost, it's days numbered. It is a downward juggernaut---unstoppable as it races to 3rd world status for 75% of its citizens. I think all individuals 55 and older should circle a year on their calendars, their best guess when they might expire using actuarial tables and such, and just pray like hell that they get there before the whole country topples---pray that at least utilities, some semblance of medical care, and food transportation hold in place until that fateful day. The more we hope that someone will lead us out of this muck, the more we read about worsening paralysis in leadership, billions of dollars in bribes to Congress, millions more people thrown out of work and home and into the grips of poverty, crumbling infrastructure, unaffordable health care, etc. Every day becomes just another struggle keeping body and soul together for all but the wealthiest 5%.
I'm approaching 60 and I'm praying I hold on for just another 15 years with some semblance of civilization in place until I reach 75---if I do reach 75. For the youngsters in this country I'm afraid I haven't got any encouragement to offer them, just a prayer that that they somehow find a way to survive what is coming soon.
I completely agree with your post. I am 52 and suspect my later years are going to be grim as the american empire collapses. We personally have downsized our lives, and have enough land to grow quite a bit of our own food, and if things get real bad, cut our own fire wood to heat our house.
Every time I look at very young children I feel so sad for them. The world they will inherit from us is going to be a bleak place. I suspect the second half of this century, will be racked by the ramifications of the decline of world supplies of oil, water, farm food, fish, metals and resources in general. Also during the later part of this century we will be dealing with some of the results of man made climate change.
People graduating from college now will be the among the first generations, as a whole, to do worse financially than previous generations had. They will continue to chase the american dream that no longer exists. They are coming out of colleges with crippling debt, and no decent jobs to be had to pay it back.
I graduated university in '97, few of my peers have been able to pay their student loans buy a 'new' car or think about owning their own homes. The ones who were able to get the toys had parents who footed the whole bill of college. The debt trap screwed me over quite nicely thanks. When my father was my age, in the 1960s, he was able to support a wife and buy a home on ONE income. I couldn't think of renting an apartment and running a car at the same time, it was one or the other.
Gotta love the results of trickle down economics, and 'free' trade. I don't think the crap's going to hit the fan in the second half of the century. Too many fundies believe their 'end time' prophecies, too many of the poor and formerly middle class are pissed about how much worse off they are than their parents were. And the debt load of the us gov't is too high for them to pay it off without repealing all the Bush, Reagan and Kennedy tax cuts. Something no politician is even thinking of talking about let alone making happen.
No, it's not apres nous le deluge, c'est maintentant! (it's not after us the deluge, it's raining now!)
I understand what you are going though. I have a niece that just graduated Wesleyan in CT. loaded up with college debt and the only job she could find was teaching English in China, so she took the job and now lives in China.
I graduated high school in the 70s, and got a $1800 grant to go to a 6 month computer tech school. Back then a high school diploma meant something. My first job was in a metallurgical lab where I did spectral analysis of precious metals. I worked there for a while then moved to the computer field where I worked for almost 30 years before getting outsourced. I did very well for myself, and have loads of experience but now I can't even land a job as a security guard. In my 30 year work life things have changed for the worse for the average american worker in such a fundamental way, that it is truly stunning.
When I said the crap is going to hit the fan at the end of the century, I meant the REALLY bad stuff, where the world may be almost unreconizable from the way things are now. Things are bad now financially for many people, and will get much worse in the short term, (next 20 years?). But that decline will be nothing compared to when we crash into peak resources like Oil, Water etc.
My advise to any young person like you is to work on self employing yourself at some job that can not be outsourced. I would not recommend to any young person to enter the world of large corporations anymore.
Tom
I hear ya. Although I still have some hope that the crash can be avoided. No idea how, but hey, gotta have faith in something...
I'm not yet 55, and poor...but I am already "circling" that way...
but as to "where" america is , a quote from a NY times Article By Richard Cohen, reporting from his China Visits:
"As a longtime U.S. resident of southern China put it: “Does America have a choice of a cheaper place for a quality product?”
Short answer: nope. CHINA HAS THE UNITED STATES WHERE IT WANTS IT.
You can make your own calculation of President Obama’s leverage over Beijing — and it’s heading south."
THERE were numerous observations even more than ten years ago that went like this:
"while the USA is bent on imposing its global empire in every corner of the globe with its might and superpower status...china is quietly encircling america with small gestures in a game of power played not with overwhelming force but of subtlety and should the two come to blows...america will die a death from a thousand cuts".
America is not yet lost?
Well, it can't tell its ass from its elbow. It can't stop chasing its own butt, so blind, yea, stupid, sure.
But lost? Nah. It has to be going somewhere in order to be lost.
"Today, the U.S. Senate seems determined to make the Sejm look good by comparison."
Yes, the wizards and harlots on Captiol Hill whose philosophy is "socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest" will destroy this country and its citizens.
"The first truth is that the liberty of democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism-ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Unfortunately, the cattle-status voters will once again resurrect the wrecking crew as the "audacity of hope" fades and they cling to the falacy that Republicans are the "new" hope.
