The American Anomaly

The Peace and Prosperity That Has Formed Since the Rise of American Values, Threatened by Consumption

Rows of houses, parks with children playing games, commerce flowing - both nationally and internationally - and the seamless flow of travel across destinations all across the world. This has been the reality almost all of us have grown up in. Being raised up with this lifestyle, it is easy to believe that this is the way life has always been and will always continue to be. Jobs have appeared to be plentiful and beautiful cities have already been constructed by generations before us that are now at our disposal as a concrete jungle for us to explore.

All of these amenities and freedoms that we enjoy have come at a price and will continue to come at a price. The life we have grown up in, often times not appreciated, is something that will require sacrifices from our generation as well. This was not simply a gift that is given to us from previous generations without requiring any sacrifices from us. It is easy to be born into a castle, yet convinced that you were raised in a shack. The “sacrifices” we think we are making are truly the dreams that previous generations had for themselves or their future families. Yet, here we are, seemingly unappreciative of the very things that most of us had barely worked for or contributed to.

Most of us get out of school or finish a trade and expect the lifestyle that our parents have. The reality is, what our parents worked for and what their parents worked for took decades to build. It was not given, but earned. This does not mean that previous generations had everything figured out or fully appreciated the freedoms and wealth that was around them, but as a reminder for us to take full advantage of what has been gifted to us while willing to make sacrifices along the way. The perceived oppression or inequalities that so many Americans believe they are living under, would have been viewed as a paradise for so many individuals, whether domestically or abroad.

Now that so many people in America have been born into a society that has required so little of them, it is apparent that we are becoming a naive nation that thinks that this lifestyle that we have will never be threatened or restricted. Look around you. You hop on a plane to travel to almost any destination. You click a few buttons online and product from all over the world is seamlessly shipped directly to your doorstep. This type of commerce and global interaction has only been available since the rise of Capitalistic tendencies and the American security offered to the world.

It is easy to take this security for granted while we travel the country and world without worrying about a domestic or foreign enemy trying to take those opportunities away from us. The thing we forget though is that there are people and governments who still wish evil upon this way of life. We have been instilled to believe that this is not the case because we have not seen any other way of life since we first opened our eyes into this world. It would seem as though the only oppressive atrocities are expressed in film, whether fantasy or non-fiction. The truth is that the freedoms we have, the individual wealth that has been created for free men and women, is something that present day tyrants and regimes wish to possess exclusively for themselves.

While we work towards living our American dream and consuming materials without questioning its origin, we unintentionally build the armies and economies of nations that despise our way of life and liberties. All of these things that we have and aspire for are not things we should disregard or not enjoy. Rather, let it be a reason to be thankful and the motivation to be wise with the fruits of our labor and the wealth that was created through sweat and blood. While we buy that furniture, put in the new hardwood floors, place the sleek flat screen on the wall, we are funneling American wealth over-seas to other economies and nations.

Nearly 60 percent of everything that is purchased in America is produced across our borders. That means we are spending trillions of dollars a year on goods and services that will not benefit businesses and people who reside in our own nation. Sure, on the short term we are able to purchase goods and services at a cheaper cost so that we can consume more than we would have if it were specifically made here in America, but at what cost?

While we innocently purchase those fans for our bedrooms, or those light fixtures in our kitchen, we are in turn building the armies of other nations. Those fan blades end up creating war machines for nations that might not actually believe in our way of life. While the United States continues to fork the bill by spending billions of dollars a year to keep our nation and the world’s economy spinning by offering global peace for maritime trade, other nations are pocketing every dollar that they do not need to spend to maintain that peace. By maintaining that global presence at America’s expense, other nations have taken full advantage of that and are now willing to begin to challenge the very nation and fleets that were offering free passage of goods and services that crossed their waters in and out of their nation.

By believing this anomaly of a society that we have in America, where governments and wealth are created by and for the people, exists across the world and that it can in no way be threatened, is the state of mind that may end up leading to our waning influence.

Just because this is how the world order is now, one where the majority of people and nations have the freedom and ability to trade cohesively with each other, does not mean this is how things would operate if a different nation was the one leading the global navy and air force.

While we spend a billion dollars a year celebrating our freedom of independence, we are purchasing those very materials from nations we have grown dependent on. Over 70 percent of the fireworks we light off every year while celebrating our freedoms, supports the businesses in China that props a regime that condones and punishes any one who promotes the idea of democracy. We can spend without concern today because of our military and economic superiority, but at what point will we have exhausted our own resources while expanding the riches of a nation that looks at our way of life as inferior?

It is easy to be blinded with the thought that because this is how things are that this is how they are always going to be. We have only known a world order with the United States of America leading the way. Not without its imperfections or free of mistakes, but when compared to the rulers of the world before America became the ruling power or compared to other nations that currently exist, we still offer that beacon of hope.

We wake up every day in what appears to be global peace, yet some of our biggest trading partners (China) that are profiting billions of dollars a year off of your consumption, are also the nations that are building rockets, jets and fleets to challenge that very way of life. Although we may believe we are in peace-time, there are governments and nations that are at economic war with us, who wish to dethrone that American way of life and order.

This idea of personal freedom, individual liberties and the ability to create the life you want for you and your family, truly is an anomaly. This way of life and how we operate, the things we take for granted every day, did not exist. Most land was owned by governments, by kings, rulers, or dictators. People were not given the choice of what industry to start, not given the protection to own ideas or inventions. The fruit that was bore by the people was simply to fulfill the wishes of their ruler. In America, the people are the masters of their destiny, the captains that get to navigate the direction of their ship. The freedom of enterprise has given rise to wealth that the world had never seen before. Wealth that should not so easily be transferred to people who wish nothing else but to see the captain’s hat on their own head.

Do not easily surrender sovereignty and wealth simply for the present pleasures that the moment offers. The American dream is not simply about a white picket fence and a house. Capitalism is an essential tool to preserving liberty. The American dream is not a gain all, end all for material things. We have put that dream on what is material, and not the true idea of what it stands for, liberty and independence.

The system that is provided to us as Americans is one that gives us the ability to create our own wealth and build our own industries, and if the need arises we can utilize that wealth and those industries to preserve those very liberties, whether from a foreign or domestic enemy. What happens if those very industries that gave way for this life we get to delight in every day, no longer reside in the nation that was founded by the people and for the people?

*This is not financial advice. For educational purposes only.