Should America hold world leadership?

The protagonist of the US 2016 Presidential campaign that officially begins this week in Iowa, will not be the candidates, the president or the congress. The protagonist will be the American People. To be more precise, the American People´s memory and sense of self worth.

Built by the joint efforts of peoples from all over the world, the United States of America - its founders and builders - set their life within a frame of principles that safeguarded life and dignity for all peoples. Their deep believe in those principles, along with a powerful drive made of creativity, invention, sense of community and hard work, made them strong and gave them world leadership. Few nations on Earth have received so much. But then, in a period that begins in the 1980s, the picture got twisted, the view blurred and, in many ways, destroyed as if they had shot those guns they like so much right into the faces of their ancestors carved in stone. The peak of the distortion was reached at the Wall Street crisis, which was not just a financial crisis that pushed the entire world into an edge. It was the manifestation of a lethal disease spreading all through the nation´s body. Holding leadership in a globalized world, the disease touched the entire planet.

The fact is that the variables that led to the crisis are exactly the opposite to the principles they live for: greed, vanity, illegality, indolence were the tools that pushed forwards a certain individual madness eager to even destroy their own firms and run over all peoples in order to feed a distorted ego hungry of possessions, boasting and pleasures. With the supported cover of the then rulers, the doers were moved to government positions from where they managed to save the firms with the crushed people´s money, while they left the stage quietly and billionaires. In other words, they sweep the floor with the principle of safeguarding all people’s life and dignity. Along with it, during the same period, wars were launched all over the world, weapons budgets got running, and American boys and people in other parts of the world kept dying. That part of the Media that got dragged into the distortion frame, kept people uninformed and buried the nation´s true picture. All of the above are now historic facts that live in American People´s memory.

As it followed, there came a government, just eight years after the turn of the millennium, that differ from the previous ones in one single concept: it is a government to which people matter, witch is the only reason for any government´s existence. A government that pushed forwards elementary principles for people´s well being, facing all the way an opposition so void of arguments that touched the line of irrationality. A rule of democratic principles applied in both domestic and foreign affairs, actually, regained world leadership for America. Now, as that government´s time fades away, today, the US stands before the planet exhibiting their democracy in a very specific world situation. It is a world´s momentum where all nations closed lines to protect the planet; when the Chinese are taking a daring, wise, step to land their life into sustainability; when the European Union is facing many troubles but also finding the strings of solidarity, awareness of their own strengths, and a drive to become community with the rests of the world; when the Americas, Africa and wide parts of Asia are struggling and suffering their poverty and the first blows of global warming; when peoples in the Middle East are eager to leave the eternal war and begin a peaceful growing; when the World, as a whole, is facing demanding times but also finding Humanity´s wisdom and strength to face them. In that scenario, ¿how does the leader stand?

In the present campaign, as a whole, the distortion moved to Democracy itself when rivers of money, information controlled by a few firms, and proliferation of polls built a wall between the essence of democracy: peoples and leaders. Also, the picture they are exhibiting at the beginning of an electoral year shows a wide, extreme contrast. What amazes most observers of Earth is not so much the fact that an individual as the Republican front-runner may claim leadership. What seems to be beyond believe for sensible observers is that there actually exist American people who follow him, people who host in their memories both the principles that made them big in the first place, as well as the historic fact that so hard hit them at the turn of the millennium. The American campaign is showing, on one side, all the contrary of what they claim to defend: arrogance, disrespect, inequality, racism, ignorance, aggressiveness, all put together in a pack that denies the most vital Earth issues, vital for Humanity.

On the other side, there is this part of American People that truly believe in the principles that made them a great nation. No wonder to any reader to find this blog supporting a democratic drive. Democracy´s essence are caring and sharing, the tools that are to be pivotal for Humanity to move forward successfully in these times. Democracy implies responsibility towards their own people, and leadership implies example and coherence towards all peoples. That is why candidates holding Latin names or ancestors, working for a political group that has consistently rejected any step forwards for immigrants, is more that a contradiction to Latin interest, it is an insult to their intelligence. That is also why those Americans living their own, good, privileged lives, indolent and unaware of what is being done on their behalf in the political circles and processes, are actually helping decay and abandoning those who fight for all. That is why the protagonist of this year´s race is the American People. While anti-democratic drive - even when planted within a democracy - pulls only a few, a true democratic drive pulls everyone regardless of their political color. By principle, it is a simple as that.

The Democratic front this campaign is offering makes difficult to choose: Because of her expertise and abilities in state affairs, and perhaps also with a touch of gender solidarity and awareness of the input a female mind provides, it would seem right to see Hillary Clinton holding the first post. Then, mature age, in turn, has always been linked to wisdom for good reasons. It is surely what pushes Bernie Sanders to call all things by their names and peoples to recognize them. This blog does not make political calculations and totally ignores polls. This blog only cares for people, hence its name and writings. That is why it pointed out Martin O´Malley. Because "real politics" aside, and in the midst of a distorted picture, American people would do well to recall the basics of leadership: a decent, good person, driven by a democratic mind, able to show what he actually does when he gets hold of power. In a distorted picture, the most cherish virtues of a leader end up buried in polls and Media reports. It is an exercise to go to the basics. In fact, Clinton and Sanders are good candidates and should any of them win they will certainly hold democracy. But, from a basic analytic point of view, America is providing the world now with a vision of its contradictions and extremes opposites through the symbolic figure Martin O´Malley Vs. Donald Trump, the basics of a leader vs. the opposite of a leader.

American people will choose. The more it is given the more it will be demanded, so was said. The United States of America has been privileged, now its people of all political denominations have a task that implies being able to detach themselves from the distorted picture, recall their principles and sense of sense worth, develop ways to get truly and fairly informed, refresh their responsibility with the rest of the World, participate in the political process, and put their abilities, power and technology in the service of Humanity going though brilliant times. Should they choose not to do it, then there would not be a reason for them to hold world leadership. / Silvia Davila MM, EarthPipol, Feb 10, 2016, Copytight

All empires in history fell first from within. American people have to choose between becoming the corner stone of renaissance - a stone courageously crafted by the administration leaving now stage - or to take a step into the beginning of the end. If they do not lead wisely, it is also a historic fact, there are always others that can. Government is about caring for people, peoples all over the world are now to choose governments that do it. In America today, its people are the protagonist of this presidential race. /Silvia Davila MM, EarthPipol, January 26, 2016.