Professor Ling-chi Wang of UC Berkeley on 9-11-2020: I often wonder how many more blows can the body of the U.S. take before the bubble burst or before Humpty Dumpty has its final fall. Being the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 shock today, I am led to think about what has been happening in the U.S. since then. Here is what I think.

Professor Ling-chi Wang of UC Berkeley on 9-11-2020: I often wonder how many more blows can the body of the U.S. take before the bubble burst or before Humpty Dumpty has its final fall. Being the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 shock today, I am led to think about what has been happening in the U.S. since then. Here is what I think.

Up until Sept. 11, the mainland U.S. – the heart and the symbol of U.S. global financial power – has never experienced direct external and physical assault. On that day, the World Trade Center – the belly of the beast – was blown up and wiped off the surface of the earth by a small handful of people. How could such a catastrophe happen to the most powerful nation on earth, we collectively wondered in shock? As powerful as we were then, the sole power in the world, we were reminded of how vulnerable we were, how much we were hated by some people in the Middle East, and how urgently we needed to rethink and change our approach to that part of the world, including and especially our policy toward Israel at the belly of the region. Instead of heeding the warning and reformulating our worldview and policies toward the Middle East, we doubled down and initiated two perpetual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and reinforced the same failed policy in Israel to this date. We also became totally obsessed with homeland security. After trillions of dollars spent and thousands of American lives sacrificed needlessly at the expense of much-needed domestic development. we are still at war and we remain convinced that might is right and we will prevail.

Then came the second blow: the spectacular collapse of the U.S. financial capitalism we built in Wall Street for the world in 2008, an unprecedented event resulting in untold sufferings of not just the people of the U.S. but the peoples and countries around the world. China was about the only country that was left standing and to whom we begged for help. Fortunately, China was willing and able to lead the global recovery with massive infrastructure investment but at great cost to the people of China.

Did Obama-Biden express appreciation for China’s helping hand? Not at all. Instead, the collapse did not lead to a national soul-searching. We allowed the house we built to continue to deteriorate and dilapidate, as the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. “Too big to fail” was the slogan in response. Abroad, China’s helping hand was treated as a threat to the global domination of the U.S. and a threat as well to our national security. Pivot to Asia and containment of China by economic, military, and political means became the foundation of our policies toward China in the second term of the Obama administration. These policies have now been carried out fully by the Trump administration in what most scholars ave dubbed a “New Cold War” with China.

Not only did we fail to rethink the unfair design and foundation of the house we built for ourselves and for the compliant world, we rushed to reinforce and double down in massive divestment in health, education, and welfare, deferred maintenance of our infrastructure, and, above all, in income transfer to enrich the top 1% and impoverish the 99%, paving the way for the rise of the “left-behind” of Donald Trump, a demagogue and an destructive emperor without clothes in 2016, who is bent on protecting and enriching himself, dismantling institutions at home and abroad, placing himself above the law, and offering to take America back to the good, old days when the U.S. ruled the Western world during the Cold War.

As if these two major blows that have hit us weren’t enough, we were visited this year, 2020, by yet another major blow: the deadly coronavirus pandemic from coast to coast, affecting every American, rich and poor, white and colored. The public health crisis was followed by a nationwide shutdown of businesses, factories, offices, transportation, schools, and government, resulting in unprecedented massive unemployment and overnight, steepest economic recession in history. Only the stock market, the playground for the wealthy and corporate America, was rationally exuberant. The pandemic nakedly exposed not just how ill-prepared and incompetent the richest and technologically most advance country was in dealing with the most serious public health crisis in our history has ever faced but also how racial minorities and the poor have been disproportionally devastated the infectious disease, unemployment, and business bankruptcy, and how race and class inequity and injustice have been deeply entrenched in our social, economic, political, and cultural systems since the founding of the nation. Americans collectively spontaneously stood up in protests. “Make America great again” was quickly overwhelmed by “Black lives matter” in the streets in virtually all cities and towns across the nation, as people of all ages, colors, and national origin marched and demanded equality and justice for weeks.

Not even such spontaneous mass uprising across the nation aroused the conscience of our political class and push them into action. Instead, White House lost no time in denouncing the protests with provocative racist attacks and in deploying the national guards and the military force to suppress the peaceful marchers with with violence on the one hand. In the mean time, the U.S. Congress went home in the midst of a national crisis without offering any solution to fight the worsening public crisis and economic recession on the other hand. Politics and government are effectively paralyzed, incapable of offering hope and relief to a severely wounded and possibly dying nation, so to speak,

In less than two months, the most consequential presidential and Congressional elections will take place and decide the future fate of the nation. This time, the American brand of pay-to-play democracy will be severely tested and watched worldwide. Will the U.S. survive another severe blow? Billions are being spent by both parties in the election or, shall I say, auction. Both parties are prepared to spent hundreds of millions to challenge the outcomes of the elections. Already, Trump has threatened to ignore the outcome of the election if he loses. Democrats are preparing to challenge whatever action Trump will take. If the outcome of the election cannot be decided quickly, Trump has already threatened to declare himself the victor on election night and refuse to vacate the White House.

Whatever the outcome of the election in November, it looks like the nation is heading for another deadly blow and potentially, chaos or anarchy.

Let me end this email with the same question I raised at the beginning of this email: How many more blows can the U.S. take since September 11, 2001 before it becomes a fallen Humpty Dumpty? If the results turn out to be a free-for-all political, legal or violent brawl, will the U.S. end in civil disorder, declaration of martial laws by Trump, and its constitution tattered? Will it spell the end of American brand of pay-to-play democracy as we know it?

