By Anadish Kumar Pal
[su_pullquote align=”right”]However, the USA decided to start gating itself just after 9/11 and now has reached a landmark in the form of Mr. Trump.[/su_pullquote]
Nations indeed are a peculiar phenomenon. They are seamless and yet have borders. And every nation has to eventually gate itself. However, the essence of gating is in the timing of it. However, the USA decided to start gating itself just after 9/11 and now has reached a landmark in the form of Mr. Trump.
Japan decided to gate itself firmly some 1500 years after it was founded. The Japanese also espouse a theory of ethnic homogeneity promoting national bonding. However, the USA decided to start gating itself just after 9/11 and now has reached a landmark in the form of Mr. Trump.
A diverse set of people who began some three centuries ago; can they close their borders in a whimsy manner now? After 9/11 it was homeland versus the other land; now, they are letting go of the other land this seems to be the approach at least. They have accumulated enough people and talent to last them for all times
The Japanese phenomenon
If Japan, with its aging population, no immigration, and shrinking global market share can hold out with high technology and robotisation, why not the USA? Capitalism sees no boundaries, while nations have to have borders; so the two ideas are not entirely well-matched. Mr. Trump as a businessman always tried to be a global player; now, as the President of the worlds most powerful nation, he may have to start thinking in a non-global manner. Surely, it is not impossible.
Let us not forget that the foundation of the US is also laid on genocide and slavery of the colonial times.
When we talk about the hallowed US tradition of being global and equal opportunity giving, we must also continue to see the US as a ruthless colony maker and a bomber; and when all the views of the US are merged, the recent happenings are no surprise.
Summits between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping kept tensions in check | Photo Courtesy: Comparative ConnectionsWhat’s common between China and the US?
[su_pullquote align=”right”]They feel, it is impossible for the US to hold on to its global supremacy, once they have parted with all their factories.[/su_pullquote]
China is a very important rock in this US assault of the global peak. The US realizes that they may lose their bodily integrity in the process of having been the king of the world for such a long time — the last 70 odd years (since they nuked Japan in 1945). The Chinese themselves, in their Book of Changes, the I Ching, appreciate this in image 55 (Feng or abundance). Feng is full of commentary about trying to hold on to the fullness when having reached the zenith; it also says that it is indeed very difficult. The Chinese understand it well and are cunningly eying the US quandary. They feel, it is impossible for the US to hold on to its global supremacy, once they have parted with all their factories.
However, what we must not overlook is the power that Great Britain still enjoys, even after having lost all its empire and its factories decades ago.
Is it really required?
A Nietzsche master spider or a biological queen bee can still command over millions, maybe, just out of a nature-endowed propensity to command. A materialist may look at it like once you let go of the hard work; you focus only on strategies to control and command. It is quite possible to succeed in such a way. If feudal kings could pull it off for centuries, why not the USA now? In this world of flesh and blood, the only principle is survival!