The trajectory of a nation’s performance can often be predicted by examining two critical indicators: levels of corruption and state violence.
Corruption and state violence are the hallmarks of low-performing countries. It’s not socialism vs. capitalism, as many people believe. All successful countries have elements of socialism and capitalism.
In sharp contrast, there are no high-performing countries that have significant levels of corruption and state violence.
An examination of recent developments in the United States suggests a troubling shift away from the principles that have traditionally underpinned successful governance.
Table of Contents
America’s Current Trajectory
In which direction is the United States trending? Let’s see…
Rising Corruption
The evidence of increasing corruption is becoming increasingly apparent:
- The administration accepted a $400 million plane
- The administration held a dinner for top holders of its memecoin
- The administration advertised a Tesla car from the White House steps after Elon Musk spent $250+ million getting the administration elected
Escalating State Violence
When it comes to state violence, people are being rounded up by masked police and sent to foreign prisons.
Judges are being persecuted.
War criminals are being pardoned.
The Accelerating Decline
So, by increasing corruption and state violence, the United States is trending from being a high-performance country to being low-performance.
And since the administration has no meaningful opposition, this trend will accelerate. Things will get worse and worse and worse and worse.
Conclusion
The historical pattern is clear: nations that allow corruption and state violence to flourish inevitably see their performance decline.
The United States appears to be following this well-documented path, with recent actions demonstrating a departure from the governance principles that characterize successful countries.
Without meaningful checks on these trends, the trajectory suggests continued deterioration in national performance, moving America further from the standards that define high-performing nations and closer to those that characterize failing states.