US Heg declining—low production, rampant inequality, and COVID consequences
Meisenhelder 20- retired Professor of Sociology from California State University, San Bernardino.
Thomas Meisenhelder, "Declining American Hegemony Could Be A Good Thing," Common Dreams, 10-11-2020, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/10/11/declining-american-hegemony-could-be-good-thing-- 嘉玮
We are told that the United States is the greatest, most productive and fairest economy in the world. It isn't. Over the last several years, our share of world production has declined significantly. Increasingly our economy is characterized by wide inequalities, environmental destruction, and decreasing life chances for the many. The earnings ratio between CEOs and their employees has widened dramatically. Bosses now earn as much as 400 times the incomes of their employees. Ordinary Americans no longer believe that future generations will have more comfortable lives than current ones. People of color in the United States face significant economic damage just because of their heritage and ethnicity.
President Trump did not create this situation, but he is making it worse. His administration's mishandling of COVID has driven down the lives of ordinary Americans. Unemployment is up; incomes are down; mass evictions are looming; GDP has collapsed; and all this is doubly true for persons of color. The only folks doing well are a few tech bosses and those who live off the stock market. In addition, the American economy is not sustainable environmentally. Since we no longer can claim any kind of real commitment to environmental protection, we can not even pretend to be an international leader in this area.