Shutdown: American way of doing things

Until this day in history, the United States is the only country that has been able to land a man on the moon. This happened more than forty years ago, at a time when owning a television set was not common in the world.
Just a while ago the US claimed to have mastered a technology that could disable any electronics in a wide area without any collateral damage. Designed by Boeing, the project is called Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP).
This shows that the US is technologically many years ahead of the entire world. But a number of reports coming out of the US confuse many outsiders. The US may be the only country to have sent a man to the moon; it is also the only country that declared a shutdown of its government during which the federal employees (civilians) are not required to report to work. Does that mean the US president stay home and do nothing?
Is the US the richest country in the world or is it simply broke and has no money to cover the healthcare expenses? I have been hearing this question many times especially from people who have never been to the US. The American ways of doing business sometimes puzzles many people around the globe.
When Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs died, many people outside the US were surprised to know that Apple Inc. has more ready cash than the US government. So, how can a country with less ready cash than a single computer company manage to rule the world? And if the US government is actually the richest in the world, then why are the American politicians shutting down their government? Ironically, the American people talk about shutting their government with a smile while if another country declares shutting down the government, you would see riots in the streets. And many non-Americans are asking what is it with the so-called Tea Party? And wasn’t the tea party held in Boston more than two hundred years ago? And now, the American taxpayers are having another tea party, but this time it is held in the American Capital. I thought Americans are coffee drinkers not tea consumers. So, I have one more question, do the Americans really know how rich they are? Because if America is not rich, then who is?
During my school years and my many visits to the US, I always saw planes full to capacity, restaurants brimming with customers, malls full of shoppers, concert tickets sold out, stadiums and sports arena packed with spectators and many of America’s big companies profits in the billions. And some American States Gross Domestic Product far exceeds many of the world’s richest nations. An example is California State, which is the thirteenth largest world economy. And still, there is no end to the talk about taxation and healthcare.
For the outside world, the American economy means everything. And for the world to hear about the US government’s shutdown is very scary. And this time the government shutdown is because of disputes between the Republicans and the Democrats over the healthcare system that President Obama wants to overhaul. But, the whole world knows that the American healthcare system is the most advanced and American medical inventions are the world best. No drug is trusted around the world if doesn’t get the approval of the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is why as a foreigner I don’t think the reason of the dispute is overhaul of the healthcare system. I think it is deeper than that.
For the past thirty years, the world saw emergence of many strong markets such as China and India. And the strange thing about it is that it is the Americans who paved the way for these markets, taught them the knowhow and invested in them heavily. Now, we see more countries producing industrial materials, which were only made in the US in the past. So, there are jobs that are lost by the Americans and they don’t seem to be coming back and it is America that gave up these jobs. And in order for the US to bring back its past world dominance, it has to gradually put things in order. The economic stability of the US is very important for the world economy. And if there is a brief government shutdown, then there will be unprecedented effect on America’s Wall Street activities, which would result in so-called debt ceiling and if there is no raising of the borrowing limit, then the government will not be able to issue more bonds and can you imagine the impact to hear that the government of the US defaulted on its outstanding borrowing. And this brings us to another topic, which people outside the US don’t understand. Why does the government keep borrowing and how high the debt can go? Also, what would be the impact on the American stock market? If Wall Street goes in the red, then this will affect all international markets.
The healthcare overhaul can be passed without the dispute between the political parties. And it is true that most Americans outside Washington D.C. will not feel the government shutdown, but, there will an impact on some sectors such as Social Security and Medicare. But, for sure many federal employees will be affected by the shutdown.
The US will continue to be the number one economy in the world and the most influential on world events but there are many things an outsider doesn’t understand about the American way of doing business. For example, when the world capital of car making, Detroit announced its bankruptcy, many people asked as to how an American city with the largest automobile industrial plants in the world becomes bankrupt. It is something that many non-Americans don’t understand.

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