The End of Neo-Liberal American Exceptionalism
Human survival on this planet has now become a battle between two systems of thought and governance; one the American under President Trump based on vestiges of Western Neo-Liberalism and the other the Chinese under President Xi Jinping based on a restating of Marxist Socialism.
The implications for the future of human civilization are profound. In competition with the United States are 1.388 billion Chinese citizens as well as those citizens in silk-road nations outside of China.
As this is occurring, globally American power militarily and by extension its “Western” value system is diminishing. However, internally the American originating belief in that value system – so defined within the nation as “Freedom” remains strong. Also, the American commitment to free and uncluttered financial markets remains strong.
The current Republican administration and its supporting media have demonstrated proof of this American internal cohesive strength. It was also evident during the Obama Administration with Republican control of congress. It is a system of belief encapsulated by the expression: “Neo-Liberalism.”
A drawback to this American “Neo-Liberalism” is that it gives full rein to the dark neurotic psychotic side of human impulse. That impulse is in a sense driven by narcissism. For those who subscribe, there is no compromise. It is like a religious belief. It is also ethically problematic. Those who adhere become blinded to the suffering of the downtrodden, or as is the subject of this Blog the suffering that will follow as we continue to do harm to our planet.
The Chinese offers the possibility of control over this human neurotic psychosis. To accomplish it; China is rapidly moving away from the American concept of both market and personal freedom.
The Countercurrents essay below linked to this Blog (including another from me – Blog # 28, written in 2016) as well as the others, attempt to explain the systemic differences between the two forms of thought and governance and why the Chinese if it succeeds in its experiment will have a better chance of becoming the template for future human civilization.
And as for President Xi Jinping, (Google his bio youth, also Trump’s) one can conclude that Xi Jinping’s view, based on his early life experience, unlike that of Trump, sees the dark neurotic psychotic side as a side to be tempered and used to Chinese nationalist and international advantage against Western past hegemony.
A quote from my new book (See my Website) is in order. Xi Jinping may not have read The Gospel of Thomas, but the words of Jesus there appear to fit his understanding of the situation well:
The Gospel of Thomas, discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, 1945
(7) Jesus said; blessed is the lion which when consumed by man becomes man, and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes….