David C. Ranney - New World Disorder: The Decline of U.S. Power

New World Disorder

The Decline of U.S. Power

By David Ranney

Copyright 2014 David Ranney

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1493740222

Acknowledgements

A number of people have been very helpful to me as I wrote the book. Several of these people read an earlier version of the manuscript and offered very useful comments. These included Dan Baker, Teresa Cordova, John Garvey, Loren Goldner, Don Hammerquist, Peter Little, Nick Paretsky, Bob Wagner, and Pat Wright. Mari Anderson and Fritz Damler assisted with the editing and have formatted it for publication. Mari Anderson also did the cover design. Pat Wright not only read and commented on the manuscript, she discussed the ideas and concepts with me nearly every day for the past year. She continuously encouraged me to keep at it when I was struggling with the project. Thanks, one and all!

Table Of Contents

Preface and Overview

During the year 2000 I wrote a book called Global Decisions, Local Collisions: Urban Life in the New World Order. The book, published in 2003, was a reflection on the past two decades of my work as a community and labor organizer and activist academic. Among my conclusions, was that in the 1970s and 1980s we experienced what I call a crisis of value. In response, the entire capitalist system underwent a radical restructuring which brutally displaced workers from their jobs and homes. Yet the restructured system, named a New World Order by President George H. W. Bush, was not sustainable. It was built on a house of cardsactually a house of credit cards. The New World Order was running on the illusion of fictitious capital in the form of bad credit. Today that house of cards is falling. We are once again in a crisis of value. I argue in this book that the present crisis of value will result either in the replacement of the global capitalist system or a radical restructuring of the system as has happened in the wake of past crises. This is a time of great opportunity for the creation of a world in which the full and free development of every human being is its ruling principle.

But it is also a time of great peril. The dominant role of the U.S. in the world that has persisted since the mid 1940s, and todays global form of capitalism are being challenged from many quarters. And that challenge is likely to succeed. What will take its place is not clear. In the U.S., all politicians seem intent on holding onto the present American dominated system. I will argue that this will ultimately fail no matter which party comes to power. Proposals from liberal think tanks that include increased government spending, job sharing, transactions taxes, and best practices wont work either. Conservatives wish to return to Reagan era trickle down programs and massive social program cuts. This approach didnt work for Reagan and it wont work this time either.

The challenge from the left, despite the rise of the Occupies, is weak and disjointed. Meanwhile there is a rise in right wing challenges to capitalism. The logic of the far right challenge could lead to a new brand of fascism. The following book continues the analysis begun more than a decade ago to explain the falling house of cards and examine a variety of prospects for the future.

If we understand clearly what has happened in the past and what is happening now, we can then make informed choices about the directions we need to go and thus participate in shaping our own future. It is toward that end that I wrote this book. What ends up happening is really up to all of usthe thought and actions we take and dont take. Below is a summary of the key points I will develop in the remainder of the book.