I have been thinking about this a long time but never managed to drum up enough enthusiasm to write it up. But there is something about today being the Martin Luther King Day that finally pushed me to write this blog.

USA is at cross roads.

As an outsider I always found USA confusing, for e.g. (Like rest of the world) things like opposition to the gun control law or willingness to continue the death penalty. What is it with these people who refuse to see the obvious and at the least ban guns?

A few days back, someone reminded me that USA is a republic. This provoked me to think further and very soon there was light.

Now I can see very clearly the basic philosophy that drives this country (or used to drive this country).

It is everyone’s right to work hard and get rewarded for it. It is everyone’s right to earn fabulous sums of money and enjoy their wealth. However, there will always be a group of people who do not want to work hard but still wish to get rewarded. In this case, it is everyone’s right to take up arms and protect themselves and if possible dispatch such people to the death row.

It is this philosophy that allowed son of a truck driver to earn the riches (read Starbucks).

It is this philosophy that enabled this country to shoot up to the nadir of wealth and power.

However, this philosophy works if and only if everyone has a chance to make it big.

This has not been the case for a long time but very few people could see this clearly.

The reality hit home after the bank bailout.

Suddenly people understood that there is now an elite class firmly entrenched in this country and however hard they might work, it is becoming difficult for other’s to join the ranks.

This is why Obama got elected; this is why he could muster support even in traditional republican alias.

This is why this country is seeing incessant demand for socialistic welfare policies.

I suppose socialistic welfare policies are an eventual certainty for any civilization that has risen to the riches.

Has this country arrived at the crossroad?

I don’t know which road we are taking.

All this discussion is not an empty theoretical debate.  What I am trying to guess is that which stocks to go long on and here is where it gets confusing for me.

I think if we see hints of de-globalization then go for small and medium companies.

If we do not see such hints then go for large corporations.

What do you think? Any comments?

I am quite surprised that no one really talks about stagflation danger faced by USA.