America 2.0: Better, Stronger, Faster

A view of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor on Aug. 8, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Commentary

Mark Cuban, I believe, was the one who recently used the expression “America 2.0” to describe how America would look after the CCP virus subsides.

He’s right; the world and the nation are being reset right in front of us. Everything we thought was true about norms of behavior, world economics, and accepted truths of what is possible or what is not possible are being turned upside down.

As the Great Game and the timetable of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) jerks suddenly to the left, possibly because of their bungling of a few petri dishes at Wuhan, we are seeing an America 2.0 happen right in front of us. We should be ready to embrace and leverage that for the betterment of our country and the world.

So, what will or what should America 2.0 look like?

A New America—Better, Stronger, Faster

We’ve learned a lot about ourselves and learned a number of lessons from this experience—let’s apply them.

And a note—totalitarianism isn’t the answer—one United Nations official gushed over the CCP’s ability to snap the entire population into formation and march them in a certain direction. Nothing good comes out of that mindset. Margaret Sanger and other globalists in the 1930s gushed over the ability of the Reich to exercise similar control over its population. Nothing good came out of that episode of human history.

In his rousing State of the Union speech in February, President Donald Trump outlined the impressive comeback of the United States—our momentum, performance, and results were undeniable. Whether you are a supporter or not, all American indicators were up and to the right—always where you want to be on the trendline of measured results.

If I was in the Central Committee in Beijing as a planner for the CCP, I would be panicking after that State of the Union. The United States’ potential energy is still compressing in a mighty spring. The CCP’s spring has sprung through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Thousand Talents program, and many other whimsically titled, but truly sinister, influence operations.

The CCP is rapidly running out of what we would call in the old days “walking around money” to assert influence. We’re on the sidelines just warming up and getting ready. We’re rejuvenated, renewed, and ready. The CCP is past the apogee of their trajectory and out of fuel.

Here’s a brief outline of what America 2.0 should look like as we come back from the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Make the Best Society in the World Even Better

Yes, in many ways, we are a messy and divided society. Guilty as charged.

But guess what? We’re still far better than anything out there. One decisive indicator—population and capital flows. Are people and capital flowing in or flowing out of China? Answer—they’re flowing out. Are people and capital flowing into or out of America? Answer—they’re flowing in. It isn’t even close.

Population and capital flows explain everything about world affairs and the world has voted—America is the answer. A totalitarian-led China is not. Our U.S. objectives should be focused on refining the best society in the world—not obsessing over grievance and narcissism. Here are some of the areas in which America 2.0 should press the accelerator even more:

• Provide the best governance in the world—a citizen-centric and citizen-serving government—not the other way around.
• Continue to improve the best universities and the best educational system in the world. That also includes a dramatic expansion of vocational-technical opportunities—we’ll need it in the new world of America 2.0.
• Deliver the best environment, culture, and opportunities for vibrant families and singles, and ensure that people of faith and the unborn are protected by our incredible constitution.
• Expedite the best health care in the world—led by the private sector.
• Establish a society and population that has opportunities in all regions: urban, suburban, and rural. Forced urbanization for real or perceived opportunities should be placed in the rear-view mirror.

Accelerate the Strongest Economy in the World

Before the caltrops of the CCP virus were littered in front of us, the U.S. economy was revolutionizing. After years of wandering in the globalist hall of mirrors, we’ve found the exit and disproved the thesis of globalism and shown that if it’s not built here, we’re not really innovating, we’re not really leading.

Let’s continue on this pathway, and the foundation is solid for a relatively quick recovery. We have the upper hand in many of the foundational sectors of our incredible economy—let’s act like it.

