Currently the system is going through a deep crisis. The crisis that started in the US is set to become a global one within a short period of time. What is taking place is not a mere economic issue that resulted from the failure of millions of people to make the necessary payments on large loans they had received. Here we are talking about a socio-political issue grounded in finance economics. This is a structural crisis of capitalism that is likely to spread all over the globe.The cliché, "If the US sneezes, the world gets the flu," is accurate. Countries dependent on the US in the field of finance get sick when this global power has a relatively insignificant problem. One of the countries that will be most affected by such an incident is Turkey. When the impact of the tsunami created by the financial crisis in the US starts hitting the Turkish economy, the real economy, which has been suffering from serious problems for a long time, may make the lives of millions miserable.
Americans are now aware of the global dimensions of the crisis they created and of how this will affect other countries. But they do not even care about it or its impact. Politicians have no idea or information about Turkey, the closest ally of the US in the region. Let me give an illustrative example of this:
Last week, a special session on the Georgian crisis and relations with Russia was held at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried gave a speech at the meeting and answered questions from committee members. Democrat Eni Faleomavaega, one of the members of the committee, asked this question: "Was Turkey invited to NATO?" Fried replied, "Sir, Turkey has been a NATO member for 56 years." Polls show that those have never set foot outside of their state constitute the largest portion of the population in the US.
Of course, it is true that attention is paid to decisions on state affairs. But American democracy is under the influence of populism. It is no coincidence that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the most popular figure in the approaching elections. Palin, described as the hottest governor of the coldest state, occupies the top place in the agenda. Palin is a mother of five children and a former winner of a beauty pageant whose photos in a swimsuit are circulated in the mainstream media. She works hard to promote the Bible. She supports the banning of abortion of any kind, including abortion of pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. An evangelist, Palin instructed the director of her city library to ban books that are "emotionally damaging." She even threatened to fire the director if she sees anybody reading such a book. She defends the right to possess a gun. It cannot be said she has firm relations with the Jewish lobby because, in a sermon delivered by a priest at a church she once attended, the priest noted that the Jews were responsible for what happened to Israel. And, according to those who are staging the campaign against Palin, she did nothing to object to this comment.
The US is a heterogeneous country. The factor that holds a number of different religious and ethnic groups together is the American dream, the accommodation of interests and the belief that everybody will have their share from the global hegemony established over the world. But, as is usual in other parts of the world, the allocation of resources and benefits is not fair in this country. The upper classes enjoy the greatest shares of the pie. In return, the number of those excluded is on the rise. According to some estimates, the population of the US will reach 439 million by 2050. The percentage of white Americans, who currently constitute 66 percent of the population, will drop significantly to 46 percent in 2050. According to population expert Mark Mather, no other society in the world is experiencing such a rapid transformation as the US.
