America will decline and fall

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U2_Guy

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One has heard comparisons that the USA is the greatest superpower ever - greater than Ancient Rome.
Indeed, with the Bush re-election it is following the same trend of decline.
5% of the world's population with a grotesque overconsumption of 40% of the world's resources. 55% of oil imported and virtually no seeds of an alternative energy plan. Trade deficits year-in, year-out, even with a weak dollar, with China, Japan, Mexico, Canada, the European Union and countless other countries. A monumental fiscal defict financed by foreigners to the tune of over a billion dollars a day. When this largesse ceases the USA economy will decline sharply.

Eisenhower's warning of the military industrial complex has come to pass. Iraq is only the latest in a line of colonial wars or adventures - Bay of Pigs, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, & Vietnam.

It is more than likely in less than twenty years time we will live in a multipolar world composed of China, Japan, India, the European Union and South Asia. The USA may or may not be the PRIMUS INTER PARES.
 
:wave:

Bush.jpg
 
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Rumors of the end of the "American Empire" have been greatley exaggerated for decades now, RR was right when he said the best was yet to come.
 
I actually agree with this. We have become so ego maniacal we're actually going to start regressing because we think we are so great. Mark my words -- this is the beginning of the end. Every empire/superpower falls. Rome, British, there is no Soviet Union anymore. At some point, the US has to go the same way.
 
sharky said:
I actually agree with this. We have become so ego maniacal we're actually going to start regressing because we think we are so great. Mark my words -- this is the beginning of the end. Every empire/superpower falls. Rome, British, there is no Soviet Union anymore. At some point, the US has to go the same way.

at some point, yes. how soon is TBD. i think it really rides on how long the ecosystem can hold out before our natural resources start shitting the bed. then we're all in for a world of hurt.
 
I agree, too. History does repeat itself.

I remember 10 years ago a friend from Italy was visiting me in NYC; he hadn't been there in many years. He said to me, "I can see that America is declining. It used to be the place I would visit and see new things. Now I realize we have many more new things in Italy than in USA." Of course it's a lot more complicated than that, and he didn't speak English well enough for us to go deeper into it, but his words have come back to haunt me a few times these last couple of years.
 
one thing america has going for it is both it's greatest strength and weakness: no sense of history.

we don't learn from our mistakes, nor are we held back by historical hatreds (just look at how much Japan and the US love each other ... compare this with ancient hatreds in Europe and elsewhere). we have endless capacity for renewal, and there's a dyanmism to this culture that can be crass, can be beautiful, but is filled with endless capacity for renewal and reinvention (much like U2). what the US does a good job of is letting people become who they want to be, and providing opportunity for many of it's citizens. not a perfect job, not even necessarily a good job, but a good enough job that your average citizen feels empowered and in control of his or her own life.

yes, things are pretty shite right now. but a year is an eternity for a people with no sense of history. fall of an empire? maybe tomorrow. but by next tuesday, we'll be back up and running.
 
Eventually the American "Empire" will fall from it's "superpower" position and I believe that the rapid moral decline will only hasten this occurrence. This lack of a set of moral absolutes will be the ultimate backbreaker one day for our country. 20, 50, 100 years?? Who knows, but it will eventually come.
 
Im a Kerry supported, thought i like Bush as well. And i'll guarantee the fall wont come with this president. Especially with his aggressive schemes.
 
If America ever "declines" it will only be because extremist elitist judges make decisions that either contradict or change our constitution. As long as we hold to the constitution, America will never fall. NEVER.
 
One thing we (ROW) need to remember is that the similarities between Americans who vote for the Republicans and those who vote for the Democrats are far greater than their differences. Discounting the vocal minority and election-time rhetoric in both parties most Americans are concerned about the same things... The re-election of Bush demonstrates that basing an entire campaign on division and fear can yield positive results.
 
:laugh: the idea of this thread is really extreme and almost humorous. I dont think Americans would let America fall. Bottom line....
 
During the next 04 years, with lots of money spent in a useless way, the Chinese will continue to work and make money. There will be more and more anti-US and anti-westerner terrorists; there will be more and more terrorist attacks. Osama Bin Laden must be very happy. He is winning his war - whose purpose is to destroy western civilization by making Americans believe that they are at war and by subtly opposing Europeans with Americans. Islamic fundamentalism cannot win: it has nothing to propose. But it can destroy our western civilization. Very smart from Bin Laden. He's winning very easily. Thanks to an idiotic man who has succeeded in scaring the people of his country by exaggerating the threat of terrorism and making them believe they were at war. Today’s US elections are a great victory for democracy. And the beginning of the end of our civilization.
 
U2democrat said:
My parents were hearing a story on NPR about how the EU is becoming united and will be the next superpower along with the US. Someone needs to slap us in the face.

I have a strong feeling that Bush won't finnish the 04 years...
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:


nah... if the world didn't end when the red sox won the world series, it ain't gonna end now.

did you have to remind me? :sad:


and the world won't end because the right guy won. if you think the us will collapse and fall because bush was re elected, you're wrong. flat out wrong.
 
U2democrat said:
My parents were hearing a story on NPR about how the EU is becoming united and will be the next superpower along with the US. Someone needs to slap us in the face.

Do you think the EU as a superpower (if that can be accomplished) to be a good thing or a bad thing?
 
Of course every kingdom rises and every kingdom falls. Just not tomorrow.
 
One thing that the last few years has brought out is a recognition of anti-american sentiment and competition that went largely ignored for years. Many people seem to think this is something new and W is the great Satan.
 
is everyone in the rest of the world going to honestly tell me that things would have gotten much better if kerry were elected president? if you think so, your level of ignorance on the american political system is showing. both candidates are just opposite sides of the corporation controlled coin...either way, things are going to continue in the same direction, like it or not
 
nbcrusader said:


Do you think the EU as a superpower (if that can be accomplished) to be a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, as Chalmers Johnson says in The Sorrows of Empire, if China should decide one day that the euro is more valuable than the dollar and that therefore China's assets should be invested in the euro, then our stock market would crash and it would be a blow so devastating that we might not recover for a very long time--maybe never fully.
 
joyfulgirl said:


Well, as Chalmers Johnson says in The Sorrows of Empire, if China should decide one day that the euro is more valuable than the dollar and that therefore China's assets should be invested in the euro, then our stock market would crash and it would be a blow so devastating that we might not recover for a very long time--maybe never fully.

If the American economy crashes in such a manner, many other countries' economies will crash as well.
 
Zoocoustic said:
If America ever "declines" it will only be because extremist elitist judges make decisions that either contradict or change our constitution. As long as we hold to the constitution, America will never fall. NEVER.

the idea of this thread is really extreme and almost humorous. I dont think Americans would let America fall. Bottom line....

Exactly how the Romans were saying near the beginning of the 2nd Century AD. :wink:
 
DaveC said:


Exactly how the Romans were saying near the beginning of the 2nd Century AD. :wink:

If the American economy goes into the tank, I think you know which country will immediately follow.
 
speedracer said:


If the American economy goes into the tank, I think you know which country will immediately follow.

I'm well aware of that.

In fact, the world economy would collapse.

It would be a Second Dark Ages.
 
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