America: Globalism, Babies and Light Bulbs

In recent years, globalism has become an important word in discussions about the United States’ (US) relations with the rest of the world, in a political, economic and social sense. The internet has shrunk an already small world into a universal connectivity which communicates in warp speed. This has an effect on the entire global community but here we will examine its effect only upon the United States. Various foreign nations have tried to combat the role of the internet by blocking portions of it and, in some cases, completely. China (PRC), now an advanced industrialized nation, routinely blocks internet sites which it considers hostile, that is, any site which even hints criticism of the PRC and its ruling clique, the Communist Party. Iran, currently in a state of turmoil, blocks internet access for two purposes, namely incoming information to control its population and outgoing communication to keep the rest of the word in the dark as to what is happening in the Islamic Republic. Other nations do the same to a lesser or greater degree to protect their image and to control the diffusion of information to its population. This is important and dangerous. World War I started over a month after the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Various diplomatic maneuvers were attempted during July 1914 in a vain effort to prevent war. These efforts nearly succeeded. They failed; the guns of August led to four years of killing fields that reshaped the maps of the world and ultimately led to World War II. With today’s information revolution, such a “grace period” after a cataclysmic event does not exists. An instantaneous automatic response may occur without much thought going into its consequences. Humanity trembles with fear of such an occurrence. The US,of couse, has the freest use ofthe internet with little restraint.

All of the above is true and dreadful. But there seems to be some positive aspects to this idea and fact of world globalization. The information revolution has led to advances in science and health. World trade has developed and advanced the status of people throughout the world. Jobs have become available where none existed before, people have risen from poverty to employment, education and in many cases to the middle class. World trade has increased in multiples and the cost of living has decreased as trade based on comparative advantage has been a boon for many. All that is well and good but what does this mean for America? It is not necessarily a positive picture.

As a result of World War I, America ceased being a debtor nation and became a creditor nation. The  European “victors” of the Great War placed a crippling reparations bill on Weimar Germany but neglected, with the exception of Finland, to pay their war debts to the United States. The Great Depression led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party and World War II. America saved the world and emerged as the sole superpower at that time. With the onset of the Cold War and the Soviet Union’s (USSR) conquest and control over eastern European nations, the US expended billions of dollars to rebuild western Europe and eagerly supported development of the European Economic Community, the European Union (EU) and NATO. By 1989, Soviet control of eastern Europe collapsed and by the end of 1991, the USSR entered the dustbin of history and ceased to exist. The Cold War was over, the US was the sole superpower again. Democracy won, freedom won and the hope for a Pax American was in everyone’s thoughts and hopes. This paragraph, in very few words, has tried to summarize almost fifty years of current history.  It is extremely abridged and the reader is referred to other sources for more information and facts.

What has happened since 1993? Perhaps the most important single event was the election of Bill Clinton as president. He brought the policy of liberal hegemony to the fore of American foreign policy and it had great influence on domestic policy as well. Liberal hegemony stands on three great principles, democratic peace theory, free trade and support for international  organizations. Under Clinton, the notorious North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted, giving trade advantages to Canada and Mexico, with little in return to the United States. NATO was expanded eastward to the borders of the former USSR and American troops were now stationed in eastern Europe. Extensive aid was given to the former USSR in the mistaken hope that it would be a democracy. Under Boris Yeltsin, a former Communist apparatchik turned “democrat” Russia became a kleptocracy. In an effort to protect his family from legal processes, he turned the Russian presidency over to a former KGB operative named Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile billions went down the sewer. The American economy was fairly good during the Clinton years; during the 2000 presidential debates between the two political princes, Albert Gore, Jr (D) and George W. Bush (R), the candidates were asked how the country would function without a national debt which was on the verge of being extinguished. The two princes gave varying answers but it appeared that we were on the verge of a paradisiacal economy. Bush won, and eight months into his term all hell broke loose. Al Qaeda’s attack of Sep. 11, 2001 (9/11) ruined everything and we are still paying for the cost of that attack. Out of control spending by presidents of both parties, Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden and again Trump have given us a national debt approaching $40 Trillion. (Yes, you got it right! that’s Trillion, with a T.) Interest on the national debt is now the Treasury’s largest single expenditure. One party seeks new entitlements and wants to spend as if there is no tomorrow. The other party wants to lower taxes. No one dares to discuss the ramifications of this insanity. But this is only one of the insanities current afflicting our country. We have troops stationed in heaven only knows how many countries, some of which have nothing to do with our national security or interest. The eastward expansion of NATO under Clinton was a major error as we suddenly found ourselves overextended with a whole new host of Article V allies whom we are pledged to defend. Wars have cost us lives and treasure since the onset of the new millennium. Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and now Iran have cost thousands of American lives and have had a ruinous effect on our economy as the predators, Russia and China, salivate with pleasure and expectation.  If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, truly we are on a super highway with no speed limit. Something must be done to put a brake on this rampant insanity.

We recently purchased some light bulbs in Home Depot. Everyone uses light bulbs. Thomas Edison, an American, invented the light bulb. I challenge the reader to find one manufactured in the United States. The ones we bought were made in the PRC. But it’s okay. American jobs can be exported as good old Uncle Sam worries about jobs and the economy of foreign countries. Apple computers advertise “Designed in California, manufactured in China”. We have been exploited by friend and foe since the end of World War II. The American automobile industry is a shadow of itself and the steel industry is dying. The internet has made the world smaller, decisions need to be made quicker, but it hasn't helped America. But American internationalists are thrilled. Madam Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016 simply told sixty year old coal miners that they needed to be retrained for new jobs. She didn’t carry the rust belt. Perhaps she and her cohorts are the ones needing retraining. Meanwhile, we continue to transition to a service economy and our good friends in the European Union and much of the rest of the world have mastered non-tariff barriers to trade to keep out American products. We have transferred technology to numerous nations in a perverse attempt to help them advance at our expense. Industrial espionage against the United States is out of control and widespread.

During the four years of former President Joe Biden’s administration (2021-2025), the borders of the United States were thrown open to the world. Millions entered in search of the “American Dream”. Poorly educated, not fluent in English or accustomed to urban life, so called sanctuary cities and states greeted them with open arms. They knew little of the “American dream” but many of them have become a veritable nightmare for the country. President Trump has tried to control immigration and birthright citizenship under the XIV Amendment with limited success, and undoubtedly, a Democrat victory in the November 2026 election will turn him into a lame duck. One of the most scandalous exploitive acts by foreigners is so called birth tourism. Pregnant foreigners come to America, give birth, pick up an American passport for the newborn baby and head back home, stiffing the hospital and medicaid (the taxpayers) for the bill. This is particularly egregious on the part of PRC and other foreign citizens who give birth in the thousands yearly in the US. Regrettably, these new US citizens will not speak English, will contribute nothing to America, but will be free to come here when it suits them and, of course, as citizens, by virtue of being born here, will be entitled to whatever entitlements will be available. This can and should be dealt with urgently by demanding the reinstatement of the requirement for visas to enter the US. Pregnant women should be denied visas. Of course, internationally minded politicians will scream. But it’s time for the American taxpayer to start screaming. We can no longer support the world. Jobs and industry are needed here. Stop the nonsense of importing every product invented here and stop the nonsense of giving citizenship and support to the whole world.

Garry S. Sklar

At sea in the Adriatic

August 13, 2026