There is little so unproductive, and frequently dangerous, as the power of a delusion that has taken such a strong hold that reality never has the opportunity to intrude. When government adopts delusional policies, the potential danger is enormous. When the press shares the delusion, the prospect of a reasonable discussion to allow the facts to come to light is only a faint prospect.
Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention was a dark and depressing analysis of the current status of the United States. Unfortunately, it also happened to be accurate. While there can certainly be a debate about the best way to address the challenges facing the nation, the unsavory truth is that America has not been in worse condition since before the middle of the last century. To avoid admitting that is to ignore reality.
Abroad, the unprecedented military power of the Russian-Chinese alliance presents the greatest threat the nation has ever faced. At home, the continuing descent of the middle class, the failure of the war on poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and the stunning downturn in race relations all demand a harshly honest examination, and significant and viable responses.
Today’s review looks at foreign affairs.
It is deeply disturbing that Obama continues to maintain that the world is in generally good order. During his remarks at last week’s Global Development Summit, the President stated: “it is worth reminding ourselves of how lucky we are to be living in the most peaceful, most prosperous, most progressive era in human history…the world has achieved incredible advances in development and human dignity… the world has never been less violent, healthier, better educated, more tolerant, with more opportunity for more people…” As Debra Heine of PJ Media points out, this isn’t the first time the President has delivered an extremely optimistic—and unrealistic– viewpoint. Almost exactly two years ago, he made a virtually identical statement: “The world is less violent than it has ever been. It is healthier than it has ever been. It is more tolerant than it has ever been.”
To an extent, Mr. Obama is correct. Since the adoption of the U.S. Bill of Rights in 1787, human rights have been on an upward trajectory. Advances in science, as well as the widespread acceptance of capitalist economics, and the military power first of the British then the United States navies (which the President at times appears profoundly uncomfortable with) to safeguard commerce have provided more opportunities for more people than ever before.
But the harsh truth is that all those wonderful attributes are in immediate and significant danger of quickly being swept away, facts the White House continues to ignore. Indeed, the U.S. Administration has taken steps which actually diminish those accomplishments.
Personal safety as well as the upward thrust of human rights and gender equality has been severely blunted by Islamic extremism, which the current administration finds hard to discuss, let alone address. Headline Politics notes: “It’s an understatement to call President Obama ‘delusional’ when it comes to his ISIS non-strategy. After all, the man once referred to them as the ‘JV team’ and twice said that he had no working plan to defeat the terrorist group, after he had already introduced a plan that didn’t work.”
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But the Obama Administration adheres to its delusion, and the media harshly attacks those that seek to bring a realistic view to the forefront. The one medium that has provided the greatest forum for exposing atrocities against human rights, the internet, is scheduled, thanks to the President’s own initiative, to be opened to censorship by some of the very nations that are engaging in these acts.
Other problems abound.
Within the Americas, the adoption of socialist policies by several nations, most significantly Venezuela, have introduced the possibilities of famine and chaos to the New World.
The threat of another world war continues to rapidly develop. American and European progressives continue to advocate spending less on defense, based on a delusional and oft-repeated mantra that large wars are a thing of the past. Unfortunately, Russia and China have taken advantage of the delusion. Putin is moving diligently to restore the Soviet Empire, which was defeated thanks in large part to Ronald Reagan’s realpolitik approach of building a massive military. The Russian strongman has overcome the prior western lead in nuclear arms, and built a fearsome conventional armed force even as the U.S. and its allies have allowed their deterrents to substantially deteriorate.
In Asia, China has, thanks to a rate of increased spending that has surpassed anything either the USSR or the US ever did at the height of the Cold War, built a dominant military. It openly claims vast swaths of oceanic areas to which it has no legal right, and uses it massive might to overcome any international law objections.
Irrational and openly belligerent regimes, such as Iran and North Korea, move swiftly and surely, despite the existence of international agreements, to build and deploy advanced weapons of mass destruction.
A clear case can be made that the threats facing the entire planet are more severe now than they were even during the WW2 era, since, unlike Germany and Japan, the Russian-Chinese axis has geographical, industrial and population advantages that Hitler and Tojo never attained.
Tomorrow: Domestic Delusions