America: A Declining Superpower

America will not always be a superpower! Many people disagree with that idea. How am I so certain you may wonder? It is actually very simple, HISTORY. Like all great superpowers of their time American dominance will not last forever. Just take the example of the Roman, the Ottoman, and the British empires. It is beyond imagination, I know. Can anyone really imagine a world in which America does not lead?

While the shift to another superpower may be inevitable, there are conditions that are aiding in the rapid decline of the American superpower, as we know it.

*Obviously, these conditions were not formulated by myself. However, I feel I must share them with you, to show how I arrived at my opinion.

1) Respect for the American way has dropped at an alarming rate. 94 percent of the world’s population that lives outside the United States will not automatically follow our lead.

2) History again has showed us that societies are destabilized when the middle class disappears and nations are divided between the rich and the poor. Since 1929, disparities in income are at their highest level in America.

3) Forty other countries now have a higher life expectancy than America, in part, a result of 45 million citizens with no health insurance.

4) Our political system is broken. Bipartisanship is not a reality; grassroots democracy is destroyed by special interest money; and a majority of the American people do not protect our rights and our democratic institution because they do not understand our country's government or know its history- a result of our failing education system.

You may think I am a cynic for posting this. Yet, I believe as a country we cannot address the problems until we can recognize them. According to a Wall Street Journal poll in 2006 more than 50 percent of Americans believe that their children will grow up worse off than they are. It is no wonder that so many citizens turned to a campaign that was provided hope for change, than a campaign based on experience.

Black vs. Brown

It has only been two days since I have started my blog and ideas are constantly flowing through my head on what to write about next. I had my blog topic all picked out for the day, until I picked up the LA times and saw LA County Sheriff Lee Baca's editorial on Black vs. Brown. (For anyone who wants to read it here is the link- http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-baca12-2008jun12,0,5498039.story?track=ntothtml)

Black vs. Brown is the name given to the high tension problems between African Americans and Latinos, a phenomenon that is most prevalent in large US cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

I have often been one of those people that the Sheriff refers to, a person who is under the impression that the black vs. brown issue is over-exaggerated and exists more so because of gangs than because of race. Earlier this year, I came across a woman whom actually referred to the problem as "ethnic cleansing." Crazy? Maybe not.

I was certain that ethnic cleansing only happened in 3rd world countries, yet I must acknowledge that Sheriff Baca must certainly know more about inner city gangs than I do. Baca, who has been actively calling attention to the problem for the last 5+ years, told the press a few years ago "we’ve heard when the person out there can’t find African-American gang member to shoot, the shot-caller says: ‘then shoot any African-American you see, ’” and apparently that is exactly what they did. Ever since 1995, the number of non-gang members murdered by gang members of the opposite race has risen. The victims have included females and youth as young as fourteen (it must be noted that this also occurs with AA gang members murdering non gang affiliated Latinos).

This morning, it was almost incomprehensible for me to believe that two historically oppressed minority groups would turn their guns on each other. Now, I am beginning to understand. The problem is race, but not exclusively. Without conducting research on the issue, I can already tell you a major cause is a result of economic conditions. These groups are fighting because of a struggle over scare resources in which Latinos and African Americans are in direct competition with each other in the inner-cities. Youth join gangs for many reasons, but largely because they see that there is more monetary profit in the drug trade, than working at a minimum wage job (even someone with little or no education can come to that conclusion). Moreover, we have known for years that gang quarrels continue to erupt over control over the LA drug trade.

I am certainly not an expert on gang prevention programs, but I think funding them is reasonable spending. Personally, I would rather spend my tax dollars on a program, or send one to college free of charge, then pay for them to spend the rest of their life in prison for murder. I leave you with a quote from W.E.B. Dubois, "the chief problem in any community cursed with crime is not the punishment of the criminals, but the preventing of the young from being trained to crime."

I Dont Know Nearly Enough

As I adapted to college and transitioned into my present graduate fellowship, I have come to desire to be more educated and intellectually developed. There is only one problem: intelligence is a result of understanding the written word and for the most part the written word and I are not "homies" (translation for the more seasoned individuals reading this- "I hate to read"). Weekend after weekend, I have been studying for the LSAT by going over a cheap Kaplan book and memorizing words from vocabulary flashcards. Then it happened, my friend slammed it on me like Road Runner drops a heavy object on Wile E. Coyote. "Chantel," he said, "the only way you can learn and I mean really learn those vocabulary words is by reading." Damn him, he was right...I looked it up on Google!!!

I remember being a high school freshman and a teacher telling me that an appreciation for reading would develop over the next few years. Unfortunately, my appreciation never developed (if I ever run into that teacher I will tell him) and frankly I am a little pissed off about it. So here I am, a college graduate (I know what you are thinking, I can barely believe it myself), and aspiring law student, with NO appreciation for books (apparently "award winning personalities" do not count too much on law school applications). Then came my epiphany, I don’t have to learn to love to read in preparation for the LSAT, I have to learn to love it for law school (this is when the realization came that they don't hand out JD's for how well you could argue in a court room).

As many of my friends head off to exotic places for the summer, I am going to spend my summer reading about them. I figure maybe I'll never learn to love to read, but maybe I can learn to tolerate it (I just hope my Ritalin supply can last that long). Here is my summer reading list, there are twelve books and my intention is to read them all by the time I start school in September. If you happen to have any of these books in your possession, please pass them my way. After all, most of them are best sellers, and my pockets are empty (well besides for lint that is).



What Lincoln Believed- Michael Lind

End of the Line- Barry C. Lynn

Holy War Inc.- Peter L. Bergen

The Great Risk Shift- Jacob S. Hacker

The Empty Cradle- Phillip Longman

Being America- Jebediah Purdy

Churchill, Hitler, and the Unneccessary War- Patrick J. Buchanan

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder- Vincent Bugliosi

The Radical Center- Ted Halstead and Michael Lind

University Inc. The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education- Jennifer Washburn

What Happened- Scott McClellan

Divided by God- Noah Feldman

Me, a Blogger?

Okay so apparently I missed the memo because blogging has been the new trend for about the last four years. I am still trying to figure out how something so popular amongst individuals my age came and passed me by. I mean really, four years? They come out with new Nintendo game systems faster than that.

The idea for my blog came from a coworker; she calls me "Mother Goose" because evidently I am a storyteller. I am still trying to figure out of that is a good thing or not. Another person interpreted it "you're a daydreamer."

I entitled my blog "Would you have thought?" for a very good and heartfelt reason... because "What about that?" and "What about this?" were both taken. I was looking for a generic title, so I can write about all that exists under the sun, or I guess a star (just in case I happen to talk about aliens or mars or something).

Anyhow, please come and read my blog on a regular basis. I promise I will keep it entertaining and you may even learn something about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Better yet, you might learn about an even better subject ... Me!