On a Thursday morning, I heard Kennedy Jr. state, what we all know, that America is a sick country. I also know that Trump's bill cuts Medicare , Medicaid and 10 - 20 million are losing health coverage passed by the GOP and signed by Trump. Further, 50 to 60% of the population have chronic disease health conditions; cuts in food subsidies during the government shutdown and the Epstein files cover are terrible from a moral point of view.In addition 2 ,articles from May 11, 2025,edition of The New York Times titled The Financialization Trap and Have We Quit On Learning? are relevant to this essay All the above are symptoms occurring in our Republic and suggest cracks in our experiment in democracy with rule by the wealthy .
French historian Fernand Braudel’s provocative insight in detailed cycles of economic history are pertinent with his research that included Venice, Amsterdam and London. These cities ,at one time , were the financial centers of the Western world and then faded into the background. In their day, commerce prospered and investment in their surplus resulted in building new centers that actually became associated with their decline.
In the 17th and 18 century, Amsterdam’s merchants became bankers and began seeking better returns from fast-growing London.London had become a more sophisticated market for moving their money. Prosperity was controlled by the elite ; and its satellites no longer needed as many workers . In essence, the city's economy became more dependent on the vulnerability of finance . For instance, In 1782, much of Amsterdam's capital had been lent to foreigners instead of financing their own development. In fact, when Louis XVI didn't pay back its debt , that greatly contributed to a loss of economic power and advantage for Amsterdam .
In 1944, victory became our power to dictate the global economy; the freedom to trade ; and the US and its allies agreed to establish the dollar as the basis for an international monetary system. Trade barriers were dismantled which resulted in the golden age of prosperity. Blue-collar workers, for example ,with their living wages, were able to buy cars, houses , other toys and go on vacations while rearing their children in the suburbs. They enjoyed economic prosperity and captured that “dream “home .
In the late 70s ,as a center of the global economy, New York found its commerce and industry, leaving the city.. In fact, during the next few decades the following occurred. Donald Trump built towers along with his bankruptcy casinos. Wall Street dominated, income inequality blossomed and the working class wages became stagnant . Trump stated that America was losing its wealth and power. And, in 1987, he spent $94,801 on full-page ads in The New York Times and two other papers. Basically, he proposed billing Japan, Saudi Arabia and other countries for US military spending and stated that it would reduce our federal deficits and allow for tax cuts.
Trump employed the fear factor, blamed and scapegoated other countries and so forth for America's woes as he called us patsies. Now, he's proposed tariffs while “attempting “ to force American companies to make products for our markets and providing tax cuts for the elite. In other words, his rationalization and denial - other people and other countries are exploiting the US and we can solve our problems with revenge .Trump’s policies are disastrous for most in our country. In the past what was good for General Motors was good for the country according to Wilson. Today that's not true. What's good for Trump is good ! There is no such thing as trickle down economics.
The dollar has allowed America to purchase imported exports more cheaply while making America's exports more expensive . For decades, US companies began pouring money into foreign markets, building their global business. For example, Apple spent billions of dollars in China. It has trained their workers to build Apple’s I Phones. However, Apple now has competition with China. Not only can these trained workers build phones , they can transfer their skills to other areas, such as building drones and so forth.
Some believed that the national defense budget was a price for power and trade was the reward. US prominence was assisted with the rise of finance and tech companies. However, we are in trouble when finance replaces manufacturing according to the French historian. In the 1970s, factories produced about 45% of corporate profits and finance about 15%. Over the last 20 years, finance has now produced a larger share. Further, the rich don't help the poor .However, the rich help Americans by allowing them to purchase cheaper goods . The rich also help themselves by exporting products and employing cheaper foreign workers.
The rich build homes for themselves, but not for others. It is now harder to get an education, harder to earn a living wage,harder to save, harder to afford housing and medical insurance .The minimum wage in Mississippi is $7.25 per hour .Actually, 75% born in 1950 ended up earning more money than their parents. However, being born in 1980, only 50% have ended up doing better than their parents. Also in the US there is less economic mobility compared to much of Western Europe and the US is less egalitarian than Denmark.
Moreover, with our technology and with AI we have eliminated more jobs than China . Also, trade has made the rich richer while reducing the earnings for about 70% of those workers who don't have college degrees. Poverty, homelessness and starvation rates are rising.
40% of students entering college do not graduate. Also, reading scores are lowest in decades thanks ,in part, to social media and computers. AI is also contributing to our dumbing down. Furthermore, this government has no goals pertaining to learning or in improving reading arithmetic, science or increasing high school graduation rates.. Public education is no longer elite and many parents are sending their children to charter schools, private schools and homeschooling . In the last five years, this number has increased to more than a million .
Trump nominated a wrestling promoter to head the Department of Education while reducing its workforce. His curriculum is based on having schools focus on race, transgender issues and creating a patriotic curriculum. Those ideas have nothing to do with school performance civics, interest in learning,or rational inquiry . Teacher pay ,counselors, health and social support are not even considered but are factors associated with assisting our failing educational system
Trump's agenda is not contributing to raising our educational systems standards for the majority, but instead seems to be dumbing it down. Teaching was once considered a noble profession, but there are so many problems that teachers are facing, because of low pay and being hassled by parents on what and how to teach .It’s no wonder that teachers are exciting and schools of education are having difficulty attracting students.
Our Republic is headed for a fall . The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. Too many individuals are physically and psychologically ill; have low educational achievement; economic stagnation; can't afford housing ; in debt ; without medical insurance; homeless and/or not experiencing optimism. In addition, there's an enormous amount of hate,division, fear, stress being exemplified at the expense and being perpetuated by malignant, narcissistic and greedy people with economic and political power.
