It's been almost ten years since the September 11, 2001 attacks and finally, it seems the person who plotted this attack has finally been caught. What does this mean? Well, for one, people are celebrating back home in the States, but there may or may not be more significant implications of this event. While getting rid of Osama bin Laden doesn't in the slightest mean the end of terrorism, since, terrorism is a movement without a definite head or solidified/definite country, it does hold some meaning. These past ten-odd years, Osama bin Laden has been a symbol of terrorism for most Americans, and a symbol of the 9/11 attacks and America's failure to capture or kill him was, in a way, a symbol of America's shortcomings or weaknesses. Now, finally, the symbol that had been lingering in the back burners of many Americans has been destroyed. Hooray!
This doesn't necessarily mean that everything is just hunky dory and it's all rainbows and unicorns from now on, either. There are still some major issues at hand, as President Obama mentioned during his May 1st speech announcing the death of bin Laden. It's wonderful that a symbol of "evil" has been dealt with, but now the question is, will America (particularly its politicians) be able to ride the ephemeral wave of public contentment and actually manage to address real issues instead of circumventing major problems?
Undoubtedly, this will be a moment of short-lived public approval. Prior to this event, only 30% of Americans approved of President Obama's performance and 25% were satisfied with Congress. Predictably, these figures will receive a slight bump due to last night's events, but it will inevitably go back down at the present rate of things. Currently, the United States is experiencing what some people are dubbing as the "Great Recession". As the theory of the "stupidity of the masses" states, it seems most Americans have a very short-term memory.
America's current economic slump should not be considered as something foreign and new. In fact, one of the inevitable flaws of capitalism is fluctuation: capitalism, while it comes with perks and benefits, also comes packaged with economic slumps, recessions, and in certain cases of really poor policies/turn of events, depressions. Unless some madly genius economic prodigy can decipher the economic mysteries and create an explanation of how to avoid them completely, fluctuations, these ups and downs, mini-crashes and rises, are a normal part of a capitalistic economy since it is a market-based economy. The United States has faced financial downturns in the past. About a decade before I was born, America was in a lackluster economic situation during former President Jimmy Carter's 1970s debacle, which resulted in his extreme unpopularity as president. Was it hopeless? No! In fact, by the early 1980s, the U.S. was already back on track to recovery... then came the failed "Reagonomics" policies resulting in the eventually recession during the late 1980s, around the time of my birth. Even more recently, in the 1990s, there was another stagnant period with fears of Japan surpassing the United States' economic clout and prowess. Did Japan surpass the U.S. and did the U.S. get “stuck in a rut”, so to speak? Not at all; the United States was able to recover by the mid- and late-1990s and enjoyed high growth while Japan fell into a slump.
All of this is really quite normal in capitalistic societies. So, a decade after the 1990s, we were in the 2000s and it should be no surprise that we’re having, yet again, another downturn of economic events. Perhaps people are starting to feel pessimistic because this recession is lasting a little longer than the past few, but this might in fact, be further prolonged by the American politicians incredible failure to treat several major maladies.
It's not to say the recovery process hasn't even started yet... it's to say that the recovery to be expedited if only the politicians, instead of looking to get reelected and caring so much about their own egos, would look at the bigger picture and work to help the general populace. Recovery has started, but it has been painfully slow. Unemployment, which normally in the U.S. hovers around 4% or 5% during non-recession periods is still at an abnormally high 9%. While stocks have been pretty consistent, housing prices are still at their lows, purchases are at a minimum, and gas prices are soaring. I think the major sentiment in America right now is that recovery is NOT being felt by the general public. It still feels very much like a recession, which is understandable.
One of the major problems now is actually President Obama's policy of trying to "one up" China, which should not be a goal of the U.S. or of any other nation. A country shouldn't necessarily to to out-do another country in order to experience growth. Each country is different and unique with its own problems and quirks so there is no "cure-all" for a financial disease. If there were, then no country in the world would have to experience poverty. Since there is a unique formula that works for each country, it should use a customized treament plan rather than try to simply beat out another player. Globalization is about cooperation. Innovation and development of China spells good news for the U.S. and the rest of the world as well, not gloom and doom about a dark future. People really need to understand that. The U.S. has a lot of advantages already, no need to count them and juxtapose them to those of other countries. There is a vast domestic market, excellent higher educational institutions, lots of resources, Silicon Valley, innovative ideas, among others. Count your blessing first before envying or trying to compare.
I won't go on any further... don't want to lecture you.
A final comment on bin Laden's death: ten years, two wars, 919,967 deaths, and $1,188,263,000,000 later, we managed to kill one person. Was it worth it? It's definitely a pyrrhic "victory".
Today's Random Picture:
This undated aerial handout image provided by the CIA shows the Abbottabad compound in Pakistan where American forces in Pakistan killed Osama bin Laden. (AP Photo/CIA)
