A Declining America Under Obama: Dealing With the Aftermath

Not so long ago, a high-ranking Chinese official, who obviously had concluded that America's decline and China's rise were both inevitable, noted in a burst of candor to a senior U.S. official: "But, please, let America not decline too quickly." Although the inevitability of the Chinese leader's expectation is still far from certain, he was right to be cautious when looking forward to America's demise.

For if America falters, the world is unlikely to be dominated by a single preeminent successor -- not even China. International uncertainty, increased tension among global competitors, and even outright chaos would be far more likely outcomes. _FP

The accelerating decline of America under Obama is not coincidental. It is an active process originating in the White House, working its way down the federal bureaucracy to impair virtually every function of the US economy and private sector, starting with energy.

“For the first time in U.S. history, net coal capacity is in decline. On top of 38 gigawatts of generation that is already being run below normal levels or slated for early retirement, NERC predicts another 36 to 59 gigawatts will come offline by 2018, depending on the ‘scope and timing’ of EPA demands. That could mean nearly a quarter of all coal-fired capacity.”

It is coal-fired plants that currently provide fifty percent of all the electricity generated in America! The EPA is feverishly trying to force a quarter of that capacity offline. Why? Because the EPA claims that these plants are “polluting” the air. The air in America has never been cleaner. _CFP

Besides shutting down the coal industry, Obama has blocked offshore oil drilling, blocked the Keystone pipeline for Canadian oilsands, threatened to abort the shale oil & gas bonanza, impeded development of safer, more advanced nuclear power, and shunted billions of dollars of funding to political cronies who are backing unreliable and exorbitantly expensive big wind and big solar projects.

As a result, the cost of energy in America is getting set to rise at the same time that the availability of energy is set to decline. Added to all the other economic burdens under Obama, and the US private sector will have good reason to cry.

When America's energy declines, American industry and commerce will also decline. As economic conditions at the grass roots level continue to degenerate under Obama, incidents of civil disorder and disobedience are likely to occur in multiple locations, manifesting in multiple ways.

The re-election of Obama in 2012 would allow a further accelerated decline in the quality and reliability of US energy and electrical power infrastructure. Obama's wholesale attack against the US private sector would be amplified, in order to remove the source of funding for the opposition to the political power elite. With a further breakdown in the private sector economy, conditions leading to civil disorder would be expanded to more parts of the country.

Living in an urban setting would become even more hazardous, as the decline of "the commons" accelerates. The dividing line between public employees and private citizens will grow more stark, as public sector union pensions and benefits create a new elite, at the expense of a shrinking group of private taxpayers. This will lead to a growing antipathy toward government and government employees at all levels -- a very dangerous and unstable situation. (see pensiontsunami.com) The longer that President Obama remains in office, the longer it will take to come to grips with this "under the radar" problem.

US military and law enforcement have devoted a good deal of thought to how they will deal with widespread outbreaks of civil disorder in the US. The development of "non-lethal" weaponry is one response to the growing threat, under Obama. This PDF download (h/t Wired) is a report on some of the latest types of non-lethal weapons, which has been released to US government agencies for discussion and planning. While these weapons are nominally considered "non-lethal," in practise a certain number of deaths and disability injuries are likely.

Of course, as the US government continues its decline under Obama, weapons which were meant for the exclusive use of official US government agencies, will eventually fall into the hands of other groups, organisations, and individuals. That means that a wide range of criminal and quasi-criminal groups are likely to obtain powerful weapons of both lethal and "non-lethal" varieties -- although the non-lethal variety would likely be easier to obtain. Possessing both types of weapons would allow groups a wider latitude of strategies and tactics.

If President Obama remains in office for much longer, he may need to withdraw all overseas US troops just to deal with the growing civil disorder within US borders. Mr. Obama is not likely to be bothered by petty issues of posse comitatus or the like, if he sees his power base coming under threat.

Mr. Obama has taken a bad situation -- decades in the making -- and made it incalculably worse. And he will continue making it worse as long as US voters allow him to. The aftermath is likely to be explosive -- not only for America.

Another consequence of American decline could be a corrosion of the generally cooperative management of the global commons -- shared interests such as sea lanes, space, cyberspace, and the environment, whose protection is imperative to the long-term growth of the global economy and the continuation of basic geopolitical stability. In almost every case, the potential absence of a constructive and influential U.S. role would fatally undermine the essential communality of the global commons because the superiority and ubiquity of American power creates order where there would normally be conflict. _FP

The accelerating decline of America under Obama is likely to result in civil disorder within the US, and global war outside the US.

Elections have consequences.