New Infectious Diseases

The nation's top scientists say that environmental, economic, social, and scientific changes have helped to trigger an unprecedented explosion of more than 35 new infectious diseases since the early 1970s. The U.S. death rate from infectious disease, which dropped in the first part of the 20th century and then stabilized, is now double what it was in 1980. The Institute of Medicine reports that every hour 1,500 people worldwide die of an infectious disease, and more than half of those are children under 5. Many of the infectious diseases that now seem common—food-borne E. coli, waterborne Cryptosporidium, airborne Legionnaire's disease, blood-borne hepatitis C, and sexually transmitted AIDS—first surfaced in roughly the past 30 years. "This period from the 1970s is without precedent in the history of the annals of medicine," says Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of Harvard Medical School. A panel of top U.S. researchers attributed the surge in new diseases to specific factors in the world and the way we live: microbial adaptation and change; human susceptibility to infection; changing ecosystems; human demographics and behavior; economic development and land use; international travel and commerce; technology and industry; breakdown of public health measures; and war and famine.

U.S. Debt

Kevin DeMeritt, president of Lear Financial, reports that the current combined debt of all U.S. households, businesses, and governments has reached an unthinkable $31 trillion dollars. America's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only $10.5 trillion, making total indebtedness 295% of GDP. In comparison, just before the Great Depression, the percentage of debt to GDP was 264%, 31 points lower than it is today. This trend of indebtedness is everywhere:

» The U.S. is the world's largest debtor nation.

» Since 1995, debt has been growing at 8-10% per year, twice as fast as economic growth.

» Government debt (federal, state, and local) amounts to $5 trillion, of which the federal portion is $3.5 trillion.

» Household debt is estimated at $8.2 trillion.

» The percentage of loans in foreclosure has risen to a record 1.18% from 1.15 %.

» Bankruptcies in 2003 will likely set a record for the third straight year.

» U.S. pension funds are under-funded by upwards of $300 billion.

War's New Face

Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes sees the rules of conflict being rewritten by the West to facilitate more precise and "humane" wars. These include:

» Who is the enemy: War used to be aimed against a whole country. Now, the authorities painstakingly distinguish between the government and the people. The former is the enemy; the latter, potentially friendly. This leads to such examples as U.S. planes simultaneously carrying bombs to destroy the regime and food to relieve the populace.

» Who will win: The outcome of war used to be the overriding question. Now, when it is West vs. non-West, the wide gulf in economics, technology, materiel, training, and organization virtually assures a Western victory. With this assumed, attention focuses on matters such as the duration of hostilities and the number of casualties.

» Casualties: Once, each side sought to inflict as many casualties as possible on the enemy. Now, Western armies strive to minimize the other sides' losses. In response, non-Western rulers sometimes inflict casualties on their own civilian populations by placing them in danger, while the invading army tries to avoid killing and hurting them.

» Plunder: As recently as 1918, victory in war meant beggaring the loser. Starting with the Marshall Plan after World War II, the U.S. established the precedent of paying for the rehabilitation of its former enemies.

» Rooting for the other side: Nationality once defined loyalties—no longer. Now significant numbers of Westerners oppose the war goals of their own governments. These sentiments contributed significantly to the French loss in Algeria and the U.S. loss in Vietnam. In the latest war against Iraq, some Americans and Britons wanted the coalition to lose. Contrarily, plenty of Iraqis desired a coalition victory.

Immigrants in the Military

About 37,400 foreign nationals serve in the U.S. military, according to the Department of Defense. Many non-citizens turn to the military for a stable job and access to education. Serving in the military is also a quicker way for green card holders to obtain U.S. citizenship, and legislation being decided upon in Congress may speed it up even more. Last July, as a thank-you gesture to those fighting the war against terrorism, President Bush waived the normal three-year waiting period for soldiers who want to become citizens.

America's Black Economy

Author Eric Schlosser writes in Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market that marijuana, pornography, and illegal labor have created a hidden market in the U.S. which now accounts for as much as 10% of the American economy. As a cash crop, marijuana is believed to have surpassed corn, and hardcore pornography revenue equals Hollywood's domestic box office takings. The total number of illegal immigrants is estimated at about 8 million, and about a million of them are employed and being paid in cash. Although the official American economy has been suffering a downturn, the shadow economy is enjoying unprecedented levels of success, much as Prohibition fuelled illegal markets in the 1930s.