29 October 2016
By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
Particularly the final presidential debate, meant to make the presidential
candidates to come to terms with the rising demands on USA, did not discuss
anything about some of the most pressing concerns Americans as well as the
world face, like climate change, terror wars as permanent war feature, poverty
and corruption and campaign finance.
World wars and the so-called cold war
with Soviet Russia made USA what it is today, the super power that can bully
any nation that does not obey its instructions, follows its footsteps. Perhaps
for this reason USA does not want to stop criticizing and attacking Russia. As
the effective boss of UN and UNSC, NATO, G-7, World Bank and IMF, etc,
strangest and loudest campaigner of so-called democracy, USA has been able to
retain its control over the world and press its global prowess into action to
weaken any nation. The final
debate moderated by Fox News' Chris Wallace, faced questions on debt and
entitlements, immigration, the economy, the Supreme Court, foreign hot spots
and the candidates' genuinity and fitness to be president. These topics have
already been widely covered in previous debates. According to an analysis of
the first two presidential debates and the vice presidential debate, there has
been a ''significant emphasis on Russia, terrorism and taxes.'' So far, those
topics have received a whopping 409 mentions combined, with 77 of those
dedicated to Trump's own taxes.
2. How to recast a normal foreign policy
for promoting world peace and genuine democracy?
3. How to put an end to media
Islamophobia trends? 4. How to
solve the dangerous climate change?
5. How to attack poverty and save the
poor and under privileged? Much more.
Global warming directly threatens
economy and capitalism. According to a World Economic Forum survey of global
experts in 2016 global warming tops the list of potential threats to the
global economy. But this issue has been mentioned three times in the debates
(by Hillary Clinton, in passing. According to Pew Research the people are
concerned about climate change, with 73 percent of all registered US voters
saying they care either ''a great deal'' or ''some'' about the issue,.
Fifty-two percent of registered voters say the environment is ''very
important'' to their voting decision in 2016.
Donald Trump is a climate denier and has
said on his medium of choice that global warming was ''created by and for the
Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive. Trump has pledged
to undo the Obama's climate initiatives, including the Paris climate agreement
and the Clean Power Plan, which would require power plants to clean up their
emissions. Trump has also vowed to expand fossil-fuel exploration.'' Clinton
has a detailed plan for combating climate change on her website, with the
promise of ''taking on the threat of climate change and making America the
world's clean energy superpower.'' While she has gained a number of
endorsements from leading climate groups, her acceptance of natural gas as a
so-called bridge fuel disturbs some, including 350.org, which says it's ''just
a fast lane to more climate destruction.'' Child poverty rates
in the United States, at 21.6 percent, are nearly double the OECD average of
12.4 percent. Before running for president, Jewish leader Bernie Sanders, who
still claims to be a socialist, called poverty one of the ''great moral and
economic issues'' that Americans we face. He wrote that after the Census
revealed that the number of Americans living in poverty had increased to over
46 million, the highest number ever (it has since dropped to 43 million).
''Poverty in America today leads not
only to anxiety, unhappiness, discomfort and a lack of material goods. It
leads to death,'' Sanders said. But the candidates have faced not one question
on a deep problem that affects so many. Sanders writes, poverty is rarely
covered by the mainstream media and ''gets even less attention in Congress.''
While running for president, Sanders criticized Clinton for her support of
welfare reform that Bill Clinton enacted in 1996.
The latest hacked Clinton emails show
that in the 2016 primary Clinton's aides were wary of ideas that could
alienate centrist and conservative voters who are skeptical of welfare.
Despite the fact that nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 25
and 60 will someday themselves experience the official poverty line.
People would love to see the
presidential candidates discuss their plans for combating poverty. Trump talks
about poverty, about creating more jobs, which he aims to achieve by cutting
taxes and government regulations and renegotiating trade deals to bring more
jobs back to America. He's also called for a new tax plan to help defray child
care costs for working parents. Clinton has detailed plans to fight poverty on
her website, including: expanding the tax credit for children; doubling Early
Head Start spending; providing universal preschool for 4-year-olds;
subsidizing child care; increasing the minimum wage to $12 an hour; and
investing tens of billions of dollars in poor communities, including for
housing and job training. To pay for her proposals, she would increase taxes
on the wealthy, but she won't do it. .
USA promotes lobbyists to make money
from foreign nations and companies.' This is the root cause of rampant
corruption and nepotism in America.
Trump said he supports campaign finance
reform that would keep registered foreign lobbyists from raising money in US
elections. He also announced a number of proposals for reforming the revolving
doors between government and the interests that they lobby. The one campaign
finance mention in the debates Hillary Clinton said, perhaps without any
serious intent that she wants to ''see the Supreme Court reverse Citizens
United and get dark, unaccountable money out of our politics.'' The story by
Lee Fang and Andrew Perez ''Hacked emails prove coordination between Clinton
Campaign and Super PACs'' shows consistent, repeated efforts by the Clinton
campaign to collaborate with Super PACs on strategy, research, attacks on
political adversaries and fundraising.''
That's against the rules of the 2010
Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center
announced earlier this month that it had filed two sets of complaints with the
Federal Election Commission, charging that both the Trump and Clinton
campaigns have improperly coordinated with super PACs.
