Over the last century, the U.S. defined the emerging requirements of The Global Marketplace:

• Free Cultural Relating,
• Free Enterprise Economics,
• Free Participative Governance.

These are the requirements for entry into the 21st century marketplace. They also define the American Mission. Historically, this is how the U.S.A. was rated by subject-matter experts in 2000.

Cultural Relating

Simply stated, a nation must relate culturally—within, between and among cultures—in order to join The Global Marketplace. American leaders have always set their goals high on Cultural Relating (See Figure 1). Even transitionally when they retreated to independency or competitiveness, they never surrendered the ideas of collaborative relating. While their definitions of interdependency may have been limited, they were nevertheless striving toward it.

In 2000, the U.S. was rated at level 4.0 on Cultural Relating, reflecting its commitment to collaboration without real motivation for interdependency (perhaps as a function of the conflict of individualism with consensus), except within rare homogeneous cultural groupings.

Figure 1. Levels of The Freedom Functions (2000)

Economic Enterprise

The U.S.A. has been dedicated to Free Enterprise at the highest levels. Succinctly, the U.S. Constitution, protecting private property and, in an amended form, civil and economic liberties, provides a strong foundation for the nation’s free and dynamic economy. In addition, the U.S. has taken the leadership in promoting free trade, not only with neighbors in the Western Hemisphere but with nations around the world. While not yet having realized its mission of Universal Free Enterprise, the U.S. has been the world leader, par excellence.

In 2000, the U.S. was rated at level 5.0 on Free Enterprise, reflecting its aspirations for reciprocal trade at the highest levels (See again Figure 1). Whatever the obstacles, and however they were resolved through Collaborative Processing, there would be no vision of The Global Marketplace without America’s highly initiative leadership; there would be no standards for Prosperity and, thus, for the evolution of the American and World Civilization!

Participative Governance

The U.S. has also been dedicated to Participative Governance at high levels. While its citizens are guaranteed pre-potent policymaking functions by the U.S. Constitution, its representative democracy often migrates into a “role reversal” where citizens serve politicians and bureaucrats. Nowhere has American promotion of democracy been more problematic than in attempts to impose it upon foreign cultures. Participating begins with relating to other’s frames of reference before empowering them to achieve their own unique purposes. That is the true nature of democracy. There is no freedom without empowerment! There is no empowerment without relating!

In 2000, the U.S. was rated at level 3.5 on Participative Governance (See again Figure 1), reflecting the inconsistent nature of its attempts at making representative governance work; stumbling that led precipitously to representative self-aggrandizement; stumbling that yields disastrously to authoritarianism by default.

To sum, in 2000, the U.S. received relatively high ratings on The Freedom Functions:

• Collaborative Relating,
• Free Enterprise Economics,
• Mixed Representative and Authoritarian Governance.

The good news was that, however “ugly” externally, the U.S. continued to relate collaboratively internally and with friends and neighbors. Moreover, the U.S. was convergent externally and internally with its path-finding Free Enterprise Mission. The bad news was protecting a democratic image in an authoritarian manner externally while meaningful participative governance was dissembling internally.

Once again, over the last century, the U.S. defined the emerging requirements of The Global Marketplace:

• Free Cultural Relating,
• Free Enterprise Economics,
• Free Participative Governance.

These are the requirements for entry into the 21st century marketplace. They also define the American Mission. Currently, the same subject-matter experts gave very different ratings in 2007.

Cultural Relating

In 2007, the U.S. is rated at level 2.0 on Cultural Relating, reflecting her growing suspicion and hostility following the 9/11 terrorism attacks and her inability to translate “spy in the sky” intelligence data into meaningful “feet on the ground” information upon which she could base strong and operational security systems. In the absence of operational thinking systems, America writhed in agony and engaged in random and non-responsive and inappropriate initiatives emphasizing cultural competitiveness and the resultant cultural dependency reactions.

Figure 2. Levels of The Freedom Functions (2007)

Economic Enterprise

In 2007, the U.S. is rated at level 2.0 on Free Enterprise (see again Figure 2), reflecting its shift in government sponsorship from a vision of an entrepreneurial-driven free enterprise system to Government-Reinforced Multi-National Corporations which by their very nature conduct “Command-and-Control Economics.” In spite of their origins and support from American Freedom Functions, the Totalitarian Multi-Nationals relate competitively and attempt to reduce their markets to dependency upon “Command-and-Control Strategies.”

Participative Governance

In 2007, the U.S. is rated at level 2.0 on Participative Governance (see again Figure 2), reflecting the increasing totalitarianism of the party in power and the reactive authoritarianism of the opposition: rather than being consulted as the constitutionally-mandated policy-makers, We the People, the citizens, feel imposed upon by the authoritarian inquisition: Either _______ or _______!

“Either you are a patriot or you’re disloyal!”

Summary and Transition

In summary, it is clear that America had indeed taken a “U-Turn on The Freedom Road.” America receives low ratings on Cultural Relating, Free Enterprise, and Participative Governance. The newly-minted Government-Reinforced Industrial-Military Complex or “GRIM Complex” has placed America’s citizenry as well as American destiny at risk.