As history has shown, fear and ignorance are a deadly combination.
The Dumb Ol' USA is unraveling just like the USSR did. Stupidity is a luxury that Americans very soon will no longer be able to afford.
The USA had its chance to change course and it blew it completely. What the USA is becoming, the world can do without.
As for fat candy-assed Americans, it will soon be time for them to get re-acquainted with the physical and spiritual uplift that comes from subsistence farming and from fixing things rather than throwing things away.
"The USA had its chance to change course and it blew it completely. What the USA is becoming, the world can do without."
Here is a recent quote form Lech Walesa, that backs up what you said:
"The United States is only one superpower. Today they lead the world. Nobody has doubts about it. Militarily. They also lead economically but they're getting weak. But they don't lead morally and politically anymore. The world has no leadership. The United States was always the last resort and hope for all other nations. There was the hope, whenever something was going wrong, one could count on the United States. Today, we lost that hope."
Lets put this in context. Walesa said this while endorsing candidate Adam Andrzejewski for the Republican gubernatorial in Illinois.
Yes. And quoted admiringly by Rush Limbaugh.
Very interesting. So you too guys don't think that what he said was true just because he said it in support of a republican? His analysis seems pretty "spot on" to me. Things really came to a head under Bush and is simply being continued under Obama as far as I can tell.
My assessment is that the USA has passed the point of no return.
Only a massive purging, which in itself would be catastrophic in scale, can cleanse it.
Save yourselves, progressives. You've done what you could.
"... including eliminating or at least limiting the filibuster. This is something they could and should do, by majority vote, on the first day of the next Senate session."
Dear Krugman,
The Democrats could have done this anytime during 2009; however, they don't because the gridlock serves them well. Look how much more money they raised having the healthcare debate go on for most of 2009. The Democrats are not representing the people. They care about power and incumbancy. Both parties are corrupt. When you get on the Sunday morning talkshows, try exposing the corruption of both parties instead of following the mainstream talking points that this is all just political differences between the Democrats and Republicans. In other words, use your Sunday morning platform and NY Times articles to make a difference.
And be fired on Monday.....
So how should the Democrats respond to Republican intransigence?
They should highlight it. Dramatize their behavior. Call their bluff.
If a Senator threatens to object to every procedural measure by calling for a vote, let him do it.
If Republican Senators filibuster important legislation, then let them read the phone book at 3 AM.
Dramatize what they are doing, and let the American people watch.
The Senate used to be ruled, Professor Krugman tells us, by “traditions of comity, courtesy, reciprocity, and accommodation.” And the filibuster was once used sparingly, for special occasions. Now it is a mere legislative tool. The more this is publicized the better. And though the filibuster has been used to block some appallingly rightwing candidates for the bench, etc., it may be the lesser of two evils to finally let it go.
America is most certainly in decline, strangled by the MIC, and as Krugman at least suggested, paralyzed by a dysfunctional Congress.
Is there any hope? Not from any top-dawn solutions and we'll have to give up our fantasy of American exceptionalism. We'll have to rework local communities to more self-sufficient models. And the American people with have to give up their habit of ignorance.
All mighty goals, but I pray not hopeless ones.
Gary
“Our goal is for them to go back and be productive in their communities and take back what the devil has stolen from them — their respect, identity.”
-- Albert Flores
How much time does the USA have left if it is not lost? I'd give it 4-6 years longer. Time for a lurch to the right and for things to get much worse-- then calls for leaving the Union-- not only from the right but from the left. Exciting times-- with luck I will not live to the disolution but maybe in a way I cannot even see-- it will be for t he best.
I think the only deliverance is to get rid of the Senate itself. It was put in place as an instrument of obstruction from the start. It was so unreservedly pro slavery that after the civil war there were serious attempts to get rid of it. In the Guilded age it gave us the Senator from Standard Oil. It was a miracle that Civil Rights legislation went through its philabusters, (bless Lyndon Johnson) and relics of that time like Senator Bryd still roost there. And today its rules are once again more precious to the office holders of the Senate than any concept of the public good. Remind me again why we need a Senate. It's only function is to thwart the majority and the public good. It is so unrepresentative that 11% of the population controls 40 seats, 18 % controls 51 seats. The nine most populous states with 50% of the population get 20% of the chamber's votes. Just as the aristocracy of our slaveholding founders wanted it to be, just as the plutocracy of Corporate America has deemed it should be. Keep the rabble out--don't give them a voice. The rabble is us.
This poo hole of a country cannot collapse fast enough for me. Most of us are already peasants. Time for the pretenders to take their place amongst us.
And with the national G.O.P. having abdicated any responsibility for making things work . . .
They assume, probably correctly, that this will bring them back to power. As has been pointed out numerous times, the Republican party is not a serious party. They are crazy; they are evil; but they are not serious. If they come back to an absolute ruling role in the federal government it will greatly hasten this nation's demise. I don't agree with Mr. Krugman. The USA will go out with a bang, not a whimper. There is one privately held gun for every citizen in this country.