When did the American Empire reach its zenith? For me it was 1945. It was the victor of WWII but unlike Europe, Asia and Russia its cities had been untouched by invader or blitz. It was the economic and industrial leader of the world, a colossal straddling the globe. When did the decline become too obvious to miss? To me it was 2011. When the Chinese told the US to get its house in order and had to me noted since they owned so much of the US’s debts. And it was there also in the spectacle of the debt ceiling crisis, which made it all too plain just how dysfunctional the US political system had become, that it was willing not just to shoot itself in the foot but in the head.
1994, when we signed into NAFTA and pretty much ensured all our production and manufacturing jobs would be shipped overseas as well as eliminated trade restrictions which were in place to keep those industries profitable in a global economy where sweatshops and child labor are more a norm than not. It was the nail in the coffin for many as it wiped out a huge chunk of skilled labor positions which had previously provided Families a stable base from which to help their Children attain greater heights via College. OR (I forget the exact year) when the School systems began the practice of dumbing down the tests and such so that our students would get higher grades and at least give the surface appearance that we could get A's just like any other country could,,, that right there, really screamed loudly just how fucked in the head our society is, thinking that an American 8th grader getting an A on a test involving multiplication and division somehow measured up to an 8th grade Japanese student getting an A on a pre-calculus exam,,,
Does that mean we all will have tolearn to speak Chinease when China becomes the most powerful country?
You know, I'm sure theres supposed to be a graph or some other image there depicting a steep decline,,, but all I see is the little red X,,, which ironically still does a pretty good job of describing US economic growth. :2thumbsup:
I would say the post WW2 years were the best as far as the US reaching its zenith. But the decline started in the Reagan years with the rise of the moral majority, the real birth of the teaparty. Religion was infused into politics that turned into a political cancer that divided the country starkly between right and left. This has only gotten worse though the years with special intrest groups and lobbyist purchasing politicians and laws on a grand scale, drowning out the voice of of the average American. Then as Fritz said NAFTA came along and ensured the loss of all manufacturing and the jobs that went with it. Then along came the Bush years , two unfunded wars paid for by borrowing huge amounts of money from China. Deregulation of the banks leading to the whole predatory lending housing/foreclosure mess. Torturing people, various war crimes that made us look no better that the countries we stood against. Well I could go on and on about Bush but I dont feel like typing that much. So now Obama has proved to be pretty spineless and his refusal to stand up to republican bullying and is making the US political process more ridiculous if possible. :banghead:
The 1969 moon landings. When has a major country ever been so far beyond its rivals in its capabilities? Not in the last 200 years, at least. The 2008 financial crisis. When a large country completely loses control of its own financial system, how can it hope to escape the fate of the Soviet Union?
I agree with yellowcab, but I also see the beginning of the end in 1973, when the oil companies learned they could jack up the price of oil,claiming it was running out ,making all of us wait in loooooong lines on days acording to our license plates and beginning the steady rise of gas prices. The industrial complex learned that no matter what they did--in any industry--they could get away with making compliant little children of us and it only has gotten worse. They (industrial complex and their paid minions in congress)continue and really picked up the pace ,thusly steering us toward 3rd world status in 2000. I think we all know what's happened since then. Capitalism throughout the world is proving unwieldy to control or even understand and has begun to collapse into itself. No matter-the rich are getting richer--isn't that what's important?
I think the decline became obvious in 2004 when George Bush was re-elected, despite the horrible quagmire in Iraq, the tens of thousands of innocent civilians killed, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, the squandering of international goodwill after 9-11, the failure to do anything about our energy problems. If Americans are willing to re-elect a failed evil clown along with his evil vice-president, well, you can't expect anything good to come of it.
I think there have been alot of obvious declines but the most obvious was when that DUMB ASS president known as abraham lincon allowed our country to turn into a bullshit corporation in the guise of freeing slaves and helping the people FUCK LINCON
I was an idiot then, and I sincerely apologize for voting for Bush. Truly. Insults welcome and deserved here.
I used to be pretty durned conservative... and I really was mistaken about a great many things. I'm reformed now though
I always mark the decline as beginning on 9/11/2001. America began its decline a long time before that. Mccarthyism in the 50s, the Vietnam War in the 60s, oil crisis in the 70s, Reganomics and the war on drugs in the 80s. The 90s were just our calm before the storm. Not to mention internment camps in the 40s, the Depression in the 30s, prohibition in the 20s, general victorian attitudes prior to that. America has always been deceit masquerading as something great. However, I pinpoint 9/11 because its the event that lifted the veil of greatness. That event acted as a catalyst for all that followed afterwards and revealed the true nature of America. Without 9/11 there would not have been sufficient emotion to warrant engaging in two wars. Without two wars two things wouldn't have happened: Bush probably wouldn't have gotten reelected and America's budget deficit wouldn't be so great. Without Bush's reelection another President might have pulled in the reins on Bush's unregulated capitalistic society. Tax breaks to the rich might never have been continously rolled over. America could perhaps have a budget surplus right now. Who knows? Either way, all giants are destined to fall under their own weight.