Can the US make it?

My main worry is about this country and its outrageously defunct politicians. After Mitt's UK, Israel and Poland tour, I became convinced the guy is a walking disaster. And Mitt claims he can clean up the mess in Washington.

No way.

 Frankly, I have given up hope for any clean-up in Washington. So have most of the people I meet on a regular basis. The US is currently possessed by a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. It is during times like this that great leaders emerge by capturing and articulating contemporary ills and by moving people to assist in resolving them. We are waiting. Problem is, sometimes these great leaders turn out to be dictators. Perhaps that is what America needs, a benevolent dictator to cut the red tape and reintroduce logic and common sense into the American system of government.

We find little solace in watching the Olympic Games.  Full marks to the UK so far, but that is not the issue. I find the lust for gold by competing governments infantile. I also find the extent to which countries like China, and East Germany and the USSR before it, go to train, propagandize and mold their citizens into performing circus animals appalling. I find the competition among nations for acquiring medals grossly chauvinistic. A high medal count in the Olympics is reminiscent of body counts during the Vietnam War.

I also view as useless and unfair the participation of professional American basketball players representing the USA. We have become more of a bully than a role model. There is no competition in a sport dominated by America and their only world class basketball league in the world. We should take no joy in winning games from other teams under such conditions. Indeed, we should select our team from non-professionals.

From my perspective, it appears as if the USA has an overweening need to be number one in every endeavor. We actually become depressed when China's medal count is higher than ours and then we begin scolding the country for the manner in which it trains its youth. We are like spoiled adolescent children in our behavior about winning.

There was once a famous professional American football coach named Vince Lombardy. Vince had a winning team, the Green Bay Packers. The Packers were on top of their league for several successive seasons and they won the Super Bowl at various times as well. Vince's strategy was a total dedication to the art of winning at any cost. His success gave heart to many a lesser coach throughout the sports world. Kids in secondary schools and colleges were taught to win and to do so despite the pain and sacrifice.

Winning as an end in itself justified the means of achieving it. Some players died from injuries they failed to complain about and others died from exhaustion. These deaths were written off as sport-related misfortunes.

Vince's ethic translates into the American world of business and politics. It is all about winning; at any cost. And to the winners go the spoils whether they be a taken-over company or the prizes attendant to winning public office. Mitt was a winner with Banes Capital. Obama was a winner when he became President. Now, in the struggle for the Presidency, any imaginable means will be used to win including spending vast sums of money, lying, cheating, character assassination, belittling and the like. I should think that murder would also apply except for the unlikelyhood of getting away with it.

The post, post-war generation of Americans are characterized by the Vince Lombardy ethic. The world is their oyster and they can do or say whatever they want in the process of climbing the greasy pole. Film after Hollywood film depicts this ethic and deifies the hero or heroin for achieving their goals. Humility, politeness, kindness, and humanity rank second to success. Winners get their way and are entitled to crow, dance, spike the ball, or do whatever moves them to put their achievements in the face of their competitors.

I am afraid that the US is now numerically dominated by its losers. As such, they believe themselves to be powerless in bringing about positive change.