The American Experiment: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Will it survive or fizzle out into the dustbin of history?
Randall E. Rush
ISBN 978-1-64670-034-9 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-1-63630-157-0 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-64670-035-6 (Digital)
Copyright 2020 Randall E. Rush
All rights reserved
First Edition
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Table of Contents
Dedicated to my mother Mary Clarice McKenzie Rush and my father George Earl Rush Jr. who both died far too early. Mother on August 24, 1970, at age forty-two at the hands of an incompetent surgeon, and dad on June 29, 1976, at the age of fifty from a broken heart. Dad was a genuine Christian and a navy combat veteran who was a gunner on landing craft in the invasions of Saipan, Tinian, and Leyte. Mother was an amazing Christian woman and housewife who loved God and her family.
Foreword
As I finished editing the book (3/29/20) the coronavirus problem is two to five months old depending on when you believe the Chinese first knew about it, November 2019 or January 2020. Whatever the date was, they didnt tell the world. And their secrecy about the virus in China continues. So, the world doesnt know how many died, how many Chinese were infected or if it continues there in any significant way. This lack of information is harming the rest of the worlds response. But they dont care, favorable thoughts about their communist system must be maintained at all cost, especially internally. If they can be believed China claims 81,000 cases with 3,300 deaths and 75,000 recovered and the virus under control. To date there are over 700,000 cases in the world with 140,000 cases in the United States. There are over 33,000 deaths world-wide and nearly 2,400 in the United States, 1,000 of those in the last 24 hours. The Chinese information simply isnt believable.
To be clear for all of you whiney butt, snowflakes out there this virus came from Wuhan, China. So, traveling on centuries of precedence it is the Chinese virus or Wuhun flu for most of us. It can also correctly be called coronavirus or COVID-19 and undoubtedly the press and scientific journals will call it that. But you whiney butts complaining about Trump calling it the Chinese virus need to get a life. Find something more important to do than meet publishing deadlines. If something isnt directly affecting the trajectory of your life, sit down and shut up. America is sick of you. Naming the virus after the place it originated is not racist, but calling people racist if they name it after its place of origin, thats racist. If the shoe fits wear it children.
Public reports are that the coronavirus came from contaminated food in Wuhan. Given the bat and snake diet of some of those there, thats possible. However, Chinas rapid lockdown of Wuhan is interesting. Seems like a little more caring for their citizens than I would expect from a communist dictatorship. There is a biosafety level 4 laboratory that studies the worlds most dangerous pathogens in Wuhan. Coincidence? I hope so. This thing or some future cousin could greatly affect humanity. Even if it was created by nature and its release into the world was an accident it shows some of the pages of a play book for anyone who wants to do it again.
As the virus reached its (public) peak in China the crematoriums in the Wuhan vicinity were working 24/7 to keep up with dead bodies they had to dispose of. Those who doubt it can go back and look at the sulfur plumes over Wuhan (from coal fires) during the critical time period. They were burning bodies so fast that they likely lost count and may have missed many of the deads names. Moreover, in a communist version of battlefield triage they undoubtedly cremated many who were beyond help but werent dead yet to minimize spread.
To be clear the problem the Trump Whitehouse is confronting with this virus has many characteristics similar to problems those who actually produce something deal with constantly. He has a complex, serious problem to solve and is surrounded by a team of experts who know a lot about their specialty but no one at the table knows all the answers. And its clear that in the end Trump will get the blame if the team loses and the team will get the credit if they win. Thats the way the world works, but in the meantime those in the press who constantly criticize Trump should sit down and shut up. We have enough problems to deal with without having to hear your ignorant, uninformed complaints prepared late at night over a bottle of wine or whisky to meet a publishing deadline while showing us your TDS. (Ill let those who dont understand TDS Bing it.) There will be plenty of time for criticism and blame assignment after the game has been played.
The root of the problem is that no country in the world was prepared for this outbreak. With recent outbreaks of SARS, West Nile Virus, Swine Flu and Ebola it can be argued that the world should have been prepared. But it wasnt and the situation is similar to the beginning of WWII when soldiers were training with wooden guns and rubber tanks. The analogy with a war is accurate from both lack of preparedness and death potential. However, in a war masses of millennials would be given a weapon and told to kill or be killed. Here theyre just asked to stay home and not spread the virus. The health workers are the ones on the front lines, not a pile of selfish snowflakes who just want to party. Stay at home children, for goodness sake stay at home!
Since the effects of the Chinese Virus on the world arent completely revealed yet, they arent woven into my comments in the book. Im not sure Im qualified to comment in detail anyway. What seems clear is that the virus is several times more contagious than the common flu that becomes more virulent during the fall and winter each year. Whether the virus is seasonal or not remains to be seen. At the moment it appears to be 5 -10 times more deadly than the flu in countries with less sophisticated medical capability. In more technically sophisticated countries, the death rate appears to be about double that of the common flu as long as healthcare systems arent overwhelmed.
Several subjects I touch on in the book are being affected by the virus. The longer and more severe its march against humanity the larger the effect. The health of the world population is at risk, but the economic well-being of the world is as well. Thats not a particularly insightful observation, but in a worst-case scenario more people could die from a collapsed world economic system than from the virus itself. And major geopolitical dynamics may be altered as well. In the extreme entire systems of government and world leadership could change as a result of the virus.
Ive already speculated too much. If youre interested its time to read the book. Maybe it will be a relief from worries about the virus. If were lucky the virus will just be another blip on the screen except for those poor souls who die and their families. If not... Buckle up, butter cup! In that case I hope the word nasty is an over statement.
Purpose and Introduction
As a gift to my current and future relatives, Ive attempted to set down why, how, and by whom I believe America was created (God!). And just how rare it is in history. Ive also tried to summarize Americas history as Ive seen it unfold during my life and some of the major future challenges America faces. I hope my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren who (the good Lord willing) are to come, will live by Edmund Burkes words, Those who dont understand history are doomed to repeat it and learn history even if they pursue other careers, which they would probably be better off doing. Ignorance of the past leads to arrogance about the future and unfortunately theres a lot of both ignorance and arrogance in the world today.
