BRICS as an indicator of a much deeper problem.

 According to press reports, a total of 23 countries have officially asked to join BRICS.  An additional 24 other countries have informally indicated their desire to join the organization.  Most are developing countries that appear to be primarily interested in trading with one another in their own local currencies, rather than in US dollars.  This at a time when America’s relationship with these same developing countries continues to deteriorate.  

Following the Second World War, we made a genuine effort to assist developing countries all over the world.  That effort had some specific successes, but, overall, did not live up to our expectations and the American public turned against it as being a waste of money.  During the same period of time, China and the United States grew further and further apart.  Over time, Beijing made its relationship with the developing world a major part of its foreign policy.  

I see BRICS, not as a specific threat, as much as a barometer measuring our overall relationship with an important part of the rest of the world, and the needle is moving in the wrong direction.  Add in the increased influence of crime and conflict all over the globe and you have an increasingly hostile international environment for America.  I look at our current domestic political scene and see no indication that any of us, either in Washington or out here in the hustings, are thinking in these terms.  Instead, we are arguing about the age of the fetus, the price of gasoline, the sign on the bathroom door, and our precious feelings.

One side of our internal disagreement argues for better management of our resources, while the other mindlessly does everything in their power to reformulate all of our societal relationships.  None of us are interested in anything outside of our non-existent borders.  All foreign issues are judged by their impact on the price of groceries in the corner store.  The closest that we come to showing an interest in what is happening in the rest of the world is for some of the more inane among us to invite the rest of the world to come live with us even as we struggle to take care of the population that we have now.

No politician on the left or the right is going to save us from further decline until you and I wake up.  Not only do we have to engage in an intelligent discussion of real issues facing us, we have to then go on and address the issues facing the rest of the world if we are to have any hope of avoiding more war - including nuclear war.