America in Peril
Imagine you are standing in a group waiting for tickets to a concert. You hear a commotion and observe a huge truck swerve out of its lane and head toward you.
Most people in the crowd don’t notice the truck. Many who do think it is no problem. “It’ll turn away,” they say. “This line has always been safe, and always will be.” They loudly denounce those who are worried as “alarmists” or, noticing the driver is black, as “racists.”
Others announce they are not moving, because they are entitled to be here. “I earned this spot,” one says, “And I’m not giving it up. Someone else needs to take action to fix the problem.”
Fortunately, there are a number of sharp people in the crowd who realize there is a danger. Unfortunately, they are divided about what part of the threat to focus on, so they have different solutions.
One group is concerned about the size of the engine and the truck. “That truck is 50% larger than any truck last year,” they say. “We’ve got to do something about the size of trucks and how large the engines are. Ever-bigger trucks are unsustainable!”
Other folks are really worried about the driver. “Is he a legal driver? Illegal drivers are a threat to everyone.”
“This could be a terrorist attack,” A few fret. Others worry that the truck was made in China, and probably cost American jobs.
And not a few are worried about where the driver was born, or if he’s gay and wants to marry another guy, or other issues that will be of little importance when the truck plows into the crowd. Meanwhile, the truck roars forward.
This is the position of America today. Our Republic faces an existential combination of threats, any one of which would be life-threatening alone.
These dangers are:
1. The incomprehensible debt and unfunded financial liabilities of all levels of government;
2. The threat of uncontrolled, illegal immigration to our economy and culture;
3. The asymmetric war imposed on us by Islamic Jihadists; and,
4. The rise of China as a competitive military and economic power determined to dominate Asia.
Most people are not paying attention, or are sure that “things always work out for the best.” Most politicians are worried about the 2012 election, not the future in 20 years. Most members of interest group – that would be all of us – are concerned about holding on to their piece of the pie, hoping that others will deal with the danger without them making any personal sacrifice.
If people are involved and concerned, they are usually focused on just one of these factors. But it is the reinforcing nature of these converging disasters that puts the survival of America as a united, free and prosperous country in great jeopardy.
In an effort to focus people on the combined threats, I’ve written a very short book – 80 pages plus 26 pages of references and resources for further reading – entitled The Coming Collapse of the American Republic: And what you can do to prevent it. All royalties go to a charity to help wounded veterans, so this isn’t about making money for me. It’s just that I’m still bound to the oath I took as an 18-year-old Marine recruit.
In addition to detailing, with sources, the enormity of these four challenges, I’ve laid out what I think a collapse will look like, how I think we got here, and what we can all do to try to avert the impending disaster.
The book is available on Amazon.com or as an e-book on SmashWords.com.
I hope you will read it and marshal facts to prove I’m wrong, or have better suggestions for protecting our Republic. It’s not going to matter that much to me. I have pulmonary fibrosis, an eventually-terminal illness, so I’ll likely sneak out before the collapse. But if I’m right, it’s going to matter a great deal to your kids and grandkids.
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Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran, a former five-term member of the Massachusetts state senate and, since 1982 a successful non-profit executive. E-mail him at [email protected].
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Book URLs:
Smash Words:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59105
