Commentators around the world are debating this hot topic in the light of the continued crisis gripping the American economy, and its fabled markets.   Some are convinced that America, the super power, is truly and well on its way to demise.   And going by the increasingly negative news emanating from the United States, one cannot be blamed for imagining the worst.

Whether America can continue to hold its position as the sole super power of the world may depend on a very simple and mundane asset, namely, CASH!   How deep are America’s pockets?   In order to retain its present position in the comity of nations, America may have to go on spending cash, and more cash,  till it reaches a point when its economy finds its feet once again, and America can go back to strutting around on the world stage as the only super power!

What does America need to spend money on?   Here are some of the areas where the U.S. has to spend billions upon billions of dollars without really counting them (saves time!), in order to keep its number one position.

Take Care Of Own:  The American Government has to naturally take care of its own citizens first, like any good Government, and that requires a hell of a lot of money.   Its not an easy task for the American Government to keep its citizens happy, given their proclivity to wasteful spending, and lack of the savings habit.  

The American Government has not only to take care of the basic needs of its citizens, but also to pamper them with innumerable goodies.   Cheap gas, for one.   Americans are hooked to the automobile, and keeping them happy on the road costs the American state quite a packet!

America has to ensure unemployment within its population to the bare minimum, or pay unemployment doles to the unemployed.   On the other hand,it has also to provide job opportunities to a large number of aliens, in order to retain its competitive edge by attracting the best talent from all over the world.   Also a large number of aliens throughout the world, looking up to America for a better future, does its image a whale of good.   And the Social Security system that American citizens are entitled to, takes up a large chunk of the American State spending.

Military Power:  America has to maintain a vast, and first rate defence force, that has the capability of intervening in any part of the world, at short notice.  This entails maintaining and sustaining a steady supply of arms and ammunitions of every variety and description, in huge quanities, and of the best quality of course.   Land, Sea and Air based, and in future, space based weapons systems of the highest quality and accuracy are needed to project America’s muscle power before the rest of the world-to friends and foes alike.

Projecting Power Abroad:   Propping up friendly, even if brutal regimes with little or no concern for human rights, like Israel, and Egypt in the pursuit of its strategic interests, takes up a huge chunk of America’s resources.   Israel is the top beneficiary of American aid, so much so that every morsel of food that the Israelis consume, and every drop of water they drink is either partly or fully financed by America!  The second largest receipient of American aid is Egypt.

And then there are states like Pakistan and South Korea, that are supposed to act as a bulwark against perceived threats to not only American interests, but to world peace and prosperity.   Pakistan is supposed to counter the threat of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and South Korea is supposed to halt the spread of red (communism) from North Korea!   Both these friendly states, especially Pakistan, swallow up a considerable amount of American money year after year.

As if this were not enough, America has a bounden duty to punish unfriendly regimes like Iraq and Afghanistan by occupying these states physically;  and subverting their systems to make them America-friendly requires a virtual pipeline of cash to be put in place between America and these countries.   In spite of all this, the end result may not be satisfactory for America, which means all the money spent going down the drain.

Intelligence gathering:  This is another area where America spends countless billions of dollars to maintain its ‘edge’ over the rest of the world, in the hierarchy of nations.   The American intelligence set up is said to be as expansive as it is expensive.  The cost of  maintaining and running such a vast network of intelligence gathering mechanism, both human and non-human can only be imagined, as a lot of the expenditure is of a secret nature, and not accounted for.

By no means, is the above, a complete list of the expenditure incurred by the American Government to maintain its power and prestige, and more importantly, its ’sole super power’ status.

The current economic crisis that has America in a vice like grip, refuses to ease up soon, thereby putting enormous pressure on the American system, and pushing America into more and more debt, thereby mortgaging the future of the coming generations of Americans.   If this situation continues, America may soon be left with the hard choice of saving its flesh and bones, by letting off its enviable, or hated, as you please, status, of the sole super power of the world.