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Amerika neu verpacken

von Gideon Levy

06.11.2008 — Ha'aretz

— abgelegt unter:

Dies ist der Augenblick, in dem die Gefühle zu Wort kommen dürfen und bei dem der Zynismus zu schweigen hat. Es ist die Zeit, in der man alle anti-amerikanischen Gefühle, die sich unter uns und in aller Welt während der letzten 10 Jahre breit gemacht hatten, für einen Augenblick lang fallen lassen kann. Einen Moment, bevor die USA selbst zur Achse des Bösen wurden – es war schon sehr nahe dran – einen Moment bevor sie eine verhasste und geächtete Macht wurde bewies das amerikanische Volk am Dienstag der ganzen Welt, dass es noch ein anderes Amerika gibt.

Einen Augenblick bevor wir die Nase vollkommen voll hatten von der amerikanischen Hegemonie, und der Ausdruck „Führer der freien Welt“ nur noch zu einem geschmacklosen Witz wurde, als die ganze Welt Amerika als eine aggressive, zerstörerische, kriegstreibende, arrogante und rassistische Macht sah – schüttelte sich diese phantastische Macht und zeigte der Welt ein anderes Gesicht. Einen Moment lang, nur gerade einen Moment lang lag etwas anderes in der Luft: „Wandel, ja wir können.“

Natürlich könnte Barack Obamas Erdrutsch-Wahlsieg noch zu einer größeren Enttäuschung führen; die riesigen Hoffnungen, die er weckt, könnten sich in eine Fata Morgana verwandeln, in Tricks von Charisma und raffinierte politische Beraterfirmen. Aber in dem Augenblick, als er auf der Bühne in Chikago stand und mitten in der Nacht seine Siegesrede hielt, eine der besten Reden von einem der besten Redner, da flossen die Tränen über die Gesichter vieler Leute im Publikum, bei Schwarzen und Weißen, Alten und Jungen, Männern und Frauen, Reichen und Armen – und schienen die ganze Welt zu überfluten.

Es war ein herausragender Moment für Amerika. Aber der Moment kann auch ein verfehlter sein. Im konservativen und teilweise rassistischen Israel sahen nicht wenige Leute schon sauer drein. Doch ist es auch möglich, dass dieser Moment zu einem Wandel führt, zu einer neuen Welt und einem neuen Amerika. Der Mann, der auf der blauen Bühne in Chikago steht, könnte frohe Zeiten bringen. Die Massen, die ihm zujubelten und ihn wählten, könnten Vorboten eines wirklichen Wandels sein.

Nach fast einer Dekade fragen sich nicht wenige, warum ihr Land so verhasst ist – eine Dekade, in der Amerika nur mit der Sprache der Gewalt sprach, seine Armeen in verlorene Kriege sandte und nicht verhinderte, dass andere Länder - einschließlich Israel – sich in weitere sinnlose Kriege verwickelten; Gefangene in Guantanamo und anderswo folterte wie in den schlimmsten Ländern; Hunderte seiner Bürger exekutierte wie die schlimmsten Regime; und versäumte, seinen Einfluss und seine Macht zu benützen, um Frieden zu machen – weder hier noch wo anders. Mittlerweile drohte die Religion, das Land zu übernehmen, bis es das fundamentalistischste Land im Westen wurde, zehn Millionen seiner Bürger leben ohne Krankenversicherung oder ein soziales Sicherheitsnetz und nicht wenige seiner Menschen sind Analphabeten. Nach all diesen dunklen Jahren dämmert plötzlich ein neuer Tag: der Mann, der auf der Bühne in Chikago stand, versprach uns, all dies zu verändern und wir wollen ihm so gerne glauben.

Falls es ihm gelingt, dann werden wir eine andere Welt haben. Falls er wirklich die Waffendrohung mit Diplomatie und wirtschaftlicher Dynamik, mit Sozialleistungen ersetzt, dann können sich die Amerikaner in ihrem Land und in der Welt wieder mit Stolz zeigen – nach Jahren, in denen amerikanische Touristen normalerweise Feindseligkeit und Zurückhaltung begegneten. Es ist für Amerika wichtig, aber auch für die Welt.

Obama brachte nicht nur seinem Land die Würde zurück, sondern auch dem Beruf des Politikers. Nachdem man jahrelang keinen inspirierenden Führer sah, weder in Israel noch anderswo, sondern nur triste oder betrügerische Politiker; nachdem wir die Möglichkeit priesen, dass eine Person die Massen in Bann ziehen konnte, stand Obama auf der Bühne in Chikago und tat es.