• Competitive Cultural Relating places Peace at risk—internally within the nation and externally in the Global Village!
• Command-and-Control Economics places Prosperity at risk—internally within the nation and externally in the Global Marketplace!
• Authoritarian and Totalitarian Governance places Participation at risk—internally within the nation and externally in the Global Courts of Law and Justice!

In transition, Peace, Prosperity, Participation are the historically-evolved American visions of American destiny.

Financial capital accounts for 15% of Economic Productivity Growth or E.P.G. In this regard, it is interesting to note that our economists have never sought out the other capital ingredients. We did and here is what we found.

The other 85% of E.P.G. is accounted for by human and organizational processing ingredients. Defining capital as “most important,” we have defined these ingredients as “The New Capital Development Components” of Free Enterprise.

In other words, the means to accomplishing The Freedom Functions are The New Capital Development or NCD Components:

• MCD—Marketplace Capital Development or Marketplace Positioning;
• OCD—Organizational Capital Development or Organizational Alignment with MCD Positioning;
• HCD—Human Capital Development or Empowered Human Processing to implement OCD Alignment;
• ICD—Information Capital Development or Information Modeling to implement HCD Processing;
• mCD—Mechanical Capital Development or Mechanical Tooling to implement ICD Modeling.

Together, these Components define the New Capital Development required to achieve and elevate The Freedom Functions.

We may view the levels of NCD Components in Figure 3. As may be noted, the U.S. rates at or near the highest levels of all of these NCD Systems:

• MCD Positioning driven by Generative Marketplace Positioning (Level 5);
• OCD Alignment driven by Marketing Systems (Level 4);
• HCD Processing driven by Inputting Systems (Level 4);
• ICD Modeling driven by Vectorial Systems (Level 4);
• mCD Tooling driven by Operational Systems (Level 5).

Figure 3. Levels of NCD Components (2000)

Together, these NCD Components provided the U.S. with the New Capital it requires to achieve and elevate The Freedom Functions. The robustness of NCD Components was an accelerating variable for generative leadership in the 21st century.

In 2007, a mere five years later, America had dropped from its powerful generative leadership positioning in the marketplace. We may view the levels of NCD Components in Figure 4. As may be noted, the U.S. has dropped on all of these NCD Systems:

• MCD Positioning driven by Commercialized Marketplace Positioning (Level 3.0);
• OCD Alignment driven by Technology Systems (Level 2.0);
• HCD Processing driven by Planning systems (Level 2.0);
• ICD Modeling driven by Operational Systems (Level 2.0);
• mCD Tooling driven by Conditions rather than Standards (Level 4.0).

Figure 4. Levels of NCD Components (2007)

How did American business drop so precipitously on all of these NCD indices? Probabilities indicate that the causes are “over-determined.” Possibilities project that the causes are “under-generated.”

Pre-potent among causes, the governmental sponsorship of Multinational Corporations as our market leaders has undermined Entrepreneurial-Driven Free Enterprise. American corporations have accepted more passive-dependent, “Chain-of-Command” roles in the evolving Command-and-Control Economy. With the dominance of the Multinational Corporations has come an undermining of the risk-taking initiative of the American entrepreneurs. They now experience themselves as “stalked targets” rather than “poised hunters.” With their decline, a general malaise has spread to the performance and spirit of Americans.

In summary, American-born corporations have come to see themselves as sub-contractors of the Multinational Corporations. Committed only to their stockholders, they have taken what the defense gives them.

Indeed, along with the Multinationals, they are “selling out” to the highest totalitarian bidders—without any commitments to the freedoms that bore them.

Here is what we know so far:

• America’s leadership has generated the greatest world growth in prosperity in the history of the world.
• The Freedom Functions have accounted for American leadership in generating prosperity.
• America has retrogressed in her level of Freedom Functions in the first part of the 21st century.

The critical question is this: how can America regain its pre-potent leadership role in generating world socioeconomic growth?

The Freedom Models

American leaders must retrace their own paths in generating prosperity:

• The Freedom Functions were part of the evolution of American civilization focusing on its dominance in Free Enterprise.
• The New Capital Components were part of the empowering evolution of The Freedom Functions.

In other words, New Capital Development or NCD made The Freedom Functions possible.

In Figure 5, we may view the operations of the NCD components and Freedom Functions in The Freedom Matrix. As may be noted, the NCD components directly empower The Freedom Functions. This means that the higher the levels of functioning on NCD, the higher will be our functioning on The Freedom Functions.

Figure 5. The Freedom Matrix

In Figure 6, we may view The Freedom Model which adds the third dimension of the enabling Human Processing Systems. In other words, the processes enable the NCD Components to empower The Freedom Functions. Once again, the higher the Human Processes, the higher will be the empowering NCD Components.

Figure 6. The Freedom Model

In summary, the Recovery Architecture emphasizes the elevation of all dimensions of The Freedom Model:

• Human Processing
• NCD Components
• Freedom Functions

America must rededicate herself to the dimensions that made her great. The dimensions are operational and replicable. We did it before and we can do it again! And again!