Views from outside the US
As (some) Americans analyze the rapidly developing changes occurring in their country, the single question on many of their minds is what will happen next. Are we at the bottom? Is recovery around the corner? Is there more bad news coming? Will unemployment increase?
Predicting the future of the economy and of society is a difficult mental process, but the more correct a person can be with their projection, the better than can prepare for what comes next, and take the right steps to take advantage of it. Often times, the process of viewing ones environment is made difficult by the close proximity of the situation. In other words, humans frequently make the wrong decisions because their point of view is skewed due to the “forest through the trees” syndrome.
A couple of writers who can offer a point of view from just outside of the American turmoil are Fred Reed and James 
Kuntler. You may remember me mentioning Fred Reed back in February, when he announced he would no longer be offering his pithy observations on modern society. I declined to accept his quitting, and sure enough, he came back. No doubt because if the overwhelming pressure from AwareBrain.com. Fred is a former member of the US military, a regular soldier, and has written books and countless articles. His point of view is less affected by home-country arrogance, as he currently resides in Mexico with his wife and family.
Anyway, Fred is back with his unmerciful scrutiny of the lack of common sense which permeates society. His most recent article touches on many of the recent stories which somehow have passed for news headlines. With the Fred-esque headline of “The Whole World Sucks, and Everybody Thinks its Gravity”, this one is sure to please. It includes classic passages such as:
“Every time I read the headlines, I want to take poison.”
“You can’t run your own country? Then kill a bunch of thirteenth-century peasants. That’ll fix it.”
“North Korea has the Bomb and, now, missiles of short range. ….. Bad juju, says my astute military mind.”
On comments about white males from Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor: “More man-bashing from an angry brown female who doesn’t know how her car works.” Fred’s entire list of articles can be found here.
So we have heard from our neighbor to the south. What about from the north? Noted columnist James Kunstler took a spin from his home in far upstate New York, into Canada to look for comparisons. After describing the landscape of the US side:
“The most striking feature is how all the things once so “modern,” all the roadside business enterprises designed along “space age” motifs — the car dealerships with boomerang-shaped signs, the rocket-ship-style food huts, the schools that look like atomic power installations — all teeter now in sublime decrepitude.”
his narrative then made it clear how the two side of the border contrasted:
“Once you got off the main highway of Canada, 401, along the north side of Lake Ontario, the landscape presented a disturbing contrast to what you saw on the American side. Unlike the slovenly, failing farms of New York State, the farms of Ontario looked successful and prosperous. The barns did not tilt at weird angles and the roofs were intact. The farm houses were freshly painted and the grounds generally not strewn with the sort of dingy plastic effluvia Americans like to deploy around their dwellings to give the impression of plentitude. You wondered: how did all the IQ points below the Great Lakes somehow migrate over to the Canadian side? All this was occurring against the background of General Motors looming bankruptcy, an epochal moment in US history, like losing a limb or a loved one.“
You can read the entire article at this link, called “Shattered & Shuttered”
Even the Russian newspaper Pravda has something to say about the future of the US:
“American capitalism gone with a whimper. The American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people. The final collapse has come 
with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America’s short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe. Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK’s Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our “wise” Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.”
You really need to pay attention when the Russians call you Marxists.
Why is it important not to disregard the flaws of America when pointed out from an outside point of view? Besides the obvious ancient metaphors of “Pride goeth before the fall” and “The emperors new clothes”, a very on-point, and very in-your-face example looms in front of Americans this week in the form of General Motors. Not long ago the most profitable company in the world, it now shamefully falls into the arms of the government in bankruptcy, delisted from the Dow Jones Industrial average, and disgraced. Its outsized Hummer brand sold off to the Chinese. For years, even decades, everyone outside of the company could see where it went wrong, and let GM know in many ways. Customers left in droves for other models, imported cars, and mainly Ford trucks. Investors shunned the stock as the fundamentals of the company declined. Dealers have complained about factory policies for decades.
A 15-year old New York Times article showcases all 3 groups frustration with GM:
“..the market share of the General Motors Corporation was suffering through a 10-year slump..”
“..mission was to implement the company’s California comeback strategy..”
“Dealers complain that sales of some models have not increased enough to recoup the profits that have been given up (with the strategy)…G.M.’s strategy forces dealers to accept lower profit margins, but some some dealers said it had not lifted sales…”
“If value pricing really worked, all sales should have gone up,”
“G.M. initiated the California battle plan with $75 million for advertising and sales training. As a stockholder, I’m not sure I got my $75 million worth,”
“…many experts are skeptical that consumers will trust the program.”
In December 1999 automotive industry expert James Ziegler predicted: “General Motors is banking on the Internet to 
the point that I am convinced that they are willing to throw away the most successful dealer networks in history. Not only is this a major miscalculation, it is fast reaching the “Point of No Return”…And, frankly; It ain’t gonna turn out the way they think it is.”
Had GM not arrogantly ignored the “bashing” from its customers, dealers, and investors, the long chain of events which led to the current bankruptcy may have played out differently. This was not a sudden event, there were many signs along the way. Remember, Oldsmobile was shut down in 2003, just 8 years after the turnaround strategy described above. GM dumped 1.5 billion in cash into Saturn in the early 200′s to cover immense losses, and was shopping it around for buyers for the past 3 years. Its finance arm GMAC lost a billion in 2005. By not facing up to the signs, and confidently plowing ahead, GM missed the chance to reinvent itself earlier. So many opportunities to get over their own overconfidence.
What makes the US so sure it is not following the same fate as a country? In fact, this may have been predicted more than 50 years ago when GM Chairman and CEO, Charlie Wilson stated: “What is good for General Motors is good for America”
Let’s hope not.
