By Dr. Sawraj Singh

          The recent happenings show that the western capitalist system is getting in a deeper and deeper crisis and is falling apart. The Pope, the leader of the biggest religious denomination, sees a very bleak future of western capitalism. The racial divisions in America are also becoming deeper and deeper. No matter who wins the election, the wounds inflicted by the violent racial confrontations are unlikely to heal. The racial divisions and confrontations are likely to lead to a permanently divided America. Whereas America is divided by race, Europe is going to be divided on the basis of religion: Christianity and Islam. The hold of the dollar in world trade is loosening as countries like China and Russia are switching to their own currencies instead of the dollar.                                                                                                                                     

                The Pope severely criticized capitalism for the lack of fraternity, equality and social justice. He said that many people feel alienated from the system. He also criticized populism and aggressive nationalism. He said that racism was spreading like a virus. He criticized social media and the use of technology for dividing people. The Pope condemned consumerism, individualism and the treatment of people like machines by capitalists.                                                                                                                                                                                    

                The Black Lives Matter movement shows very deep racial divisions in America. Whether Trump wins or Biden wins the election, the wounds inflicted by this movement are unlikely to heal and America is going to become a permanently racially divided country. Some people may think that the Blacks are only about 13% of the population; therefore, they will not be able to make a big dent. However, the Black population, even though small, is heavily concentrated in big cities and is able to make a very big impact. We saw this during the Black Lives Matter movement that how life was paralyzed in the cities. America was almost pushed to complete anarchy. How can this undisciplined and divided population face the highly disciplined and homogeneous population of China, America's main adversary now?                                                                                                                                                                                                      

    The Western European countries are facing a similar situation on the account of a growing Muslim population. Islam can be called the counter culture to the consumer culture of western capitalism. Most of the Muslim population in western European countries not only holds different cultural values than the mainstream population, it has actually the opposite values. A major confrontation in Europe seems inevitable. As a matter of fact, the confrontation seems to have already started in France. Lenin said that capitalists will sell for profit the rope with which you can hang them. In today's context, we can say that western capitalists are bringing different people for super exploitation, even though these people may eventually destroy their way of lives.                                                                                  

                With the continuous decline of the American power, supremacy of the dollar cannot be maintained. If we take into consideration the purchasing power parity then China has already beaten the US. Russia, China and the other Eurasian countries are already dumping the dollar and switching to their national currencies in the trade. More and more countries are likely to follow their lead. The mighty empire of the dollar built after the Second World War seems to be crumbling.                                            

                Many Indians, particularly Punjabis still see their future in the western capitalist countries. The main reason for this phenomenon is that our pseudo-intellectuals and pseudo-Marxists are not convinced that western capitalism is on the decline and is falling apart. They have failed in their duty to   educate our people about the two major trends of the world: Rise of the East and Decline of the West.

Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at sawrajsingh@hotmail.com.