The United States depicted at the Republican National Convention is a scary place. It is wrenched by economic uncertainty, social upheaval, political dysfunction, runaway immigration, violent streets and existential threats from abroad. Republicans want voters to see the need for drastic change. The nation’s only choice, they say, is Donald Trump.
No one can deny that Trump is the candidate of change, while Clinton has been running as the candidate who will build on Obama’s legacy.
Why Republicans would paint such a bleak portrait and whether things really are as they say:
What’s the problem?
GOP Chairman Reince Priebus opened the convention acknowledging “troubling times”. Others used less measured terms. Americans live in fear, they said. The country is disrespected by the world, its military is gutted, its police are shamed. Borders are porous. Terrorism is a constant threat.
Alabama Sen Jeff Sessions said the US suffers from “an economic disaster … and the American people know it”. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said “our allies see us shrinking from our place as a leader in the world”.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani pointed to “the terrorists who are killing us and our allies”. He concluded: “There is no next election. There’s no more time for us left to revive our great country”.
What’s the reality?
The United States has seen some tough times, but it is in better shape than most of the world.
Americans are still much less likely to become victims of domestic or international terrorism than most Europeans and citizens of Middle East nations. Violent crime in the United States has dropped steadily since 1992, according to FBI statistics.
In May, unemployment dipped to its lowest rate since November 2007, a year before President Barack Obama’s election. The economy has grown for much of Obama’s tenure. But the middle class has taken a hit. Average household incomes are rising, but that’s largely due to higher pay for the richest 10 percent of American households.
Still, the United States is outperforming most of the world’s advanced economies. Last year, the US economy grew 2.4 percent, compared to 0.5 percent in Japan, 2.2 percent in Britain and 1.7 percent in the 19 countries that share the euro currency. China, which Trump often says has out-maneuvered the US on economic matters, is growing faster than the United States. But the US is far richer: Economic output per person last year was $56,000 in the U.S. and $7,900 in China.
Source From : firstpost.com