Nachdem die Geschichte (des Landes) zu einem Ende gekommen war, proklamierte Obama ihren Neuanfang. Mit seiner Wahl verkündigte er auch die Wiedergeburt des Ausdruckes „Das Land der (vielen) Möglichkeiten“ – auch für Schwarze , wenn auch für den Moment nur in Amerika.

Der Test steht ihm natürlich noch bevor. Seine eindrucksvolle und aufregende Fähigkeit, gewählt zu werden, ist noch keine Garantie für seine Fähigkeit der Führung und die richtigen Entscheidungen zu treffen. Er steht vor einer entmutigenden Situation, am Rand eines Abgrundes: die Weltwirtschaft droht, zusammen zu brechen und die amerikanischen Soldaten verbluten für nichts. Außerdem ist der Nahe Osten vom Frieden so weit entfernt wie nie zuvor und einige Nationen und üble Gruppen drohen, ihn zu zerstören. Da gibt es einen hass-erfüllten und gefährlichen Islam und ein hungerndes Afrika, das krank ist und ausblutet. Aber Obama schenkt man weltweit großes Vertrauen, wie es vorher wahrscheinlich noch keiner hatte . nicht nur die USA, sondern die ganze Welt stimmte für Obama; Es gibt kein Land, in dem nicht die Massen für seinen Sieg stimmten, sogar einschließlich einiger Israelis.

Ab jetzt kann es Erfolg oder Enttäuschung geben. Aber in diesem Augenblick – während ich diese Zeilen ein paar Stunden nach seiner Siegesrede schreibe, während die Tränen noch nicht trocken sind, sagt das Herz: es ist etwas geschehen. Amerika ist nicht mehr dasselbe wie vorher. Die Welt ist nicht mehr dieselbe wie vorher. Danke, Obama, und danke euch Amerikanern! Guten Morgen, Amerika und guten Morgen, die Welt! Seit langer Zeit hatten wir keinen besseren Morgen.

Übersetzt von: Ellen Rohlfs
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1
flora sagt
15.11.2008 21:55

Lieber Herr Levy,
bei soviel freigesetzten Emotionen mag ich garnicht mit meiner Mahnung kommen, nun langsam wieder den Verstand einzuschalten, wenn es um Mr. Obama geht.
Die "Neuverpackung" der Supermacht hat ja noch garnicht begonnen, bisher haben wir doch nur die zugegebenermaßen intelligenten Wahlauftritte Mr. Obamas erlebt. Das wirkliche Leben beginnt erst nach dem 20. Januar für Mr. Obama und alle seine Anhänger, ja, ja, überall auf der Welt, wir hängen alle natürlich mit drin!
Dann geht der Kampf doch erst los, dann müssen all die tollen Versprechen auch erfüllt werden!
Ich kann mich noch sehr gut erinnern, wie unendlich schwer es war den Vietnam-Krieg zu beenden, und welche ungeheueren Anstrengungen besonders die amerikanische Jugend damals gemacht hat, eine wahre Herkulesarbeit! Das hat damals meine tiefe Verachtung für alles Amerikanische wieder zurück in normale Bahnen gebracht.Ist eine solche gewaltige moralische Leistung nocheinmal möglich?

Denn ähnlicher Einsatz dürfte nun wieder gefordert sein damit Mr. Obama seine Wahlversprechen auch erfüllen kann. Ohne die Unterstützung all derer,die im Moment noch fast hysterisch eine Wende herbeisehnen, wird es wohl nicht klappen.
Denn üble Figuren, die jeder aus dem letzten Stück noch kennt, lauern bereits in der Kulisse. Der Kriegsverbrecher und Lügner General Powell und der Russenfresser Mr. Breszinski warten auf ihren Einsatz im Kostüm als Berater!
Was soll aus der Us - Außenpolitik wohl werden, wenn diese beiden wieder "beraten" dürfen? Schlimmer könnte es ja fast garnicht mehr kommen!
Wir Bürger der Vasallenstaaten sind natürlich zuerst an der "neuen" US- Außenpolitik interessiert, weil die uns unmittelbar betrifft!
Was Mr. Obama innenpolitisch machen wird, dürfte in erster Linie das amerikanische Volk interessieren, wir löffeln allerdings mit die Suppe aus, wie die "Finanzkrise" gezeigt hat. Also auch da hoffen wir zwangsläufig mit den Amerikanern.
Wenn wir alle aber nicht bald auf den Teppich zurückkommen und uns daran erinnern, dass ein Wahlkampf nur ein Wahlkampf ist, wenn die amerikanischen Freunde nicht bald die Ärmel aufkrempeln, könnte es ihnen passieren, dass ihnen plötzlich Mr. Powell entgegengrinst und sagt: "Ich bin schon da, ihr werdet nicht mehr gebraucht, bis zur nächten Wahl könnt ihr wieder nach Hause gehen!".

