{"id":110315,"date":"2021-01-02T14:25:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T21:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110315"},"modified":"2021-01-02T14:25:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T21:25:44","slug":"the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c4b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/02\/the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c4b\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POHOTTUWA GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA Part 2 C4b"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

United States\nrose to prominence after World War II. USA and Russia thereafter fought a Cold\nWar which neither won. When the Cold War with Russia ended abruptly in 1991 USA\nbecame the world\u2019s sole super-power. Throughout the 1990s, the USA reigned\nsupreme. USA had the best army, air force and navy. No other country could\nrival it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 USA became a global policeman.  \u2018American leadership is good for the world\u2019\nrecorded TIME. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA divided\nup the globe into different military \u2018combatant commands\u2019, such as the Pacific\ncommand with each Command taking orders from a single officer. The Pacific Command\nhad<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA navy\u2019s\npowerful 7th<\/sup> Fleet. This  fleet dominated the Pacific Ocean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US   is bound by treaties to defend quarter of\nhumanity, said analysts.   69 countries\nhave some form of defense pact with USA and they make up around 75% of the\nworld economy. US has defense pacts with NATO, with OAS, which is the   Organisation of American States, meaning Central\nand South America and with ANZUS, Australian New Zealand US Security Treaty.  UK, European Union and   South Korea    depend wholly on USA for their military\ndefence. They could not face a world war without the US, said analysts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past\n25 years America\u2019s leader have acted as though America were becoming stronger\nin the world. That is not so. The rest of the planet is catching up, said TIME\nin 2015. USA thought it would continue to rule the world forever, but by the late\n21 century, Russia and China started to come into the picture. Now China is\ntaking over and Russia is hovering alongside, making the world\nmultipolar.  US is  losing its position. America\u2019s military\nadvantage vis-\u00e0-vis China and Russia is eroding admitted USA. USA\u2019s\npowers are now decreasing.    It is\nthe super powers in decline that are often the most dangerous, warned analysts.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA was\npresented as a shining example of democracy, the perfect state. This is\nnonsense. No country   is a perfect\ndemocracy, ever, and USA was no exception. But recently,  it has got even worse. USA has been declared a\nflawed democracy.  This has affected\nUSA\u2019s public image. USA is no longer an admired and feared country. There was\nWatergate. In the last few Presidential elections, the candidates spent much\ntime disparaging their rivals. The world saw this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to\nthe 2018 edition of The Economist <\/em>Intelligence Unit\u2019s Democracy Index, the\nU.S. is ranked 25th out of 165 sovereign independent countries. The Democracy\nIndex\u201d defines a flawed democracy as a democracy where despite free and\nfair elections as well as civil rights and liberties there are significant\nweaknesses\u201d in other democratic characteristics such as problems in\ninstitutional governance, a poor political culture, and lower levels of\npolitical participation in public life. USA has experienced government\nshutdowns, low\nvoter turnout<\/a> and a lack<\/a> of electoral\nreform, it said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In USA the President\nis not elected by a direct vote of the people, he is elected by an Electoral College.\nThe intelligentsia knew this all along, but after the 2020 Presidential\nelection everybody got to know this. The Electoral College need not follow the\npopular vote. However, in every state except Nebraska and Maine, the candidate\nwinning the majority of popular votes theoretically wins all that state’s\nelectors. In July 2020, the US Supreme Court ruled that states could order\ntheir Electoral Colleges to cast their votes according to the popular vote in\nthat state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have\nbeen several instances in USA where the candidate who won the popular vote lost\nthe election. Five presidents in all have risen to the office this way, said\nanalysts.  John Quincy Adams was the\nfirst, in 1824, against Andrew Jackson. More recently, the 2000 election\nresulted in an epic Florida entanglement between George W. Bush and Democrat Al\nGore. Gore had won nearly 500,000 more votes nationwide, but Florida Electoral\nCollege voted for Bush. In 2016, Trump did not win the popular vote but won the\nelection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American\npolitics has its ugly side. There is the John Kennedy assassination. The Warren\nCommission report said that Oswald acted alone when he assassinated Kennedy\nNobody believes this. Warren Commission report is considered a cover up. Secret\nService had confiscated all evidence from nearby witnesses just before and\nafter the shooting. They also destroyed records. Oswald was  killed in front of live television by\nnightclub owner Ruby, preventing Oswald from saying anything. There are many\nconspiracy theories about the John Kennedy assassination. CIA and the Mafia are\nconsidered possible candidates. The assassination is clearly an internal issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The assassinations\nof John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy are well known. But there are  two other deaths connected to the Kennedys, the\nfilm star Marilyn Monroe and the journalist Dorothy Kilgallen which are not so\nwell known. Kilgallen was investigating the assassination of John F Kennedy and\nhad announced that she was nearing the end of her investigations. When her\nhairdresser found her at her home, one morning in 1965, Kilgallen was propped\nup in bed, makeup, hairpiece and fake eyelashes still on, in an outfit she\ndisliked, stone dead, reading a book upside down.