America's Waning Power

Indonesia's President sent caveat to Malaysia's Prime Minister asking for slowing down their palm oil productivity. In the mean time Indonesia's President also sent the same message to Singapore's Prime Minister to stop innovating due to Indonesia has no such skills.

Certainly the abovementioned is only a ridiculous fairy tale which never happens in the real world. If we find ourselves lagging behind our competitor, that is our problems and not theirs. The situation comes up because other parties are better than us. That is a very simple understanding.

However the top-notch country such as America seems not to grasp the very idea. It keeps blaming others for its own failure.

America blames China for its trade deficit. America accused China manipulating its currency value. This leads the Chinese product overwhelming in America. So the Chinese steal American jobs. This blaming game – finding a scapegoat for its own weakness – has played broadly in America to find a solution in the wake of financial crisis. This move makes America a laughingstock for the rest of the world.

Previously, America played the similar tune to Japan in 1980s. At that time Japan's economy rose in the way China does nowadays. The well-managed Japan is blamed for America's trade deficit. America pushed Japan to appreciate its yen and Japan through Plaza Accord succumbed to this pressure. However, China might be a different story. The nuke-armed China is an independent country with an arsenal matching to America or at least it has a deterrent factor of military power.

The explanation of American decline relatively to China is very simple: Americans don't make money better than Chinese do. Most of Chinese capitals spend on economy, while Americans waste them in wars. Chinese workers are paid much cheaper than America. China focuses on manufacturing on goods, enhancing skills of mass production and selling them across the world, while America fiddling with financial instrument to make profits from nothing. China gets money from sweat, but America gets it from bet.

As matter of fact, America is still the most admired country in term of spawning innovative companies. Apple, Microsoft, Intel Google and Facebook are raised there. There is no doubt that America has got a lot of most talented worker in the world. Unfortunately, knowledge-based companies cannot absorb mass workers.Despite those companies still exist and grow, it turns out to be insufficient to maintain America's supremacy.

For half century America is the world's super power. Psychologically speaking, America turned down the idea to be second best in terms of international affairs and economy. But nothing lasts forever. From times immemorial superpowers always rise and fall.

During its decline, America becomes paranoid. The mighty America has honed skills of creating non tariff trade barrier. America infringes its free trade moralizing. To protect their soya bean products, they launched anti-palm oil by spreading palm-oil-caused-heart-attack rumor. To protect their catfish producers, they called Vietnamese catfish is not catfish. And to save their uncompetitive car manufactures, they blackmailed Toyota for every accident involving Toyota car.

It is a list of mistakes, but it is not the American style that invented computer, internet and iPad. Many American modus vivendi for a better life has inspired us. We hope America comes back to the way that makes them mesmerizing.

God bless America.