"I've said many time that I believe the single biggest threat to our national security is our debt," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen reiterated in September. I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment - our profligate spending habits have put us on the path of long-term fiscal nonsustainabilitly, forcing us to finance our debt with the help of countries like China. The perfidiously underhanded communist leadership in China has been notoriously willing to help out other countries of late. The CPC hasn't found an infrastructure project or loan they didn't like, whether it be in the U.S. of Africa, and their pocketbook diplomacy puts us in the position of going soft on major issues like massive intellectual property theft or the disgusting state of human rights in China. Our indebtedness goes beyond free trade - we are actually relying on China for our solvency. It's not a good position to be in, especially since China has plenty of destructive economic problems of its own. (Remember: communist.)
Unfortunately, Americans aren't the only ones unable to reverse course away from central-planning and rent-seeking policies and instead harken back to freedom, prosperity, and independence. It seems that the once-affluent western world en masse is falling prey to the very same trap, as Europe's problems escalate at an accelerated rate.
France's opposition Socialists have attacked President Nicolas Sarkozy for seeking Chinese help in solving the euro zone debt crisis, tapping into voters' concerns six months before a French presidential election.
Party leader Martine Aubry said Europe had been shown to be weak by turning to Beijing, following up on accusations by Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande that France had become "double dependent" on Germany and China.
"It's shocking," said Aubry in comments published on Sunday. "By turning to the Chinese the Europeans are showing they are weak. The response should have been European," she told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
Sarkozy played lead role with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in crafting a European plan last week to restore financial market confidence and end a two-year crisis started by Greece, with a contribution from Beijing if possible.
How has Europe's role in the global arena shifted so dramatically from badass freedom-fighters to ineffectual moochers? It's downright humiliating, and the United States isn't far behind.
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