Is America's dominance re-emerging?

What looked to me as rather publicly imperceptible set of moves by US government in the last few months must actually be designed for long term effect.These moves are certainly carefully planned and implemented but I use the words “rather publicly imperceptible” because while they are apparently open, the Americans are not selling the ideas hard. And then, I could only discern two such developments perhaps,because I have limited both my activities and my circulation but I am prepared to accede to the plausibility that there could be actually more kindred efforts. As to whether or not these were just being undertaken the “last few months”, all I can say is that I only have observed them quite lately.

 I refer, first, to an announcement coming from the US Embassy sometime in the third quarter last year. However it was packaged, the effort to revive the kind of dynamic, if not aggressive, American propaganda that I personally preferred when I was still in high school seemed genuine and probably relentless. Back then, we had the United States Information Service (USIS) in our midst. It was centrally located and very accessible to students like me. Each time I would like to read new books, I would get myself cloistered in the USIS library. There were also documentary films shown every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon. The USIS must have been a propaganda agency and an influential propaganda at that.

Our youths then were the targets of the USIS type of propaganda. The effort complemented very well with our educational system what with English as our second language. Philippine Music Horizon, an elementary music book contained songs written by our Caucasian brothers. We then aped what the Americans threw our way. The way we dressed, the kind of entertainment we favored made us look like Little Brown Americans. It was not surprising that our earlier waves of OFWs were destined for US shores.

Well, true, shortly after the second world war, the Americans were considered heroes worldwide. But, for years, the Americans have been on the receiving end of bad propaganda. For instance, there was the movie the Ugly American. It was not anything about the ugliness of an American (was it portrayed by Marlon Brando?). No, not at all. But, unfortunately, the negative image projected by the title had stuck. Eventually, to many Asians and Middle Easterns, the American is ugly.

Revving up a new propaganda, like what the USIS provided then, is necessary for the US. It has the technology. When the US embassy talked about 3D, it showed that it is harnessing its technological advantage to recoup lost political grounds. Why not?The times demand for it. There is, in China, an emerging challenge to its world leadership. It cannot win any confrontation if the rest of the Earth’s people tilt in favor of this expanding super power from the Asian hemisphere.

The other effort I am referring to appeared on papers few weeks ago. From the way the report was written, it was obvious to me that US clearly intended to re-emerge as the leading manufacturer of many things. Wow! America is fighting back. It has policies that welcome back to US shores many of its industries that have moved elsewhere, mainly China, to avail of the so-called cheap Asian labor. Imagine, it is providing incentives for American companies presently located outside continental US to come back to their landand re-establish their plants at home.

If this new US government program succeeds, and nationalistic Americans should have all reasons and motivations to work for its success, it will have multifarious effects. An example is that those now operating in China and elsewhere will fold up and head back to US. This process repatriates huge capital, provides new work opportunities to hundreds of thousands of American labor, allows it to become a product-exporting (instead of importing) country again, and makes it the destination of the brilliant minds from overseas. Of course, the Americans are not saying it but this program also weakens, to a certain extent, the financial base and productive capacity of its competitors.

Oh, if my sights are, to many, somehow getting hazy, I can always lean on the fact that age is catching up with me fast.