HIGHLAND, UT | 5 May 2008| The common perception in recent weeks is that America is falling and the rest of the world is rising. The weakening dollar compared to other currencies around the world is only one sign of this seeming change in economic supremacy. Fareed Zakaria, of Newsweek Magazine, however, sees it more of a growing world than a declining United States. The post-American world—as Zakaria calls it—is “naturally an unsettling prospect for Americans, but it should not be. This will not be a world defined by the decline of America but rather the rise of everyone else. It is the result of a series of positive trends that have been progressing over the last 20 years, trends that have created an international climate of unprecedented peace and prosperity.” There has been much talk of globalization, and the FreeCapitalist approach is: Is there place for correct principles in a globalized world?

Key Points

• Zakaria’s Newsweek article points out: “For the first time ever, most countries around the world are practicing sensible economics.” And, “The natives have gotten good at capitalism…” This analysis is good for FreeCapitalists. Even the most controlled economies—China, Cuba, Vietnam—are loosening up and allowing free enterprise economics to have a freer hand. Yes, most markets could stand even more relaxed regulation, but as Sakaria points out, these countries are prospering because they are practicing more principled economics.
• Americans seem to be in a frenzy over some of the “losses;” however, globalization enables exchange to increase. Zakaria: ”…over the last 20 years, globalization has been gaining depth and breadth. America has benefited massively from these trends. It has enjoyed unusually robust growth, low unemployment and inflation, and received hundreds of billions of dollars in investment. these are not signs of economic collapse.”
• The article reveals that the U.S. as a culture, tends to act upon the principles of abundance: “It remains the most open, flexible society in the world, able to absorb other people, cultures, ideas, goods, and services….it adapts and adjusts…” and finally, the U.S. is “different and may not fall into the trap of becoming rich, and fat, and lazy” like many of the older European countries have in the past. This is an important fact to remember as we work our way through the current economic crises. The entrepreneurial spirit within the American psyche searches for solutions to the challenges we face. We are not as apt to lie down and expect government officials to fix things for us (though we are becoming more so as bad experience stacks upon bad experience.) Zakaria explained that this is our biggest strength. Indeed it is. As a people, we’ve always been rather resilient. Individually, however, could it be that we allow those principles to slip and we allow ourselves to become victims of circumstance?

Conclusion

Over two hundred years ago, our forefathers created a system of government that allowed America to become the freest nation in modern times. They had intended to export this freedom throughout the world as soon as each nation became ready for these ideas. Though nations of late have loosen the bands that restrict free intercourse, it must be done according to the principles that govern prosperous living in all its forms in order to be a durable freedom and prosperity. These principles are enshrined in the American Declaration of Independence and protected by the U.S. Constitution. Zakaria’s Newsweek conclusion proclaims:

American diplomats, businessmen, and intellectuals have urged people in distant lands to be unafraid of change, to join the advanced world, to learn the secrets of our success. Yet just as they are beginning to do so, we are losing faith in such ideas. We have become suspicious of trade, openness, immigration, and investment…Just as the world is opening up, we are closing down….Generations from now, when historians write about these times, they might not that by the turn of the 21st century, the United States had succeeded in its great, historical mission—globalizing the world. We don’t want them to write that along the way, we forgot to globalize ourselves.

Thomas Jefferson explained: 

The preservation of the holy fire [the preservation of man's rights by the Constitution] is confided to us by the world, and the sparks which will emanate from it will ever serve to rekindle it in other corners of the world.

Perhaps this is the case, but it must be done with the principles intact. The Constitution of the United States must remain sovereign in this process. For that is our greatest export.

Action Items

1. Educate yourself regarding free enterprise and the Constitution of the United States.
2. Seek out and associate with like-minded individuals who strive on a daily basis to further the cause of freedom in all its forms.
3. Identify areas in your own life where you have been afraid of needed change and/or sought the “safety and protection” of the government as an answer. Resolve to improve your thinking and actions in those areas of your life.

MRFC Principles: 8 (2, 4, 8 )

Resources

Fareed Zakaria, “The Rise of the Rest.” Newsweek, May 3, 2008

National Center for Constitution Studies, The Real Thomas Jefferson, 1983, p. 534–5.