C.Pichlo

2
Lars Lonte sagt
06.11.2011 21:26

100 Mal Niedergang
[07.10.2011] 100 Zahlen und Fakten über den Niedergang der US-Ökonomie.

China kommt natürlich auch darin vor, unter Nr. 65, 67, 68 und 69.

#100 A staggering 48.5% of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.

#99 During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.

#98 Since Barack Obama was sworn in, the share of the national debt per household has increased by $35,835.

#97 The U.S. national debt has been increasing by an average of more than 4 billion dollars per day since the beginning of the Obama administration.

#96 It is being projected that the U.S. national debt will hit 344% of GDP by the year 2050 if we continue on our current course.

#95 The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that U.S. government debt held by the public will reach a staggering 716 percent of GDP by the year 2080.

#94 In 2010, the U.S. government paid $413 billion in interest on the national debt. That is projected to at least double over the next decade.

#93 According to one new survey, one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.

#92 State and local government debt has reached an all-time high of 22 percent of U.S. GDP.

#91 In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income. Today, government transfer payments account for 18.4% of all income.

#90 U.S. households are now receiving more income from the U.S. government than they are paying to the government in taxes.

#89 According to a new study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent.

#88 If you can believe it, one out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.

#87 According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5% of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3%.

#86 The cost of a health insurance policy for the average American family rose by a whopping 9 percent last year, and according to a report put out by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, the average family health insurance policy now costs over $15,000 a year.

#85 One study found that approximately 41 percent of working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.

#84 An all-time record 49.9 million Americans do not have any health insurance at all at this point, and the percentage of Americans covered by employer-based health plans has fallen for 11 years in a row.

#83 According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in the United States. Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, approximately 75 percent of them involved individuals that actually did have health insurance.

#82 Average yearly tuition at U.S. private universities is now up to $27,293.

#81 The cost of college tuition in the United States has gone up by over 900 percent since 1978.

#80 In America today, approximately two-thirds of all college students graduate with student loans.

#79 In 2010, the average college graduate had accumulated approximately $25,000 in student loan debt by graduation day.

#78 The total amount of student loan debt in the United States now exceeds the total amount of credit card debt in the United States.

#77 One-third of all college graduates end up taking jobs that don't even require college degrees.

#76 In the United States today, there are more than 100,000 janitors that have college degrees.

#75 In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.

#74 In the United States today, approximately 365,000 cashiers have college degrees.

#73 It is being projected that for the first time ever, the OPEC nations are going to bring in over a trillion dollars from exporting oil this year. Their biggest customer is the United States.

#72 U.S. oil companies will bring in about $200 billion in pre-tax profits this year. They will also receive about $4.4 billion in specialized tax breaks from the U.S. government.

#71 The United States has had a negative trade balance every single year since 1976, and since that time the United States has run a total trade deficit of more than 7.5 trillion dollars with the rest of the world.

#70 The United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs per month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

#69 The U.S. trade deficit with China is now 27 times larger than it was back in 1990.

#68 Today, the United States spends more than 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the United States.

#67 China has surpassed the United States and is now the largest PC market in the entire world.

#66 In 2002, the United States had a trade deficit in "advanced technology products" of $16 billion with the rest of the world. In 2010, that number skyrocketed to $82 billion.

#65 In 2010, the number one U.S. export to China was "scrap and trash".

#64 Do you remember when the United States was the dominant manufacturer of automobiles and trucks on the globe? Well, in 2010 the U.S. ran a trade deficit in automobiles, trucks and parts of $110 billion.

#63 The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#62 If you can believe it, more than 42,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States have been closed down since 2001.

#61 Between December 2000 and December 2010, 38 percent of the manufacturing jobs in Ohio were lost, 42 percent of the manufacturing jobs in North Carolina were lost and 48 percent of the manufacturing jobs in Michigan were lost.

#60 Back in 1970, 25 percent of all jobs in the United States were manufacturing jobs. Today, only 9 percent of the jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs.

#59 According to Professor Alan Blinder of Princeton University, 40 million more U.S. jobs could be sent offshore over the next two decades.

#58 If you gathered together all of the workers that are "officially" unemployed in the United States today, they would constitute the 68th largest country in the world.

#57 There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States right now than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.

#56 Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. In July, only 81.2 percent of men in that age group had a job.

#55 Only 55.3% of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 were employed last year. That was the lowest level that we have seen since World War II.

#54 Today, there are 5.9 million Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 that are living with their parents.

#53 The economic downturn has been particularly tough on men. According to Census data, men are twice as likely to live with their parents as women are.

