Im not much into politics and never will be, but I've seen an slow decline over the last 20 years. Im worried that at our current pace, America will only be a former shell of its current self. Do you guys think that the U.S. will still be a 1st rate country in 50 years? Or will it possibly sink to a 2nd world country status? On another note: I hope the Amnesty Bill doesn't pass. For whatever reasons that I can't think of. I see this as a economic disaster (maybe not disaster, but something to that affect).
I don't think that it's necessarily that the U.S. is 'declining', but clearly the 'gap' is narrowing and some countries are catching up, but I don't think we will be a 'second rate' country 50 years from now, just one of multiple 'first world' countries in the world; IMO, that's nothing to fear or resent, it should help make the world a better place.
The U.S.' position vis-a-vis the rest of the world HAS been in slow decline over the past three decades or so, but suffering a complete, sudden collapse is very much unlikely to happen, it would take nothing short of a great internal strife to inflict that kind of damage on the country, no outside threat can do it, it would have to be an internal actor.
Certainly the US is declining, but that is only natural given our population and resource base vs the world at large. We are seeing the limits of trying to grab more than our fair share through a bloated military and imperialistic bases throughout the world. This is leading to huge deficits as the wealthy insist on more tax breaks and refuse even to fund the imperialistic adventures with current revenues. In the medium to long run I see a decline for America like the decline of the British Empire. America will be in better shape than Britain as it has more resources and a bigger population and will likely remain a top 5 or top 10 country unless it remains overly wed to conservative/ libertarian ideology of irrational hatred of government which will keep it from solving a lot of it growing problems.
If only the US had had the foresight to follow the highly successful model of a communist superpower set forth by the Soviet Union. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
This is the usual which is that there are only two alternatives, Soviet Style Russian communism or a libertarian/ conservative model of government hatred. Thus 50 million or is it 45 million? Americans must choose. Go without health insurance, which really is a big deal if you are not in your twneties like it seems most of the bbs is, or live under soviet style communism. Thus we can't have CAFE standards that would require higher mpg or it would be soviet Russia. We can't have lower state college tuition with higher taxes on millionaires as it would be soviet Russia. What do you want? health care, affordable college and a cleaner environment or Soviet Russia? Those are your choices, America.
I want an advanced, progressive, 21st. Century America, that lives by it's professed ideals, supports it's friends, raises hell with those enemies it can't reach an equitable agreement with, provides for those less fortunate in our society, and does as much as it reasonably can for those less fortunate in the rest of the world, promotes free trade based on equity between nations, has redistricting drawn by non-partisan commissions, with no ties to any elected party in power, or any other political party that has an agenda, works to eliminate poverty, and is successful at it, which we are quite capable of doing, insures that all Americans have health insurance, as equal an education as we can manage, equal rights for all, regardless of sex, race, religion, sexual preference, or any other archaic prejudices left over from the Middle Ages... Equity, and booting out of office the fools running our current government. Not much, really. Keep D&D Civil.
has a strong economy, lowest unemployment, pays off debt, eliminates illegal drugs, and child abuse. 'How Far is Heaven?'
Heaven is in your mind. We were paying off debt before Bush was elected. We can have close to full employment, but we'll never have everyone working, nor do we need to. We can eliminate illegal drugs by making them legal, and spending the billions going every year towards arresting and incarcerating those who sell and use them, for education and treatment, instead. With the money we could get from eliminating a major chunk of law enforcement expenses, as well as taxing their sale, we could go a long way towards balancing our budget, and insuring a good education for our citizens, as well as health care for those who need it. As you know, humanity isn't perfect, not on this earth. There will always be evil. With more money spent on education and health care, we can reduce those instances of evil we are faced with every day. We need to fine-tune our society. We can do it. It requires the participation of the overwhelming majority of Americans, and the will to do so. It's past time to allow a minority to elect our government and attempt to shape our society. Keep D&D Civil.
The true measurement of national power is the medal count at the Summer Olympics. I'm talking the gold=5, silver=3, bronze=1 system. As long as we can churn out the world-class athletes, we'll be fine.
America's problems are more abstract than real. We don't have corrupt streets, starving families, and overflowing cities to the extent that other rising powers have. Crushing debt, impending ecological crisis, and ideological conflicts are all problems the world has to share and not the US alone. The perception of decline in all three issues and its association with American decline is more telling of the US's failure in its position as a world leader to correct those issues.
