The meaning of the word “progress” is unstable in its very definition. According to one dictionary definition, to be progressive is defined as “promoting or favoring progress toward better conditions or new policies, ideas, or methods.” Especially in terms of political or social questions, that which is progressive can only be defined as that which has yet to emerge or be effective before.
On Saturday, a former llama herder became president of Bolivia. As an indigenous citizen, President Evo Morales represents a class of citizens that has been without political power since the appearance of Spanish conquistadors.
In Chile, there was another political occurrence of great novelty: the first woman president. Michelle Bachelet is a single mother and a socialist who hopes to avoid the question of party politics and instead be “a president for all the Chileans.”
The United States may fancy itself one of the most progressive countries in the world; however, in the Americas alone, it is apparent that our once avant-garde nation may be falling behind the times. If the United States does not step up to the plate of social and political progress, we may one day find ourselves the sore-thumb-white-male-capitalist society amongst an ever-broadening group of political leaders with more on their minds than reveling in their own wealth and preaching religio-political messages. Indeed, the time has come for America to recognize that, like Rome, our status as a great nation will one day disappear if our country refuses to change along with the rest of the global climate.
Already, the United States has shown its propensity for taking on the role of Heroic, Strong, Individual; Fighting for what is Right, no matter the attitudes of others. We saw it in the unilateral strike against Iraq, in Bush’s refusal to sign the Kyoto protocol and in the recent relaxation of torture regulations. The United States has achieved self-realization and is now the ultimate embodiment of the values it was founded upon: sovereignty, independence and the assumption of social mobility for all. Unfortunately, the world of the Puritans is far removed from that of 2006 and the rest of the century to come. America’s actualization of America’s values is worth very little in a world where the ability to adapt is key to evolution.
Although the United State’s capitalist mindset has amassed this country innumerable wealth, the modern manifestation of capitalism looks bleak for the United States. The demand of consumers for cheap products, and lots of them, means that U.S. businesses prefer to import goods. Especially when it comes to electronic items such as televisions and wireless routers, it just makes more sense to lower production costs through global outsourcing. U.S. buyers receive a cheaper product; however, our country is losing a huge number of employment opportunities. If the United States continues in the direction of outsourcing, our country may be reduced to an extremely elite, extremely wealthy class, thriving and buying still, while the rest of America furtively attempts to find a job. Nations such as China, however, will flourish thanks to an abundance of employment and a therefore churning economy. It is no wonder the fashionable political prediction right now is a third world war between China and the United States. The prediction also says that China will be the next world power. Interpret the connection between those two predictions as you may.
The United States cannot hope to be a hub of modernity if it refuses to change along with the times. The 21st century is starting out by defining itself as more conscious than ever before: Human beings are conscious of the environment, of what constitutes social or political injustice and of the meaning of “equality.” Humans are conscious of a global community larger than any person or nation. Whereas the beginning of the 20th century was marked by world-wide strife and misunderstanding, nations of the 21st century are just now gaining the awareness of what it takes to prevent another world war and why options such as diplomacy are ultimately important to all.
If the recent presidential elections of South America are any indication, it looks as though America and its fellow superpowers will play out the historically choreographed battle dance of nations, while so-called third world countries slowly rise to prosperity on the merit of astute, simple and progressive governments. The United States can laud itself for the production of tiny iPods and the ability to TiVo; however, the progress of our country cannot compare to that of Chile. It may be decades before the United Sates progresses enough to vote a single mother of three into the presidential suite. In the meantime, the United States will rock itself to sleep with the notion that a capitalist society at the hands of white men is still the pinnacle of modernity.
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The United States: Progressively Unprogressive
Daily Emerald
January 22, 2006
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