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marilyn\nMonroe had been friendly with John and Robert Kennedy and had threatened them\nwith exposure. Analysts say that she was not as dumb as she looked.   She was very intelligent, understood\npolitics and had picked up sensitive information. On August 5, 1962, Marilyn\nMonroe was found dead in her home in Los Angeles, lying nude on her bed, face\ndown.  These  two dramatically  presented deaths were clearly a warning to\nothers. ( The Kilgallen and Monroe information  \nwas provided by  YouTube, which\npopped up clips saying \u2018recommended for you\u2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The criminal\nlife of USA is  now underplayed in the\nmedia. The Italian-American Mafia has long dominated organized crime in the\nUnited States. This Mafia initially consisted of  Italian immigrants from Sicily, who settled in\nNew York. From there the mafia spread to other cities, such as Chicago. And at\nits peak, there were at least 26 cities \nwhere the mafia was active. Each Mafia \norganization  is known as a\n\u2018family\u2019. Each crime family has its own territory and operates independently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among its activities,\nthe Mafia, notably controlled labor unions \nand engaged in labor racketeering. There was a large concentration of\nMafia owned restaurants  in New York\nCity. Not only were they the setting of many killings and important meetings,\nbut they were also an effective means of smuggling  drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 21st\ncentury, the Mafia  is  engaged in murder, extortion, corruption of\npublic officials, gambling, infiltration of legitimate businesses, labor\nracketeering, loan sharking, tax fraud<\/a> schemes and stock manipulation<\/a> schemes,\nsaid Wikipedia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mafia is\ncurrently most active in the Northeastern\nUnited States<\/a> and Chicago. They continue to dominate organized crime, though\nother criminal organizations such as Mexican drug cartels<\/a> have all taken\na share.   The television series\nSopranos\u201d  is about a modern Mafia\nfamily. It  sanitizes the Mafia. It has won many awards and is regarded as\none of the greatest television series of all time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US\neconomy is no longer the best in the world. It lost its lead 15 years ago,\nsaid  economist Srimal Abeyratne.\nIndustrial production has collapsed in the US. The US no longer leads in the\nmanufacture of durable goods. Electric and electronic items, which were\noriginally produced in the US, are now produced in other countries such as\nChina. As manufacture decreased, so did job, resulting in unemployment. Since\nthe US now has to import these goods, there is  \nnow a trade deficit as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

R&D\nexpenditure has shrunk significantly over the last few decades, said TIME. Once\nthe world leader in R&D the US now ranks 12th<\/sup> in government\nfunded R&D as Percentage of GDP. China\non the other hand is heavily funding basic research, continued TIME IN 2019., <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIME says US system of market capitalism is to blame. USA made a\nmagnificent advance from agriculture and manufacturing to finance. This was\nconsidered USA\u2019s highest achievement. But now finance is not supporting business.\nThe best stocks are owned by the wealthiest 10% and the money is concentrated\nthere. Once a company goes public, in order to keep its stock price high, it\nstops innovating and does not support job creation, concluded TIME. Manufacturing\njobs are disappearing because of robots and automation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big companies\nand multinationals, such as Exxon Mobil and other fossil fuel companies, mega\nbanks such as Bank of America, the defense industries us as Boeing, Lockheed\nMartin have control of the major seats of political power and also able to\nlobby the government to take decisions in favor of companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\ncorruption, such as Chicago\u2019s famous cronyism,    where the most lucrative city contracts are\nawarded to favoured persons. A study of international corruption cases in 2012\nfound that most of the shell companies used to hide financial crimes were from\nAmerica.  The most secretive shell\ncompanies are in America. They are very easy to set up in the US. When US\nCongress suggested corporate transparency legislation, it   was shot down, reported Economist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US\ninfrastructure is   aging. America\u2019s\nhighways, waterways and subways, built decades ago  are in dire need of upkeep. USA has around 50 bridges that need repairs.\nThey were built a hundred years ago. The New York subway system is on the verge\nof collapse. There are delays, breakdowns and overcrowding. New York lacks\nthe  USD 8 billion needed for repairs.\nTherefore the authorities wanted to remove seats on at least two train lines so\nthat the trains could carry more passengers. This idea was ridiculed by the\ncommuters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where did the\nUS wealth go asked critics.  