The Flub-a-Dub Award

The Flubbing Decline of the American Empire

1. We have a government controlled more and more by corporate America. Rather than pursuing the goals of justice, democracy and freedom, we are in the accelerated pursuit of Profit. Government is no longer of, for and by the people. It has become simply a commodity, to be bought and sold to the highest bidder.

2. Our health-care system is rapidly approaching the point where no one can afford to partake of it. Health-care is becoming the domain of the rich, much like oceanfront property. If you got it, you get it. Otherwise, good luck. Tens of millions are without health insurance. People get bills from hospitals that they couldn’t possibly pay. Paying for health-care is the leading cause of bankruptcy. Still, there is little talk of universal coverage. The industry is too steeped in profit.

3. The waging of war to create peace and democracy is a primitive, Neanderthal notion that should be filed on the historical shelves under archaic, misguided notions. The U.S. is the world’s leading aggressor and promoter of world domination through military might. Mr. Bush and his entourage are determined to build a world based on fear, death, and destruction. His vision is not to promote a world based on sustainability, for future generations, but to get for the rich as much as can possibly be gotten, NOW. It is a sad and sorry spectacle to behold.

4. We are unable, or more so, I suppose, unwilling, to come to grips with our dependency on oil. We are not a nation strong in that resource. Most of the oil we use is under foreign soil. Damn the luck. We just cannot come to terms with the fact that it is going to cost us dearly in the future to maintain our present levels of use. We plain don’t want to believe it. The oilmen have us under their personal spell. We need to find the antidote, real soon.

5. Christianity becomes more and more of a state endorsed, national religion. The mixing of religion and ideology is the business of right-wing Christians, many of them misguided fundamentalists. This is the same misguided fundamentalism we’re fighting in Iraq. So here we go: Welcome to the autocracy, the monarchy, the dictatorship. May your life be guided by The Way.

6. We continue to destroy the Earth we live on. With Bush comes the promotion of pseudo-science. “No, the world is not melting, even though every credible scientist on Earth says so. Me and my rich friends know better.” You can’t really help but laugh, while you’re all the while crying. I guess that’s a tragedy for you.

7. America wants to run the world, not just be a part of it. We are down on the United Nations. We send them an anti-UN ambassador. We fail to pay our dues. We attempt to discredit them at every juncture. An organization which is probably the world’s only future hope, we are busily attempting to get out of. After all, they are not all white, Christian, right-wing males. So they must be evil heathens.

8. Our jobs are all being shipped overseas. The major reason continues to be cheap labor. Don’t let anyone fool you. Capitalism thrives on cheap labor. It has always been that way. We started working for a buck a day. It was only by uniting together, suffering countless deaths, numerous strikes, major hardships, that we improved our lot. Corporations never gave us a thing. Not a 5 day, 40 hour work week, not a vacation, not a retirement plan, not unemployment benefits, no minimum wage, no child labor laws. Each of those things were fought for. But the battle is no longer waged. Corporations have found a new source of cheaper labor. We’ll have to wait to see how long their new workers last.

Oh, I suppose a person could go on and on, probably finding easily another ten causes for our decline. But why bother. Suffice it to say, we are Flubbing in a major sort of way. It’s time to wake up and smell the stink, or pretty soon we’ll be once again competing for our old jobs as a newly emerging Third World country.