In Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address in 1989, he compares the United States to a “shining city upon a hill”. He describes his vision of this city as “a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here” (Reagan). This ideal has been at the heart of US patriotism that carries still to this day. Many politicians use the phrase “US global leadership” to describe the unique position Americans have to lead the world to harmony and justice. Have the events of the last decade of American history build up this standard of a “shining city”, or has it begun to break down? The United States has always claimed to be the world's top power, but do the actions and advancements in the political, economic, human rights and environmental protection sectors reflect this ability to lead the countries of the world to a better future?
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2010 - Deepwater Horizon Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico
The Deepwater Horizon Explosion began on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This oil spill is the most serious environmental disaster in the history of the United States. Millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and continued to endlessly leak even until 2012. The oil spill affected marine and wildlife habitats and also the Gulf’s fishing and tourism. It has caused extensive damage that was still seem many years later. After the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP ignored industrial safety and ecological safety, paid a high price of compensation, the total price of which exceeded US $ 69 billion. But today the question has yet to be answered: How much damage did the oil spill pollution in 2010 cause? Has it been restored? Even if the apparent ecology has returned to normal, much of the destruction to ecological structures still cannot be assessed by today's science alone. |
Image source: Reuters
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Image source: Kena Betancur/AFP
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2014 - Black Lives Matter movement The Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter Movement that began in 2012, when Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman, reached a violent peak in 2014. Unrest grew and grew surrounding the mounting and unwarranted deaths of blacks in which their perpetrators come off clean. In 2014 when Michael Brown was shot 6 times by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, people took to the streets to protest the unjust situation. The #BlackLivesMatter movement reached broader issues such as violent law enforcement and racial inequality in the U.S. criminal justice system (1). These issues are still continuing to this day. |
2015 - U.S. Supreme Court Allows Same-Sex Marriage In a landmark
civil rights case, Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled that laws denying same-sex couples the right to marry were unconstitutional. From June 26, 2015 onward, all 50 states were required to issue marriage licenses regardless of sex of the couple. This was a momentous change in the country’s policy and an important leap in the rights and equalities of the LGBT people. The United States was the 21st country in the world to make this change in their laws. |
Image source: Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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Image source: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
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2018 – Government Shutdown over Construction of the Wall
From the end of 2018 to the end of January 2019, the current President Donald Trump and the Democratic Party have had conflicted opinions about the usage of federal funds for the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border. This was the longest government shutdown in the history of the US government. During the government shutdown, many administrative affairs and agencies affiliated with the central government ceased operations. In addition, museums, national parks, etc., were left unattended and open to littering and vandalization (2). Many argue that the boarder wall is a waste of taxpayers’ money and will not have much affect on illegal immigration. Not to mention the poor treatment of those trying to earn a better life in this “land of the free”. In this example especially, Reagan’s dream of a “shining city” with open doors has been walled-up with barbed wire added. |
2019 – China-US Trade War and Negotiations
Due to the impact of economic globalization, China and the United States have a long-term trade deficit. On July 6, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 25% additional tariff on US $34 billion worth of Chinese goods exported to the United States. China then took counter measures and imposed 25% additional tariff on US $34 billion worth of U.S. goods exported to China, including the most exported soybean from the United States to China (3). Subsequently, the two countries raised trade tariffs on different commodities several times. In June 2019, the G20 Osaka summit held talks and agreed to restart economic and trade consultations. The United States will no longer impose new tariffs on Chinese products. |
Image source: The White House
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Image source: CDC
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2019 – Coronavirus Pandemic
The outbreak of this new coronavirus, COVID-19, was initially discovered in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. It then quickly spread to many countries around the world in early 2020, gradually becoming a global plague. The current global death toll has exceeded 250,000. The United States has become the worst-hit country in the world. This pandemic has severely affected economies around the world. The strong impact has not ended yet. The CDC Director Robert Redfield said that we may experience a second wave of the disease in the future (4). The outbreak of this disease has highlighted the long-standing problems of U.S. health care and the growing wealth gap. |