The American Spectacle
Friday Flashpoint: June 12 AD2026
Welcome to Friday Flashpoint where I analyze and expose important historical and social developments impacting America’s place in the world.
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs…
I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle.
The Bible, the Book of Nahum, chapter three verse 6
The world is watching America, but hesitating to bet on it. Americans have lost their mystique and that is an expensive asset loss. As North America watches the NBA finals, and the Globe tunes in for the World Cup, the United States is the center of attention. This coming Sunday, on Flag Day which coincides with the anniversary of the United States Army and the 1946 birth of the current US president, many will watch as the White House transforms into an arena for the Ultimate Fighting Champion, an event so shocking and notable that hardly anyone is talking about the actual fighters.
And yet there is another spectacle, one all the world cannot help but wonder after, the transformation of America itself. The world does not view the USA as it once did and many Americans are unaware of why this is important.
First the Western world is rearming. Short term thinkers have pushed for a Europe with teeth but such folks forget that America defanged Europe after 1945 for its own good and ours. Europeans have proud military traditions, and a provoked Europe can build itself into a superpower rival just across the Atlantic, with its own agenda. When America guarded Europe it gave America a say in European affairs. Soon Americans will find that they no longer have a seat at the table.
The top minds of the world used to flock to the United States as students. The advantage to the American people was two pronged:
They often stayed in the USA, so their brainpower went back in the US economy.
When they returned home they were now influenced by American ideas and carried fond memories of the United States back with them. This gave us business and diplomatic advantages over our competitors.
Foreign student enrollment is down around 20%. Overseas Business leaders now sneer at American claims about the rule of law and conduct themselves accordingly. They and their governments placate American officials but are building capacity to be able to ignore the US. And more often than not they look to China as a more reliable partner. However, China cannot top the US in drawing attention to itself. Take the war against Iran:
Population
USA—350 million
Iran—90 million
USA is 4x larger
Economy nominal GDP
USA—$32,000,000,000,000 ($32 Trillion)
Iran— $300,000,000,000 ($300 Billion)
USA is 100x larger
To the world the war should not be going as it is. In the past when the US sent an aircraft carrier against another country it was game over. Three different carriers were rotated in and out for Operation Epic Fury. The claims of a ceasefire, when they are still firing, is treated by the insurance industry as a polite diplomatic fiction but worth their money. That’s the tell.
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