Jack Ma of\nAlibaba observed that multinationals such as IBM, Microsoft and Cisco\nhad made huge profits, but US squandered it on 13 wars in 30 years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notion of\nUSA as a supporter of  free speech and\nother wonderful freedoms  is now\nquestioned. There is the example of Julian Assange of Wikileaks and US\nwhistleblower Edward Snowden. USA wants Assange \npunished for leaking secret \nAmerican documents. He was \narrested under a US extradition warrant kept secret  till now. Countries were told that if they\ngave Snowden asylum, USA would punish them.TIME says Snowden wants to return to the US but does not believe he will\nget a fair trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA is not\nas  liberated  and as socially  advanced as the world  thinks it is. Roe vs Wade\u201d is still not\ncompletely accepted. Alabama recently passed the nation\u2019s most extreme abortion\nbill, reported TIME. It would ban abortion almost entirely in the state and\nmake it a felony to perform an abortion.  \nThere is a great discrepancy between the salaries paid to men and those\npaid to women for doing identical jots in USA. \nAmerican women have now started complaining. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  12 American universities\nare listed among the best ranked universities in the world, but secondary\neducation is not always excellent. There was a teachers strike in Los Angeles\nin January 2019, due to a lack of education funding. They demanded better\nschool funding, smaller class sizes and higher pay said TIME. Federal spending\non education has also declined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is race\nprejudice, now declared to be systemic race prejudice. Actually, it was\nsystemic all along . The African American is still discriminated against.\nEvery black person knows that no amount of accomplishment or wealth can exempt\nhim from racial prejudice,\u201d reported TIME.  An African American doctor, dying of Covid 19,\nstated on video, in December 2020, just before she died, that if  she had been white she would have been well\nlooked after and on her way to recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People will stop for a stray dog before they will stop for a\nblack child alone in the middle of the day\u2019 said Kamala Harris. A white teenager who kills is a good kid who\ndeserves a second change, but a black teenager who commits the same crime\nshould be locked up for life. Police routinely pull over African-American\nmotorists on suspicion, and arrest them for no reason.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

African\nAmericans  are prevented from voting at\nelections. Michelle Obama said in her book \u2018Becoming\u201d that it was estimated\nthat about 400,000 African Americans in the state of Chicago were eligible to\nvote but were still unregistered. For those\nregistered, racists try to figure out which polling booths to close so that\nthey would have difficulty getting to one, added TIME. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

National\nAssociation for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP)\nwas planning in 2012, to complain to the UN Human Rights Council that the new\nvoting laws in   US violate civil rights\nby suppressing the votes of minorities and others. For instance, they have to\nshow proof of citizenship before they can vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a\nsecond race problem looming in USA. The Latin American group is overtaking the\nblacks and the whites in America. California which is full of Latinos wants to\nsecede, said TIME in 2017.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\nviolence in America, shown worldwide in the numerous mass shootings in US\nschools and elsewhere. The justice system is not perfect either. In 2018, 151\npersons were cleared of convictions made for crimes they did not commit. This\ngroup had served an average of 10 years in jail. In USA despite the law it is\nthe prosecutor who decides. He will decide to put sex workers in jail while\nletting their customers off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An entire generation of USA has come of age without having seen US\nprosperity, said TIME in April 2019. And there was a shared sense among them\nthat they had been screwed\u201d. Farm bankruptcies are increasing in USA said CNN\nin September 2019. Certain categories of low paid workers, such as waitresses,\nlive on tips. The management openly asks customers to tip them. That is a part\nof the US economic system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIME did a series of interviews in 2016, with the American public,\nwho said that the future for America is bleak, no chance of a good job and\nrising in life. The country is going downhill, the rich and powerful have it\ngood, but not the rest, they said. There is rising inequality, stagnant\nincomes, shrinking middle class and stalled upward mobility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American\npolitical scientist Ian Bremmer formulated three roles for USA. First, \u2018Indispensable\nAmerica\u2019 which said that no other nation can provide the leadership that the\nworld desperately needs, except America. \nTherefore America must increase its international commitments?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Moneyball\nAmerica\u201d, which said that we must defend US political and economic interest\nwhen they are threatened. Third, Independent America\u201d, where we must rid\nourselves of international burdens and focus on improving the country from\nwithin.  America must renounces its role\nas the global problem-solver   and defend\nonly America\u2019s strategic interests.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenner did a\nnational survey on these three options. The respondents had no clear\npreference. However, the older generation wanted\u201d Indispensable America,\u201d the younger\ngeneration wanted Independent America.\u201d  (Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS United States rose to prominence after World War II. USA and Russia thereafter fought a Cold War which neither won. When the Cold War with Russia ended abruptly in 1991 USA became the world\u2019s sole super-power. Throughout the 1990s, the USA reigned supreme. USA had the best army, air force and navy. No […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110315\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}