Project 24
Diana Hochman, August 2023
“To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.”
- Hamlet, Act III, Scene I, William Shakespeare
I am working on a project, aptly titled Project 24. The following outline is a core aspect of the work, which offers a point-by-point summary by which we may identify the collapse of a (any) nation. Based on these points, I firmly believe that the United States of America is on the verge of collapse. Contrary to making America great again, the current US President is ushering in America’s demise. Now, it may be tempting to locate an outside source to blame for our downfall, and our usual go to for that is to poke the bear and blame Russia for our self-inflicted wounds.
The reality is that America is imploding from within due to failed leadership and a very weak value system that has eroded our representative democracy over time. With the threats of nuclear warfare and AI looming large over the grim horizon, rattling our bones in fear, one cannot help but wonder if we are at the end of humanity or the beginning?
As the world majority rapidly pivots toward a multipolar world, one only hopes that America will not be left behind.
Points of National Collapse
State Collapse: Government unable to perform essential functions of providing security, ensuring the welfare (well-being) of citizens, and maintaining control of territory and institutions.
1. Weak Governance and Political Instability - Trump is dismantling all of the democratic institutions and democratic norms. He is committing ethnic cleansing of the poor and minorities, both at home and abroad, and thus driving America right past authoritarianism and straight into a totalitarian lawless regime.
Loss of Legitimacy - Loss of public trust, Jan 6., Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, et al. Truth Social (den of lies). Dismantling of all institutions, education, intelligence, and branches of government. Attacks on (discrediting) the Media and FBI, etc. All people who work in Trump’s administration are loyal to their cult leader.
Corruption and Authoritarianism - Cronyism, Kleptocracy, Corrupt Judges, Lobbyists own Congress, Criminal President, Accepting planes from other nations, silencing dissent (campus protests against genocide in Gaza), deploying the national guard and Marines (unnecessarily) against citizens in Los Angeles, etc.
Ineffective Institutions - Congress no longer functions to serve the will of the people; Supreme Court (DOJ), justice is circumvented for the despotic will of the executive branch.
2. Economic Problems - High inflation due to tariffs, increasing poverty due to a tax cut for the wealthy at the expense of gutting social programs for the working class; as well as rolling back climate initiatives to our detriment. Recession leading to stagflation becomes depression, increasing national debt for America's future while concentrating wealth in the hands of 1%. Job loss due to poor immigration policies and AI replacements. The U.S. defaults on debt.
Poverty and Inequality - Cutting off head start (education/preschool), food and healthcare programs for the poor, increases the loss of GDP as work decreases for millions of people and poor health outcomes increase.
Economic Mismanagement - Tariffs that cause inflation and lead eventually to a depression and a shrinking GDP. Increasing national debt by $4 trillion dollars to give the wealthy a tax cut just to claim a political win.
External Shock - The dollar is devalued exponentially when other countries cease to rely on the Greenback as central reserve, other countries hit back with reciprocal tariffs, thereby raising price of goods for American products and manufacturing exponentially, leading to decreased output/GDP, natural disasters and inability to adequately respond, outbreaks of disease formerly thought cured (e.g. measles), mass illegal (im)migration in large part due to failed US foreign policy interventions/forever wars.
3. Social unrest and Conflict - Substance abuse and alcohol abuse increase, increases in violence, riots, crime, robbery, theft, mass shootings, streets and neighborhoods less safe, rising protests (some violent instead of peaceful).
Ethnic and Regional Tensions - Racism and homophobia are exacerbated, people of color and other minority groups are not only marginalized but vilified and persecuted, and thus, race wars are magnified/exploded.
Social Injustice, Lack of Access to Basic Services - People no longer able to get basic healthcare due to medicaid cuts, people cut off from basic food assistance due to cuts in Snap, women no longer able to access healthcare due to anti-abortion legislation, people cut off from programs around the world due to USAID cuts, all this results in sickness, disease, poverty and ultimately death, with the total loss of life nearly incalculable in terms of loss of lifetime wealth, income earnings and growth of GDP. Nation demoralized. Everywhere misery abounds.
4. External Factors - Outside influence from other nations, whether through bribing incumbents with goods, FARA work, or other lobbyist PAC activities. Human, Drugs and Weapons Trafficking. Gangs, Cartels, Crime. Cyber/Maritime Piracy.
Foreign Intervention - America is at risk of hostile actions from foreign adversaries who may attack when we least expect. Stretched too thin, and low on resources, we are susceptible to hostile enemy attacks, whether via a bomb, or from cells within, or through influence campaigns, or by targeting an American ally abroad, who then demands America join another forever war. Subsidizing NATO in order to promote forever wars bankrupts America while only temporarily increasing the war chest of the military industrial complexes' denizens. Wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe tax America's citizens and diminish wealth. Forever wars are fruitless.
Regional Instability - Canada no longer wants to do business with America; Mexico has pivoted elsewhere. This lack of cohesion harms North America, and especially America, as it becomes increasingly isolated. America is no longer the leader of the world, and unwilling and/or unable to adopt a multipolar framework of government, as it is too entrenched in its current neocolonialist and neoconservative mindset, the nation will suffer collapse rather than adapt. Instead of remaining and/or becoming a leader in a multipolar world, and working in concert with other nations, America is destroying itself from within and at the current pace will soon be a serf.
A mixed economy is the centerpiece of cohesion in a multipolar global framework
No one system will work, but a combination of various approaches will foster the conditions for a prosperous society
Conscious Capitalism for Ethical Enterprise [people and planet before profit]. Business and enterprise fulfill ethical mandates of production. Innovation promotes prosperity for all.
Socialism for humanitarian needs, utilities, education, healthcare, climate, etc. Example, self-driving AI cars are a utility, not a luxury and the same car is available to all people in all places to fulfill the purpose of one function and that is to get people or products from point a to point b. Utilities are socially governed.
Communism is for religion; thus, no state religion; all religions are equal. No religion has primacy in a secular (sovereign) state. All religions have freedom of expression, and all are respected, and are relegated to the private lives of people. The myth(s) of religion are effectively dispelled.
Imperialism to maintain the sovereignty of the nation-state and territorial integrity. National borders are respected. Nations are guided by international and humanitarian laws. Convergence of (united) nations. War is the last resort ethos. Non nuclear proliferation pacts. Nuclear energy is used for peaceful means. Nations cluster in organizational frameworks designed by partnerships and multilateral agreements. Larger nations guide smaller nations per statutes of unconditional parity. The world is inclusive and thus egalitarian.
