Declinism

“A pessimistic belief that things are in decline.” Wordnik.com. It’s a controversial word, but quite de rigueur these days in discussing the West in general, but often specifically pegged to discussions of the United States and, particularly, Great Britain. When nations have ridden high, dominating the earth in some extraordinary way, and then contracted for whatever reason, as standards of living fall, there is the inevitable discussion of whether such vectors are both long-term and irreversible. Until England’s handover of Hong Kong to China, the sun never set on the British Empire; until the twentieth century, Britain ruled the seas. But the austerity-driven U.K. of today is only a mere shadow of its former self. Even “declining” Libyan dictator,Muammar Gaddafi, recently derisively described Her Majesty’s isle this way “Britain no longer exists. It is a trace of what it used to be.”

Indeed, Britain’s politicians, apparently seeing no longer-term value-generating economic futures of any significance capable of paying off the U.K. massive deficit, have opted to fight inflation fears over those of continued economic contraction. The latter seems all but inevitable when looking at both England’s political leadership and the current economic malaise. The spirit seems to have gone out of the once optimistic Brits. Prime Minister David Cameron’s austerity/ corporate tax reduction programme (note British spelling!) seems to mirror the same desired to inflict deep cuts in government spending reflected in the American Tea Party movement, regardless of the immediate negative consequences – from the UK’s current contracting retail sales to rising unemployment… or longer-term sacrifices in reducing educational capacity, economically-incenting infrastructure or supporting value-creating research.

Ian Jack, writing in the May 2^nd Newsweek in an article entitled “Time for a Royal Wedding… While England is Royalty Screwed,” delves into the self-deprecating factual unpinning for Britain’s erstwhile demise: “The country is facing the biggest squeeze in living standards since the 1920s. Government budgets have been slashed in every direction. This year hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers will get the sack, while inflation, tax increases, and a steep reduction in welfare benefits will eat into the household incomes of nearly everyone else. A whole range of public institutions, from military airfields to public libraries, are closing or being sold off. What remains of the British Navy has been deprived of its last aircraft carrier (the HMS Ark Royal, now for sale on the Ministry of Defence’s version o f eBay).”

Indeed, in contrasting the time of the royal marriage of Will and Kate to that of Will parent’s, Charles and Diana, the comparison is bleak: “When Charles married Diana, British coal pits still employed 250,000 miners; British shipyards still launched ships; British factories still made steel, cars, confectionery, clothes, and beer. Today, mining, shipbuilding, and textiles have almost vanished. What survives of the rest is mainly in the hands of foreign companies. Never mind the royal yacht; which of us in 1981 could have imagined that every British chocolate bar would be made by firms run from Switzerland and the U.S.; that London’s water supply would be owned in Germany and its electricity in France; that the future of Britain’s steel mills would hang by threads attached to headquarters in Mumbai and Bangkok?” Newsweek.

For those who truly accept facts as opposed to unsupported beliefs as to the consequences of severe government austerity in recessionary times, England is the poster child for taking an economic slump and making sure it continues for even longer, disrupting the future as no inflationary spiral could. What is the future of a nation that no longer has the quality educational institutions to train an innovative workforce… even though a few elite universities still remain in the private sector? What is the legacy of a country that no longer manufacturers much of anything that the rest of the world is willing to import? As North Sea’s oil is pumped out, is there a “next” in that precious resource?

No, this is not necessarily the story of the whole of Europe. Germany, which sits atop the European economic heap, is a net exporter, a manufacturer of exceptionally high-quality electronic and mechanical products and systems that are still the envy of enterprises the world over. For Germany, except for the need to support failing European Union economies, the recession is all but over. While there has been a modicum of austerity imposed by her government, Germany’s public schools are still uniformly excellent and her infrastructure is being both repaired and expanded, all aimed at continuing that manufacturing excellence.

But England’s plight and failed solutions should be sending a strong message to the American Congress, in a factious battle to cut with little concern for our future in order to contain a clearly excessive deficit. Apparently, however, no one in the Tea Party cares to look at the impact their purported desired austerity course of action has already made on our neighbor across the sea. One can only look at what is “on the table” in the conservative-led House – from cuts to education, infrastructure, research… and yes, social programs like Medicare – to what is not – from tax increases and oil companies’ special tax treatment to a military budget that consumes 44% of the world’s military expenditures – to understand that this deficit reduction pageant is nothing more than declinism, catering to special interests and social reformers, than manifest fiscal responsibility. After all, if someone really believed in America, wouldn’t they want to invest in her future?

I’m Peter Dekom, and I am reminded what we call it when politicians move their lips!