Anyone who has been watching the news knows that America is in a pretty bad state. But this isn’t just because of a bad leader, rather the inevitable end result of a screwed-up system. So let’s take a closer look at America’s built-in defects. And yes, I’m looking at it all from the outside, but sometimes an outsider can see things clearer than those caught up inside it. (And trust me, the rest of the world knows a lot more about America than America knows about the rest of the world.)
First, your political system. I did a university paper on American politics, so I do know how your system works. Or doesn’t, to be more precise. There are lots of things wrong with it, but I’ll just focus on what I see as the worst failures.
1) The Separation of the President from Congress. I know you’re taught that it’s a good thing, but what ‘separation of powers’ really means is that POTUS has too much power. This can and has led to a ton of abuses, and it is almost impossible to remove them before their term is up. In parliamentary systems, an unpopular Prime Minister can be voted out by their party and quickly replaced by someone else, so no leader dares get too big-headed. Does this mean a bit of instability sometimes? Sure, but it’s still way quicker and easier than impeachment. You need to fix this.
2) The Senate. Giving equal power to each state means that states with lower populations, who tend to be more conservative, can block progressive measures. This is a big part of why American politics skews so far to the right. Seriously, what Americans think of as ‘far left’ would be barely centre-right in most other countries. If you want real change, start by eliminating the Senate.
3) The Electoral College. Another system weighted in favour of the more conservative states. How many times has a would-be president won the ‘popular’ (ie direct) vote, but lost because they didn’t get the numbers in the electoral college? Delete, delete, delete.
4) Lobbying. I suppose this happens to some extent in many countries, but America has turned it into a huge industry of, to put it bluntly, outright bribery or at least ‘persuasion’. Paid shills for groups as diverse as the gun lobby, Zionists and churches control so much of American politics as a result that it’s not even remotely funny, or just, or anything good. Kick them out. No lobbying allowed.
5) Voting Itself. And then there’s all the corruption around the actual voting process, from gerrymandering to polling stations in poor/non-white areas being shut down, from right-wingers infiltrating the voting agencies to the disenfranchisement of various groups especially women, trans people and Native Americans… I’m sure you know this all too well. Another area overdue for change.
Second, your economic system. America didn’t invent capitalism, but it’s sure taken it to extremes. Neo-liberalism is just the horrific icing on what was always a very nasty cake. So now you have excesses/obscenities such as the ‘military-industrial complex’, crass commercialism, rampant consumerism, a work-till-you-drop ethic, a drastically poor and powerless working class and a horrific welfare system, while the ‘One Percent’ bloodsuckers hoard more and more money. There’s this meme I’ve seen on Facebook from several people, so I don’t know the origin of it, but it’s basically saying the super-wealthy aren’t an elite, they’re parasites. ‘That’ List is only the tip of the iceberg of ghastliness. This needs to change. All of it.
Third, your education system. In my country, schools in poorer areas get more funding whereas in America, the reverse is true. This means that poorer states have poorer, failing schools. The result is a massively under-educated sector of the population. It was these people who voted in this monster, and who continue to support his worst actions. Even when he’s gone, they’ll still be a problem. You won’t get a better country till you get better education. (And I’m not even going to start on how religion has way too much sway in your country and education system. But it’s all connected.)
Fourth, your medical system. How did America fail to establish a proper universal health care system when the rest of the developed world did? Now Americans are doomed to either crippling medical debt or being ripped off by health insurance companies that often don’t deliver anyway, and I’m surprised you’re not angrier. Your politicians seem reluctant to touch it, even Obama only fiddled with the edges of it. Create a proper, tax-funded universal health care system, for your own sake, and that of your children.
Fifth, your policing system. I mean seriously, you have nearly 18,000 law enforcement agencies, even if you discount the federal ones it’s still absurdly fragmented. Other countries, even quite large ones, manage without anything near that number. Your officers are often poorly trained, with too much emphasis on guns, and too ready a propensity to racism, sexism, etc. There seems to be so much variation from one agency to the next, and even police ‘gangs’ operating in some places. And then there’s a Certain Frozen Agency, which has lower standards for entry, shorter training, more suspect members, and seemingly more license for violence. Though let’s be clear, cops have been shooting and killing (especially black) people long before even George Floyd. It’s just that many didn’t care until it was white folks being killed. Frankly, it’s a mess. Sweeping change needs to happen.
Which leads me of course to your ‘racial problems’. African-Americans were denied basic rights until well into the twentieth century, and there are still entire segments of the population who don’t think any non-white is truly human. The Nazis drew on American eugenics ideas for their system. Entire communities were imprisoned during World War Two for the ‘crime’ of being Japanese. Native Americans have been robbed of so much. And on and on it goes. Yes, other countries (including mine) have their own shameful racial history, but somehow America has a talent for doing it worse – I suspect that it’s because the shadow of slavery is still a heavy trauma imprinted deep into the psyche of your entire nation. It's time for that collective trauma to be faced.
And last but certainly not least, those guns, guns, guns. How on earth did this get so out of hand? How is it that so many keep dying, especially children in school who *should* be safe… and yet no-one is willing to stop the mayhem? I very much doubt the Founding Fathers meant for every Joe and Josephine Bloggs to have firepower equal to a small nation, with daily slaughter counts in the dozens or even hundreds, and no-one seemingly able to put any restraints in place. Australia and New Zealand managed it, why can’t you? NZ Police don’t even carry guns on their persons, and I assure you our crime rate is nothing like America’s. The same can be said for many other countries.
So let’s face it… America, your soul is sick. Your country is sick. It‘s tottering and failing. America is like that guy who was a muscle-bound swaggering bully in youth, and who in old age is still trying to throw his weight around, not realising his years of excesses mean his body is now shot to pieces. You literally have a leader who embodies that.
So once this current mess is all over, I don’t think you can or should go back to ‘business as usual’, because that stuff is how you got here in the first place. Even when you get rid of the Orange Menace, the systems that created him will still be there. You are going to have to make some Big, Big Changes, or risk it happening all over again, or worse.
It’s over to you.
