The elections in America are over for this time – and Donald Trump seems clearly to have won. Sad that the USA still hasn’t had a woman at the top. Disputes and challenges of the results will be there, as always. When the results are close, that is obvious, and when a land is as divided as America is, there is bound to be debate, and Americans are good at speaking with a loud and clear voice, having no problem with expressing their feelings, sometimes also just saying what they are expected to say, not necessarily being what they really mean. All this is seen as a duty and right, a part of democracy and the American way of life, or, “our way of life”, as they say.
But in such a land, where only a few millions are indigenous people, and everyone else is an emigrant, or ancestor of emigrants, coming from all over the world, it goes without saying that there is not just one way of being American. At the same time, America t has always been a melting pot and something uniquely American sticks to everyone, be it consciously or unconsciously, and people like it to be that way. So, if people are poor or wealthy, or belong to the middle-class in-between, living in a remote village or downtown a big city, people feel proud of feeling and saying that they are American, even if they would have stayed at home, in Latin America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, or Africa, they might have been better off.
All countries with large numbers of foreigners, refugees and emigrants, indeed in European countries today, would be very happy of people felt proud of their new lands, and for that matter, too, not be ashamed of their backgrounds and ancestry. I don’t know how America does this; I just see that they do, and it makes the land better for it, yes, and they get patriotic people, even if they are divided and don’t really have much to thank the new land for.
Today, as they still count the votes from the American presidential and congressional elections, I shall reflect a bit on some of these issues, the country’s history and its future problems, too.
Originally, all except for the African Americans, or Afro-Americans, as we said a few decades ago, came to the USA voluntarily. Well, with a lot of push factors in the poor lands where people came from, with overpopulation, oppression and lack of freedoms in faith and politics, laws and mindsets telling people to stay where they were. Then the explorers discovered America and the New World was opened, and in a few hundred years, the new land of freedoms, new ways of living for all classes, new opportunities for everyone to climb the ladder in life, through work, ideas and resources, and yes, become a self-made man, not being kept back because of old ways and old thinking. The American dream was created and it is there still, although today, many other countries may have better opportunities and better safety nets.
The United States of America was created on the 4th of July 1776, when 13 states with and estimated number of 2.5 million people, gained independence from the UK. Today, there are 50 states with about 335 million people, and some 12-15 million undocumented aliens. At independence, the first President George Washington and the other leaders saw a fantastic future for the new land, inviting people from everywhere to come, make use the land’s natural resources and riches, which God had given them in abundance. There were vast tracts of fertile land, prairies and forests, rivers and seas, mountains and flat land, and so on, and there were oil and mineral underground. Today, the USA is the largest oil-producing (and consuming) country in the world. Again, the American dream was created in this land of plenty, a land of milk and honey, where people’s efforts, ideas and imagination could make almost anything come true.
Sadly though, the newcomers didn’t treat the indigenous Americans well, called ‘red Indians’ that time. They were marginalised and their land and resources, their lifestyle in harmony with nature, was taken from them – but there would have be enough for everyone had the policies of the newcomers been fair. Today, they make up just well over one percent of the population.
Also, the history of slavery till 1865, when the country’s 4-year civil war ended, is yet another sad part of American history. Nine million people were brought forcefully to the land. Today, the African-Americans are close to fifty million people, including a relative low number of mixed ethnicity. Mainly since the 1960s, African-Americans have equal rights and opportunities. Yet, that it took so long, and still work has to be done to abolish racism and discrimination entirely, reflects very negatively on the country’s history.
In spite of America still being a land of optimism and opportunities, it also has a major streak of authoritarianism to it, certainly in the military and economic fields, but also socially and in other ways. Yes, this is in contradiction to the opposite, the democratic, inclusive values, which people talk about and which are also there. The authoritarian values are seen towards other countries, with hundreds of military bases around the world. If Donald Trump will indeed be the next American president, there is hope that the Russian war in Ukraine will end sooner than it otherwise would have done. Also, the Israel-Palestine situation may be sort out in some way, kept at bay but perhaps not solved.
Perhaps we have to accept that the USA is the leader of the world, and every country must work with it, and succumb to its ways. If that also goes for all of us having to accept the current world capitalist system, I am not sure. America is benefitting from today’s system, with the multinational companies. We live in a time when little is done to regulate and control the system. Neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris would be likely to do much in this field – and if it is Trump who will be the American president for the next four years, then he is also likely to show the world that a conservative, right-wing president, is doing alright, and there will be more conservatives ruling the USA and other countries in future – and they will harness the capitalist system.
In my article today, I have thus far not said anything about religion. Yet, we know that the USA is a country where religion, mainly Christianity plays a major role, more so than in other Western countries. It is estimated that about two-thirds of Americans are Christians and often conservative Christians, charismatic Protestants. Earlier, it was an issue if a candidate for president was a Catholic Christian. Still, Muslims and members of other faiths do not have prominence in politics. Well, Jews play a major role in the media, finance, and other fields, but mostly behind the scenes. Latin Americans are gaining in number, language, and culture, and are likely to become more central in mainstream politics, yet, along with others of European descent.
It seems not to be too early any longer to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential election, although he already says it will be the country’s ‘golden age’. Indeed, the USA is still a land of opportunities – and hope – for many and one day, for all.
Atle Hetland
The writer is a senior Norwegian social scientist with experience from university, diplomacy and development aid. He can be reached at atlehetland@yahoo.com