(Follow translation use Google Translate)

加州大學伯克利分校的王靈芝教授於2020年9月11日：我經常想知道在泡沫破裂之前或在矮胖子最後跌落之前，美國的身體還能承受多少打擊。 今天是9月11日震驚事件的19週年紀念日，我被帶去思考自那時以來美國發生的一切。 這就是我的想法。

直到9月11日，美國大陸-美國心臟和全球金融實力的象徵-從未經歷過直接的外部和人身攻擊。那天，一小撮人炸毀了世界貿易中心-獸的腹部。我們集體震驚地想知道，地球上最強大的國家怎麼會發生這樣的災難？當時我們擁有強大的力量，是世界上的唯一力量，這讓我們想起了我們多麼脆弱，中東某些人對我們的憎恨有多少，以及我們迫切需要重新考慮和改變這一部分的方法世界，包括尤其是我們在該地區腹部對以色列的政策。我們沒有聽從警告，沒有重新制定我們對中東的世界觀和政策，而是加倍努力，在阿富汗和伊拉克發動了兩次永久性戰爭，並在以色列迄今加強了同樣失敗的政策。我們也完全迷戀國土安全。在花費了數万億美元之後，不必要地犧牲了成千上萬的美國人的生命，卻以急需的國內發展為代價。我們仍處於戰爭之中，我們仍然堅信可能是正確的，我們將獲勝。

然後是第二個打擊：2008年我們在華爾街為世界建立的美國金融資本主義的驚人崩潰，這是一次前所未有的事件，不僅給美國人民而且給全世界人民和國家帶來了無盡的痛苦。 中國是唯一一個保持不變的國家，我們向其求助。 幸運的是，中國願意並有能力通過大規模的基礎設施投資來領導全球復甦，但對中國人民而言卻付出了巨大的代價。

奧巴馬·拜登是否對中國的援助表示讚賞？ 一點也不。 相反，崩潰並沒有導致全國范圍內的靈魂反省。 隨著富人變得更富裕而窮人變得更窮，我們讓我們建造的房屋繼續惡化和殘舊不堪。 回應的口號是“太大而不能失敗”。 在國外，中國的援助之手被視為對美國全球統治的威脅，也是對我們國家安全的威脅。 在奧巴馬政府第二任期內，以亞洲為中心，通過經濟，軍事和政治手段遏制中國成為我們對華政策的基礎。 特朗普政府現在已充分執行了這些政策，大多數學者將其稱為與中國的“新冷戰”。

我們不僅沒有重新考慮我們為自己和為順應世界建造的房屋的不公平設計和基礎，還急於加強和擴大對健康，教育和福利的撤資，推遲對基礎設施的維護，以及 最重要的是，在收入轉移中，使前1％的富人富裕，並使99％的貧困化，為唐納德·特朗普的“左撇子”崛起鋪平了道路。 保護和充實自己，拆除國內外機構，超越法律，並提出將美國帶回冷戰期間美國統治西方世界的美好舊時光。

好像還沒有擊中這兩個重大打擊，就在2020年，又一次重大打擊訪問了我們：致命的冠狀病毒大流行在各地蔓延，影響到每個美國人，不論貧富，白人和有色人種。在公共衛生危機之後，全國范圍內的企業，工廠，辦公室，交通，學校和政府停擺，造成了前所未有的大規模失業和一夜之間，最嚴重的經濟衰退。只有股票市場，即富裕的美國公司的遊樂場，才是合理繁榮的市場。這種流行病赤裸裸地暴露了最富裕和技術最先進的國家在應對我們歷史上最嚴重的公共衛生危機時的準備不足和無能，還暴露了少數民族和窮人如何嚴重地破壞了傳染病自建國以來，失業，企業破產以及種族和階級的不平等與不公正現像在我們的社會，經濟，政治和文化體系中已根深蒂固。美國人集體自發地抗議。在美國幾乎所有城市和城鎮的街道上，“讓美國變得更加偉大”很快就被“黑人生活至關重要”所淹沒，因為各個年齡段，膚色和國籍的人們都在遊行，並要求平等和正義長達數週之久。

甚至全國范圍內這種自發的群眾起義都沒有引起我們政治階層的良心並促使他們採取行動。 相反，白宮毫不猶豫地一方面譴責了帶有挑釁性的種族主義襲擊的抗議活動，一方面部署了國民警衛隊和軍事力量以暴力鎮壓和平遊行者。 同時，美國國會在一場國家危機中回家，但另一方面卻未提供任何解決方案來應對日益惡化的公共危機和經濟衰退。 政治和政府實際上癱瘓了，無法為受重傷甚至垂死的國家提供希望和救濟，可以這麼說，

在不到兩個月的時間裡，最重要的總統和國會選舉將舉行，並決定國家的未來命運。 這次，美國的付費遊戲民主品牌將在全球受到嚴峻的考驗和關注。 美國會再次遭受沉重打擊嗎？ 雙方都在選舉或拍賣中花費了數十億美元。 雙方都準備花費數億來挑戰選舉結果。 特朗普已經威脅說，如果他輸了，將無視選舉結果。 民主黨人正準備挑戰特朗普將採取的任何行動。 如果不能很快決定選舉結果，特朗普已經揚言要在選舉之夜宣布自己是勝利者，並拒絕撤離白宮。

無論11月大選的結果如何，該國似乎都將面臨另一場致命的打擊，甚至可能造成混亂或無政府狀態。

讓我在電子郵件末尾提出與我在電子郵件開頭提出的相同問題：自2001年9月11日起，美國在淪落為矮胖矮胖子之前還可以再遭受幾次打擊？ 如果結果證明是一場對所有人的政治，法律或暴力鬥毆，美國會不會陷入內亂，特朗普宣布戒嚴令，其憲法破爛？ 如我們所知，這會否標誌著美國品牌的“玩轉民主”制度的終結？