USA clearly cannot overcome the
phenomenon of rampant corruption in all domains.
The continued support for Israeli
fanaticism and colonialist crimes in Palestine has dented the prestige of USA
more than anything else. In fact it is the US policy for Israel and the
latter's ideas about a new world order where Israel's threats to Arab world,
its crimes and genocides in Palestine are respected that has complicated and
weakened US efforts for secured world.
Israel controls and attacks not just the
Gaza Strip but even areas in West bank. The UN human rights rapporteur has
accused Israel of denying Palestine's right to development thus causing
rampant poverty, ''epic'' unemployment and economic stagnation, while illegal
settlement activity is leaving hundreds of Palestinians homeless this year
alone. Over 1,100 people have been left homeless so far this year in Area C of
the West Bank, as Israel demolished some 780 Palestinian homes. Area C is
fully controlled by Israel and comprises of some 60 percent of the total
territory in the West Bank. It is the area where the Jewish settlements
illegal under international law are located.
So far this year, Israel has destroyed
780 homes there, compared to 453 demolitions that were conducted in 2015. Last
year's demolitions left some 580 Palestinians homeless, while this year 1,129
people were left without a roof over their heads.
In addition, the publication noted that
further 125 Palestinian homes were also demolished in East Jerusalem since the
start of the year. Last year's figures stood at 78 home demolitions. As a
result, 164 Palestinians were left homeless this year in East Jerusalem. In
2015, that figure stood at 108 people.
Overall, more half a million Israelis
live in over 230 illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian territories
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority considers West
Bank to be a part of a future independent Palestinians state, with East
Jerusalem as its capital. Illegal occupation remains one of the main stumbling
blocks on the way to achieve a two-state solution with Israel.
A day earlier, as part of the Israeli
government's 'carrot and stick' policy, the country's security cabinet
reportedly approved a series of Palestinian building plans in Area C. The
Deepening of the occupation, the constriction of basic human rights and the
utter absence of a political horizon leading to self-determination for the
Palestinians have reinforced an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness
''Poverty is rising. Unemployment is rising to epic levels. Food insecurity is
becoming more acute. The Palestinian economy is becoming more stifled and less
viable under the occupation,'' Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,
said delivering his report to the UN General Assembly in New York. Within
Western so-called democracies from Britain to the US itself people are
disillusioned with the their systems that promotes only capitalism and
colonialism, care only for the rich and corporate interests, resulting in
reactionary populist movements are pushing back against the rotten rules and
systems that have stayed for decades. In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is feeling betrayal by USA. In ''autocratic'' countries such as Saudi
Arabia and Egypt, leaders feeling badgered by the USA over human rights are
turning to China and Russia, too. The world order
launched following the end of a disastrous World War Two, making USA the
richest nation on earth and the current picture, can be seen as the birth
pangs of a new world order ¬ less Western-centric and still retaining the old
order's foundation of democracy and liberal economics. Organized movements
like the tea party or Black Lives Matter don't fade away if they lose an
election. They often morph into affirmative and local action.
Americans are in a period of struggle
between democratic governance and a more authoritarian vision of rule both
nationally and internationally. People feel that their culture and identity
are under threat; they sense that governing systems are no longer working, and
they want some strong response to that.
Post WW-II world has been fully
controlled and regulated by the USA. Now the Western-built system of
international order is no longer serving the world's needs. The USA and Europe
are less willing to intervene when other parts of the world are unable to
respond effectively to conflicts and other global challenges. That has meant a
decline in Western influence. Indeed, 500 years of the West ordering the world
is at an end, and that sounds terrible. And, broadly speaking, the emerging
multipolar global order is largely based on the principles that the West
espoused. And, a decline of dependence on the part of independent nations!
Americans have seen these alternative
means of civic engagement show up on the margins of politics. New communities
have formed, often on the internet, around local food, alternative energy,
home-schooling, or work sharing. Americans don't simply stew in political
resentment. They create new paths, outside official democracy, to find people
of similar interests and values. The Digital Age has accelerated this trend to
redefine what is public. It can also mean understanding how Americans are
turning their disappointment with politics into new forms of civic activity.
If they are not finding the social goods they seek through elections, they
must be looking for them elsewhere.
These alternative civic bonds do not
merely fill the gaps of government services. They can create whole new
communities, cutting across the traditional political divisions. Yes,
Americans ''must always believe that they can write their own destiny.'' These
are based on hope, not gloom. The 2016 election winners does indeed have work
to do in listening to the currents of American society that are moving ahead
on their own. A good leader tries to run ahead of the people in the direction
they are going. This shift is happening as the global systems established by
the West face unusual headwinds. After 70
years of a world order that has been built by the West on the architecture of
Western values, it is certainly striking
how much liberalism is on the
retreat everywhere.
Frustrated populations are increasingly
tempted by strong alternatives to the status quo, the diplomat says.
Internationally, a breakdown of the long-reigning Western order is prompting
the Russians and Chinese to promote multilateralism- a new version of
international relations on their side. But China and Russia have made little
headway. Already at the time of the international financial crisis, the
Chinese were putting out that their system was better than the American
democratic system. The financial crisis saw the emergence of the multipolar
G20 where once the all-Western G7 had reigned. But it did not lead to a world
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