Is America in its death throes?

Question

Will its egocentric, fat and lazy ways cause its demise? Or are we merely struggling through a transitionto redefine ourselves and will once again be the beacon of freedom in the world? Will we once again represent hope for the oppressed instead of being the aggressors? Where is America headed?

Will we be the land of the free once again or will we decay into a two tier society of the rich and the poor. Is the middle class dying and America with it?

Wow, with one question both conservatives and liberals can be insulted. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, often they are on the same side of an issue though the bicker for theatrics. Take unfettered immigration for example, the both favor it for different reasons.

It is a genuine question. I don't ask it to offend anyone. One looks at history and cultures, countries and societies rise and fall. Are we merely experiencing growing pains or decaying?

Answer 1

Yes America is showing all the tell tale signs of degrading from a superpower to a third rate country. There is no sense in denying the political reality of this. Many on this forum consider the affirmation of our impending demise as unpatriotic. In reality, the refusal to concede to this stark reality isn’t patriotic; it is the hallmark of delusional thinking.

From a historical standpoint, America is conforming to the paradigm of a declining empire. All imperial powers, throughout history, whether it is Rome, ancient China, Egypt, etc, all went through certain milestones that heralded their fall from greatness. Some of these events where:

1. The loss of national identity due to the allowance of immigrant groups not assimilating to the nation’s language and culture. When immigrant groups do not conform to the mores and ethos of the land which hosts them, and are instead allowed, and even encouraged, to maintain their identity at the expense of unity, it will only breed discontent and divisiveness.

2. The exporting of highly skilled labor to outside sources, which, in the long run empowers foreign nations, but also erodes the domestic economy.

3. Complacency with respect to global matters leads to weakening of our military forces, and in times of surprised conflict (i.e. Iraq and Afghanistan) an overextension of our military resources.

4. An anti-intellectual sentiment pervades the land, and the pursuit of education for education sake is deemed a frivolous endeavor, and in fact elitist.

5. A resurgence in religious fundamentalism occurs in the nation, and as a result religious zealotry greatly influences our political climate.

All the empires of old, mentioned above, suffered so some extent from the five aforementioned maladies, which I have just enumerated above. Granted there maybe more historical indicators that predict the fall of a great nation, but these are the ones that I could come up with in such a short time. Anyone, with even a rudimentary understanding of current events can see how the United States is enduring and suffering from what I have mentioned above.

Now does that mean that our decline is a foregone conclusion? Not necessarily, but our downfall is highly probable, and it will take dramatic events to turn our nation around. As the old saying goes “All good things must come to an end.”

Answer 2

You may have identified the symptom and the cause – the death of the (affluent) middle class. We are not in the death-throes, but Bush has turned the curve downward and dropped America so far economically and politically, that history may record the worst conservative nightmare – that Bill Clinton was the last American President to lead the country to unprecedented levels of international respect and admiration and pass along to his successor (Bush) an America that was the most dominant power and force (for good) in the history of mankind.

There will always be a working class that gets by reasonably and a small artisan, entrepreneur, and skilled technical group that does somewhat better economically, but the economic divide is widening and returning where it has more frequently been throughout history.

The post World War II period was unique in that it that ‘working’ people were able to improve their situation to the extent that their children were able (in significant numbers) to attend Universities and become part of the business, scientific, and professional leadership. Throughout most of history, if you wanted one of the elite roles in society you had to either be born into money or marry into it. We are returning to that model.

How many Americans can continue to pay $100,000 or more to send their children to college? We are rapidly approaching the point where that will no longer be an option. The result will be a working class forced to exist on suppressed wages while increasingly obscene profits go to a smaller and smaller number of people. If civil strife is ever to occur again in America, it will be the result of the nations economic structure, not anything so mundane as race or religion.

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snurbles@kourou --

A science-political forum on ESPN(2)?


Maybe we are in the death throes, after all.

Answer 3

America will indeed be the land of the free once again. There was a scientist-politician (all parties together) forum on ESPN(2) or more probably Public Service Television (thanks-Gary F!!)in 1999 saying that fundamental scientific discovery was the way that America had chosen to secure the US economy. Because scientific discovery working implies economic security then anything undermining the mechanism that America has chosen is liable for removal under the US constitution. Science had been turned over to the people to work to secure the economy. America will get there, don't worry!!

Answer 4

".. once again be the beacon of freedom in the world? "
With a few fly specks on it, perhaps, such as the treatment of native Americans and late-come imperialism.
(How exactly did you end up with Hawaii?)

A symbol may represent something while not being quite the thing itself. Grunting "Freedom" or "Democracy" as slogans without understanding the terms or necessarily practicing them may have its use, but falls short of its own ideal.
("We demand you become a liberal democracy" is an attitude neither liberal nor democratic!)

"Will we once again represent hope for the oppressed"

Well, you don't have the room to take in the "huddled masses" any more.

But yes, the USA has great potential, and has done great things in the past. Question is (in return), can the USA take a cold hard look at itself, particularly seeing some of what the rest of the world sees?

Answer 5

No. Both of America's most important political events include quite a lot of contrasting philosophical factors inside them. But that has constantly been the case, and each events have survived for over one hundred fifty years. Far from being in its demise throes, the Republican Party is more likely to obtain Congressional seats within the subsequent election, and it has a minimum of a 50/50 shot at retaking the White House.

Answer 6

Many oppressed people still depend on America.. you just don't see the good in the news because people seem to feed off of the bad news so that is what the media gives you.

Answer 7

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
You lefty America hating libs are always good for a laugh if nothing else.

Answer 8

America is a continent not a country.