Why Americans should be concerned.
We have a lot to talk about lately don’t we. Covid-19, mask and vaccine mandates, partisan politics, and just about everything else that you may think there is to complain about. But, the truth is very few people are talking about the things that matter. The things that kept America great throughout the last 100 years.
Leadership is one. Leadership in every area of industry from space exploration to technology and from defense systems to agriculture. America was once the great engine that could. Leading the world in industry, finance, and yes democracy around the world. However, decades of neglect by both democrats and republicans have left us in the lurch as we watch other countries warp speed ahead of us in a steady stream of successes. When I see people fighting each other about party politics and other minutiae, I am saddened by the depths we have reached in fighting against one another. A trend that seems likely to continue.
However, let’s take a look at a few of the things that our leaders have done little to nothing about in the last two decades. American infrastructure has been on the decline for decades. Our highways, bridges, and roads leave much to be desired when compared to other industrialized nations. We are lacking in 5G networks and have a large percentage of people without internet access. Something that should be a fundamental service in the United States. Yet Washington could not pass a 1.2 trillion-dollar infrastructure bill without partisan politics for nearly three months, this after decades of neglect. That same inaction threatens to derail nearly every important piece of legislative action in 2021 and beyond. This while we traverse declining infrastructure every day without remediation. Moreover, we have done little to nothing to address the dangers associated with continuing warming of the earth’s temperatures. The Paris Climate Agreement was adopted by over 196 countries, and few have done anything remotely groundbreaking to dramatically lower emissions. The United States has done less, often espousing the agreement’s importance on the world stage but doing little to address the impending crisis. The US has forgotten the kind of leadership role that sets us apart from the rest of the world. Today, even Germany and France are outpacing the US in the race to act, because our inaction means that other advanced countries when they do very little will still have more to say than the US. Sadly, it will be our children that pay the price.
In lithium production, the United States has fallen behind. It Produces a paltry amount of the precious commodity needed to make the batteries that will power our cell phones, electric cars, and other technology. China on the other hand has the largest number of lithium production plants in the world. Leading the industry and controlling one of the most important natural resources needed for the tech of the future. The US promises to build more plants but does not want you to know that it only has one plant producing lithium in Nevada. Notwithstanding years of advanced notice from industry leaders that we needed to develop more sources of lithium. How could our leaders have not seen this coming when nearly all technology in the next 50 years will rely on this important resource. For decades it was a lack of vision by government officials and more recently they were distracted by years of partisan bickering. What about space you ask? Again, China is outpacing the rest of the world in space exploration. Sending a space station into orbit and making regular contributions to their space program. The United States has turned our space program into a private venture with SpaceX and other corporations leading to a race in the commercialization of space and not in its exploration. Not exactly the national objectives we once hailed like our trip to the moon. NASA recently announced a desire to return to the moon but with the current state of affairs in Washington that goal seems a million miles away.
In trade and shipping once again, China is far outpacing the United States in getting its goods to and around the world. With its Road and Belt Initiative China is building or financing ports all over the world steadily increasing its partnerships with other governments and its share of the global economy. The trade imbalance so many of our political leaders have loathed but done nothing about is only getting wider. One only needs to look at the current debacle in the Los Angeles port to see that we are not ready to lead in trade or shipping. Today in Los Angeles nearly 100 container ships have been waiting for weeks to unload their commercial cargo and with a growing backlog at other ports around the country how can we say we are leading. The sad truth is we are not.
The United States like many countries is facing severe drought conditions in the West that are likely to spread as global warming affects water supplies throughout the world. With record low rainfall and drier seasons, Lake Mead and Lake Powell are experiencing their lowest water levels ever and several dams may not produce sorely needed electricity across several states. Nearly 120 feet of water has just disappeared exposing the chasm of opinions about how to combat climate change and keep our water. This is as more than ten percent of the water evaporates on its way to its end-user. Yet we do little to fund the search for answers to our water woes as others look to desalination and new technologies to combat what will be a challenging global problem. There is so much more to discuss as the issues plaguing the US are far more serious than I elaborated in this article. The reality is the world is watching the United States implode from the infighting, partisan politics, and racism that has played out on our television screens in the last five years and there is no relief in sight. Only our adversaries can appreciate everything that has happened to this country in the last decade and the steady decline in standing among western nations that the US has experienced. Because of this, we need leaders that can unify the country and create an environment of trust and cooperation. Leaders that focus on our success and not the kind of party politics that our forefathers warned would lead to the destruction of our democracy. Unfortunately, we do not have those leaders right now and it looks like the greatest victim will be our great country the not so united, United States.
