Which country has won
the maximum number of Olympic medals, Oscars and Nobel Prizes?
Which country has the
largest and stronger military force in the world?
Undoubtedly, the
answer to these questions is the United States of America.
When we think of large-scale
development and a booming economy, we often think of the New World, commonly
known as the United States of America.
How did America
become the super power that it is today?
What is the secret
behind it commanding such immense recognition and power over the other
countries of the world?
Brief History of
USA’s Establishment
Christopher Columbus
explored the Caribbean Islands, small pieces of land with close proximity to a
large country which was later explored and coined as America.
Christopher Columbus’
exploration arose curiosity amongst the European colonizers who set about to
further explore the neighboring pieces of land before they finally found and
colonized America.
Initially America was
dominated by the Red Indian Population. However, after the colonization, more
than half of the Red Indian population succumbed to fatal diseases like Small
Pox that the European Colonizers brought with them.
The other half of the
native population then started as uprising against the colonizers and no longer
wanted to serve the interests of the European or French Colonies.
America was the first
country to have started the cry for democracy and gradually achieve it. It went
onto form a conglomerate of countries by annexing Alaska, Philippines, Hawaii
in a peaceful manner and thus came to be known as the United States of America.
Florida, Illinois and Texas where amongst the states to have joined the
conglomerate at an earlier stage and reaped subsequent benefits of the
association.
Reasons for the
emergence of USA as the No. 1 Super Power
World Wars
The USA was never an
active participant in any of the world wars that took place between 1900-1950.
It has always been a
passive player in the sense that it supplied weapons and ammunitions to France,
UK and Germany. Several US soldiers were also deported to the battle grounds far
away from USA.
However, USA didn’t
themselves serve as battle ground during the world wars which in itself gave
USA a start to a more lucrative economy since there was no economic losses
that they had to suffer.
By another
perspective, we can say that the world wars actually benefitted USA. They
supplied arms and ammunitions at a cost to the allied powers, which means large
scale production, which means large scale labor, and extensive distribution of
profits that eventually led to an increase in the standard of living and the
economy of USA boomed.
Whilst the other
countries had to suffer the after effects of the destructive world wars with
crashing economies, loss of lives, lack of infrastructure and dealing with
post-traumatic disorders of the war, USA was already on path to achieving
greater things.
Cold War
The clash of
ideologies between USA and USSR was termed as the Cold War.
The Cold War as the
name suggests saw no battle-ground wars or physical fighting, instead there was
always an imminent threat of war surrounding not only the two nations but all
their allies.
They resorted to what
was known as the Proxy Wars. They encouraged their allies to start an uprising
of a sort against nations that didn’t comply with either their capitalistic or
communist ideology.
USA and USSR
intervened in the internal politics of other countries thereby reducing their
economies to shambles by either manipulation or by employing an erroneous
course of action.
As a result of proxy
wars, the economies of the allies were rendered unstable. On the other hand,
the USA and USSR economies continued to grow unabatedly.
However, the USSR separated
and broke into individual countries thereby leaving only one superpower, the
USA.
Strengthening of
the Dollar
During the years of
the world war, the allied powers valued their individual currencies against the
Dollar and when the allied power won the world war, the Dollar grew stronger
and soon became a worldwide vehicle currency, against which every other current
was valued.
Emergence of the
NATO
USA entered into a
military and political alliance with the Western European Countries termed at
NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This organization guarantees the
freedom and security of its members through political and military means.
Since USA has one of the
largest and strongest military forces, the European Nations grew dependent on
the USA. The USA used this to their advantage by entering into several other
agreements that helped further their economic growth and development.
Attracting the
Best Talent in the World
USA, the superpower
with the best infrastructure and lucrative opportunities has and continues to
attract the best talents of the world.
USA, the home to
multination corporations has drained India of its best talents, for example,
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google’s subsidiary company, Alphabet.
Housing the best
space research organization, NASA, USA goes onto entice the best in the field, namely
Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.
Amongst other
examples of brain-drain to the USA, we have Elon Musk, the richest person in
the world, originally from South Africa, to have taken to the rewarding and
lucrative life of America.
Albert Einstein, a
German Scientist and the greatest of them all, had found immense success
through his research in the New World.
Every immigrant that
USA hosts contributes to its success, and when every immigrant is of impeccable
caliber and acumen, it is bound to reflect upon the ever-growing GDP and
economy of the nation.
Ground Reality
It is often said that
what looks good may not necessarily be all that good.
Similarly, the USA
may be perceived to be the land where all dreams come true, but the ground
reality is starkly different. Along with all the rewards, there are some cons
of living in the US, they are –
The health care
systems and doctors in the USA are one of the most efficient in the world, but
like everything has a cost, so does the healthcare facility. The cost of
healthcare could be extremely burdensome if not covered with an insurance.
If one were to think
about it, what’s the use of all the infrastructure, all the luxurious
facilities, all the research and development, if the common man cannot afford
to be healthy in the so called “Super-Power” of the world.
2. Cost of College
Harvard, Cornell and
Oxford are some of the IVY League colleges that every student wishes to study
in. But very often these dreams come crashing down given the fees of these
universities.
A lot of native
Americans cannot afford to complete their education because of the cost of
college. Only a few who are able to secure a scholarship go about completing
their dreams.
3. Owning a home is a distant dream
Adding to the medical
bills, insurance and cost of college is the basic necessity of a roof. Owning a
home, or rather a mortgage-free home in the USA is a distant dream for many.
Rates of interest
along with the strengthening of the dollar adds to the financial burden of many
who someday hope to own the house they live in.
4. Politically Unstable
Racism and lack of
Gun Laws are the predominant political issues that threaten the safety and
security of the natives as well as the immigrants in the USA.
What we perceive to
be a “Super Power” is a rather unsafe place to live in given that anyone can hold
a gun to your head without much accountability of owning one.
About racism, the
less said the better.
Unequal pay, biased
behaviour, treatment with contempt and lack of recognition, makes life
miserable for most non-Americans.
Moreover, with
non-Americans taking over jobs of native Americans under the “USA attracts the
Best Talent from the World” Scheme, makes the natives even more insecure which
in turn results in antisocial activities.
Take-Away
Its rather insightful
to see how what everyone perceives to be the land of prosperity and success,
has little to give back its residents, does little to keep their citizens happy
and can be considered as being starkly indifferent to the development of their
people.
Such is the truth of
the New World, a country that ranks far lower in the World Happiness and
Development Index. In contrast, countries like Finland and Denmark hold the
topmost positions on the index because they devote a far greater share of their
GDP towards the development of their people rather than running the race of
“The World’s No.1 Superpower”
Written By - Tushna
Choksey
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