• Accelerate the revolution of U.S. energy dominance.
• Expand U.S. food production efficiency and advantage.
• Exert and improve the leadership of the world financial system, including an update to the WWII era system. Exclude those of bad faith and totalitarianism—let them establish their own financial system and see who falls in line with them. They will have a very short line.
• Establish the Arsenal of Democracy 3.0—bring the U.S. economy to a quasi-wartime mode with strategic use of the Defense Production Act. We’re not in a hot war (yet), and perhaps this release initially was an accident, but it seems purposefully exploited and leveraged after that point, which is an undeniable signal of CCP malevolent intent. Preparedness will help deter actual conflict.
• Continue assertively establishing Fair Trade to replace Free Trade. The social and academic experiment of Free Trade drained our country of productive activity and forced dense urbanization for illusionary opportunities—opportunities that in reality were an alternate universe of rent control, decay, and dead ends.

Strengthen, Recapitalize Statecraft and Military

The rebuilding of the “M” (Military) instrument of national power has been a success. But it’s bigger than that—It’s all instruments of national power—not just the 26-inch bicep of the “M.” When I met with foreign delegations after the election, they were excited and enthusiastic and even more so when I told them, “America’s back—and America’s got your back with our new President!”

This momentum should be put on steroids.

• Rebuild the most effective and articulate statecraft in the world—a total retooling of our non-“M” instruments of national power in a passionate, “America First” manner. Leading from the rear causes doubt, uncertainties, and ambiguity. Ambiguity causes conflict. Asserting a clear, America First agenda along with other functional, sovereign nation-states is good for all.
• Build the best partnerships in the world.
• Continue to build up the best military in the world.
• Dominate in all domains—space, cyber, air, ground, and sea.
• Emphasize decisive air and sea capabilities, expand special operations along with a mobile, lethal, conventional expeditionary force, projected and recovered at will.

Secure American Society From Threats

American society is already under assault from many forces. We must secure, safeguard, and recover to defeat willful threats directed at our country. These themes are very simple and self-explanatory.

• Complete the full security of our borders.
• Eradicate foreign influence operations.
• End the opioid crisis.
• Defeat organized crime/terrorist groups spilling into the United States from neighboring ungoverned space.
• Restore confidence in the voter registration process and challenge dysfunctional state voting laws that steal votes from lawful Americans.

Leverage the World’s Most Innovative Culture

For years in the post-World War II era, the United States led the world economically, socially, culturally, and in many other perspectives because of the innovation and freedom of American individuals and companies. There has been a growing realization that innovation tapers off and drifts away as the production of these innovations immediately shifts overseas. The days of surrendering and giving away sovereignty are over.

• Reestablish all supply chains here. Everything is built here or with truly trusted partners. From the silicon level up—everything made here will be the new mantra.
• Reinvent a holistic manufacturing base. In the year 2020, China has no cost advantage. They are a developed nation with a population that clamors for more, just like any other society. There is a difference between price and value. Artificially low prices are in the end a disincentive to innovation and only encourage the surrender of sovereignty.
• Expand opportunity zones with rapid recapitalization of our national infrastructure. Building upon Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) initiative as carried out by Dr. Ben Carson, apply these to our suburban and rural areas.
• Reindustrialize America. This is an action, an attitude, and knowledge. We need to relearn as a culture the attitude and knowledge of making things ourselves. Part of this is reawakening to the dignity, purpose, and value of work—work of all types—even work where your hands might get a little dirty, God forbid.
• Appreciate and create enduring value and goodness—right here—not in some foreign land.

In summary, we came from the most extraordinary economy in national and international history just a few weeks ago. We should be able to recover fairly quickly.

An article caught my attention about a class action suit already being filed against the CCP by small businesses in the United States harmed by the clumsiness at Wuhan. I thought what an irony—releasing the trial lawyers as the unexpected vanguard force that takes down the CCP—I’m just pondering the visualization of trial lawyers nibbling and reducing the CCP into non-existence. What irony. Who could have ever possibly foreseen this outcome?

Col. (Ret.) John Mills is a national security professional with service in five eras: Cold War, Peace Dividend, War on Terror, World in Chaos, and now—Great Power Competition. He is the former director of cybersecurity policy, strategy, and international affairs at the Department of Defense.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.