A Nation in Crisis (Pick One)

It is a nation that seems perilously close to the abyss. Political leaders, the men and women that the nation depend on to resolve the crisis seem completely unable to reach agreement. A high-level summit meeting involving the President and key leaders of the opposition advances nowhere. There are reports of heated arguments between them as they meet behind closed doors. With no clear resolution in sight a new round of negotiations is set for the weekend. The eyes of the world media rest on the conflict.

The above statement is about:

a. Bolivia
b. the United States.
c. All of the above

For answer see below.

When one sees the word "crisis" in the morning headlines this week you have to take a minute to sort out which country we're talking about – Bolivia or the U.S. Pick your national meltdown.

In Bolivia the crisis involves a President with strong popular support facing an opposition that burned down public buildings and gunned down campesinos in the name of pressing its agenda.

In the U.S. the crisis involves a President whose support has now dropped below 25% and is abysmal even in his own party. He faces an opposition that controls a majority of Congress yet seems quite willing to go along with the basic agenda of the President, to saddle our children and grandchildren with a $700 billion debt to bail out very well-dressed loan sharks. Really, they are well dressed, no?

Bolivia, a poor nation with a President who didn't finish high school is sitting on $7 billion in cash reserves and not spending it.

The U.S., a wealthy nation with a President who holds an MBA from Harvard, is about to go further in debt, overnight, by $2,000 per man, woman, and child.

I am not making this up. Sorry.

In Bolivia foreign observers have flown into to see if they can nudge the process toward some kind of an agreement.

For the U.S. foreigners are observing from afar, watching the U.S. on the precipice of a self-inflicted economic 9/11.

For Bolivia, the U.S. government has issued a new travel warning encouraging U.S. citizens to travel there, and encouraging those who stay to call their relatives in the U.S. to stay in contact. American Airlines has suspended its flights. But most of the foreigners I know will be spending the weekend at the Tiquipya Flower Fair, a fearless bunch, no?

For the U.S. the Bolivian government might want to issue a warning to its citizens there to pull all their money out of U.S. banks and put it somewhere safer, like under a mattress in Tiquipya. There are also possibilities that even the cash in their pockets might disappear, as if beamed up to the Starship Enterprise. Aerosur might want to consider canceling its flights as well, given the risk that the entire country might gets its lights shut off for not paying the bill, stranding its aircraft and crews in Miami.

One of my super-smart young co-workers observed wisely that this is a Naomi Klein, "Shock Doctrine" moment in the U.S. In her brilliant book by that title, our Canadian friend sketches out a powerful analysis of how right-wing forces around the word have taken up the practice of either taking advantage of, or outright manufacturing, crises in order to scare us into accepting big changes to their liking that we would never swallow otherwise.

September 11 and its aftermath was not only a national tragedy, but for the likes of George Bush and Dick Cheney and opportunity to win huge backwards steps in civil liberties that U.S. citizens would never have swallowed otherwise.

Hurricane Katrina was taken by similar political forces as an opportunity to sweep privatizations through the New Orleans public school system.

So, what does it take to cow a nation into handing over $700 billion with 48 hours of reflection?

My fellow Americans. In the name of trying to make ever increasing pots of money off of housing here in our country, big banks and financial institutions – led by people paying themselves more money in a year than you would make if you lived for a thousand years – messed up and got their companies into deep debt. Here in the federal government we weren't really watching to close. Sorry, but we had that whole Iraq thing to worry about and we trust the CEOs. They're the ones who put is here. And in graduate school they told me the market worked better without the government involved.

Anyway, if we don't each cough up $2,000 by Friday to bail them out all your pension funds might disappear. Now we know you are already close to losing your own house, but to be honest, if you lose your house the rest of us can deal. But those big banks…. You get it.

But hey, look on the bright side my fellow Americans. I am gone from this Oval Office in less than four months and our country has nowhere to go but up.

And this just in – citing its concerns that the Bolivian government is not advancing adequately in the U.S. War on Drugs (no, this has nothing whatsoever to do with Bolivia sending back the U.S. Ambassador) the Bush Administration would like to end the U.S. trade benefits for Bolivian-made textiles and other products. Yes, it's those weavers up in El Alto who are the problem. Let's get them. Brilliant.

Who is it in Washington exactly that still thinks the U.S. is in a position to be giving other nations advice on how to run their countries?

Answer to Quiz: C