America: Superpower or Self-Made Victim?
The U.S. built the global system it now condemns. Examine how victimhood rhetoric masks decades of economic dominance and strategic coercion.
Learning to Read Between the Lines
We live in an age where narratives matter as much as facts, perhaps more. For generations, the United States has positioned itself not only as a global leader but as the benevolent architect of a liberal international order. It created the dollar-based financial system, set the terms of international trade, and deployed military and economic power with impunity. Nonetheless, in a strange twist of perception, American leaders and media now speak as though the rest of the world is taking advantage of them.
This is an exploration of accountability, hypocrisy, and how power is both projected and protected. More importantly, it is a call for readers to understand how systems are rigged, not just against individuals but entire continents, and how citizens, regardless of nationality, must stop accepting the stories fed to them to preserve elite privilege.
A Superpower's Sob Story
The United States represents roughly 5% of the world’s population but produces nearly 25% of its GDP. Despite this enormous economic output, American leaders routinely frame international trade as a zero-sum game. When foreign nations refuse to import substandard or harmful American goods, such as chlorinated chicken or genetically modified grains, they are painted as obstructive, anti-American, or worse: manipulators of global trade. In reality, many countries are simply upholding health and environmental standards that their citizens expect and deserve.
Rather than acknowledging the structural imbalance that favours American capital at the expense of foreign labour and environment, Washington turns the tables. They say the world isn’t buying enough of their exports. So, instead of investing in quality, they slap tariffs on imports, blaming everyone else for their economic shortcomings.
Tariffs: A Self-Inflicted Wound Disguised as Strategy
Donald Trump’s return to trade war rhetoric and the plan to expand tariffs across nearly all imports is pitched as a nationalist correction. The goal, allegedly, is to get Americans to buy American. This, in theory, will “force” companies to bring manufacturing home and revive decaying industrial towns like Detroit.
Here’s the problem: the factories are gone, the skills are gone, and the people are gone. Entire generations of industrial workers have died, moved on, or been priced out of relevance. The buildings are shells, the infrastructure is neglected, and there is no serious federal plan to rebuild. No public-private investment in vocational training. No comprehensive revitalization of manufacturing hubs. There is only the blind hope that tariffs will magically rewind time.
Worse still, the revenues generated by these tariffs will not be reinvested into affected sectors or workers. Instead, they are slated to fund massive tax cuts for the wealthy, deepening inequality and doing nothing to address structural deficits. American consumers will face higher prices, while corporations will exploit the chaos for political leverage and profit.
Inflation and the Dollar Illusion
Some pundits have argued that tariffs won’t cause inflation because other countries will “absorb the cost.” This is economic nonsense. Inflation, by definition, occurs when prices rise, regardless of who pays. Although the U.S. dollar remains the global reserve currency, it is supported by a fragile social contract: the world continues buying U.S. debt, accepting dollars for real goods, resources, and labour.
This arrangement, however, is not perfect. It is, as one observer aptly described, the “largest Ponzi scheme in history,” a financial system propped up by endless fiat money, printed without backing, traded for actual goods that the U.S. no longer produces. If the system unravels, if countries stop buying U.S. debt or demand settlements in other currencies, the consequences will be immediate and catastrophic. Americans will face soaring prices, empty shelves, and a dollar that no longer commands loyalty abroad.
The Real Cost of Protectionism
Protectionism only works if there is something to protect. Today’s American industrial base is hollowed out, not only by outsourcing but by a lack of strategic foresight. The factories of the past are not ready to resume production, and the economic elites have little interest in rebuilding them.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is expected to drop its standards, abandon environmental and health safeguards, and accept an influx of lower-quality goods in the name of “free trade.” However, there is no freedom when one party writes the rules and changes them on a whim; there is only coercion.
Groups like the Heritage Foundation have laid out plans to double down on this extractive model. Their vision for Project 2025 includes further deregulation, open exploitation of sub-Saharan Africa, and even resource extraction in Antarctica. The logic is chilling: if pollution and poverty occur outside American borders, they don’t count. If billionaires can only survive by keeping others in poverty, then poverty becomes policy.
The Myth of the Benevolent Empire
To hear American politicians speak, you’d think the world owes the U.S. eternal gratitude for its leadership. However, the reality is starkly different. From subsidized agriculture to weaponized sanctions, from military interventions to economic blackmail, the U.S. has spent decades engineering a system that privileges its interests above all others.
When that system begins to fray, when allies question the rules, or rivals offer alternatives, the default response is victimhood. “Why doesn’t the world buy our stuff?” the question goes. The real question is: why should they?
Right now, much of what America produces is simply not good enough. Not because Americans lack ingenuity or potential, but because their system rewards speculation over substance. Consumers around the world are under no obligation to buy poorly made goods, no matter how loudly the United States complains.
We Must See the System Clearly
The world is not taking advantage of America. The world is waking up to a reality in which American dominance is neither inevitable nor fair. If the U.S. wants to remain a respected global actor, it must invest in rebuilding its economy from the ground up, starting with education, infrastructure, environmental stewardship, and worker dignity.
Citizens in every country must demand more. Not from each other but from the systems that perpetuate inequality in their name. The United States will not collapse because it faces competition; it will collapse if it cannot accept accountability.
We must tell the truth. We must share the truth. If this resonated with you, consider sharing it with a friend, subscribing, or supporting this work with a small gesture of appreciation: a comment, a coffee, or a conversation. Let’s make critical thought go viral.