#52 According to one recent survey, only 14 percent of all Americans that are 28 or 29 years old are optimistic about their financial futures.

#51 Incredibly, less than 30 percent of all U.S. teens had a job this summer.

#50 According to one study, between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 dropped by 27 percent after you account for inflation.

#49 Since the year 2000, we have lost approximately 10% of our middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

#48 In 1980, 52 percent of all jobs in the United States were middle income jobs. Today, only 42 percent of all jobs are middle income jobs.

#47 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

#46 According to Paul Osterman, a professor of economics at MIT, approximately 20 percent of all employed Americans are making $10.65 an hour or less.

#45 Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week.

#44 Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% once you account for inflation.

#43 New home sales in the United States are now down 80% from the peak in July 2005.

#42 The all-time record for fewest number of new homes sold in the United States was broken in 2009. Then it was broken again in 2010. It is on pace to be broken once again in 2011.

#41 At one point this year, U.S. home prices had fallen a whopping 33% from where they were at during the peak of the housing bubble.

#40 U.S. home values have fallen approximately 6 trillion dollars since the housing crisis first began.

#39 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida are sitting vacant. That figure is 63 percent larger than it was just ten years ago.

#38 Historically, the percentage of residential mortgages in foreclosure in the United States has tended to hover between 1 and 1.5 percent. Today, it is up around 4.5 percent.

#37 According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, at least 8 million Americans are currently at least one month behind on their mortgage payments.

#36 According to a Harris Interactive survey taken near the end of last year, 77 percent of all Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck. In 2007, the same survey found that only 43 percent of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck.

#35 Starting on January 1st, 2011 the Baby Boomers began to hit retirement age. From now on, every single day more than 10,000 Baby Boomers will reach the age of 65. That is going to keep happening every single day for the next 19 years.

#34 According to a new poll by Americans for Secure Retirement, 88 percent of all Americans are worried about "maintaining a comfortable standard of living in retirement". Last year, that figure was at 73 percent.

#33 One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.

#32 In 1950, each retiree's Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 U.S. workers. According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are now only 1.75 full-time private sector workers for each person that is receiving Social Security benefits in the United States.

#31 According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security system paid out more in benefits than it received in payroll taxes in 2010. That was not supposed to happen until at least 2016.

#30 The U.S. government now says that the Medicare trust fund will run out five years faster than they were projecting just last year.

#29 According to one study, the 50 U.S. state governments are collectively 3.2 trillion dollars short of what they need to meet their pension obligations.

#28 A different study has shown that individual Americans are $6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire comfortably.

#27 Between 1991 and 2007 the number of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 that filed for bankruptcy rose by a staggering 178 percent.

#26 According to a shocking AARP survey of Baby Boomers that are still in the workforce, 40 percent of them plan to work "until they drop".

#25 Last year, 2.6 million more Americans dropped into poverty. That was the largest increase that we have seen since the U.S. government began keeping statistics on this back in 1959.

#24 Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty. Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.

#23 More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid. Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, approximately one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.

#22 More than 45 million Americans are now on food stamps.

#21 The number of Americans on food stamps has increased 74% since 2007.

#20 Approximately one-third of the entire population of the state of Alabama is now on food stamps.

#19 Right now, one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

#18 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.

#17 The poverty rate for children living in the United States increased to 22% in 2010.

#16 There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.

#15 In Washington D.C., the "child food insecurity rate" is 32.3%.

#14 More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

#13 It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.

#12 The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006.

#11 According to a recent report from the AFL-CIO, the average CEO made 343 times more money than the average American did last year.

#10 The wealthiest 1% of all Americans now own more than a third of all the wealth in the United States.

#9 The poorest 50% of all Americans collectively own just 2.5% of all the wealth in the United States.

#8 The percentage of millionaires in Congress is more than 50 times higher than the percentage of millionaires in the general population.

#7 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million.

#6 According to one recent poll, 90 percent of the American people believe that economic conditions in the United States are "poor". To put this in perspective, only 11 percent of Americans rated economic conditions in the U.S. as "poor" back in January of 1999.

#5 According to another recent poll, 80 percent of the American people believe that we are actually in a recession right now.

#4 Our dollar is being systematically destroyed by the Federal Reserve. An item that cost $20.00 in 1970 will cost you $116.78 today. An item that cost $20.00 in 1913 will cost you $457.67 today.

#3 The Federal Reserve made $16.1 trillion in secret loans to their friends during the last financial crisis.

#2 The Federal Reserve is a perpetual debt machine. Today, the U.S. national debt is more than 4700 times larger than it was when the Federal Reserve was created back in 1913.

#1 According to a new CNN/ORC International Poll, 27 percent of all Americans have never even heard of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.