Outlook for America

[Figleaf]

Edited July 19, 2007 by Figleaf

[Michael Hardner]

I think the Unites States is heading into big trouble and here's why:

-Military: despite massive $$$, Iraq has demonstrated the viability of assymetrical warfare and the limitations of volunteer forces to sustain persistent large scale occupations. The image of the US as being too mighty to oppose has evaporated.

-Economic: huge state and federal debt, is now increasingly held off-shore (esp. China, Japan, Saudi & the gulf states). Huge trade deficit, funded by government and consumer debt. Meanwhile, the trade deficit is built on a foundation of diminishing competitive advantage ... the US doesn't produce as much of what the world wants as it used to.

-Cultural: social divisions (urban/rural, rich/poor, black/white, conservative/liberal, red/blue) have resulted in a fragmented society increasingly unable to form or sustain basic cultural consensus.

-Government: the US government structure has become ungainly, overgrown, convoluted, and resistant to change. Built-in incentives against the interest of the citizenry are deep-rooted, and graft festers.

-Politics: related to the above, the political discourse and range of vision has become narrowed and polarized to the point of pathology. The right-wing media echo-chamber spouts Orwellian nonsense virtually unchallenged, while the Republican party continues to execute its half-century campaign of destroying American institutions.

-International: further to the troubles with the military and the ecomony, the US position in the world is deteriorating. More populous, hungrier competitors have thrown off the shackles of self-deception and have learned to emulate capitalism even more aggressively. Meanwhile, the Bush regime has shredded US credibility and squandered goodwill.

I don't see much sign of these trends being overcome anytime soon, certainly not unless a really good president is elected next time. America could be in for some tough times ahead.

I don't know if it's bad as you describe here, but you certainly have outlined a lot of the major challenges to America. The best salve would be political unity, to begin with, so that the country can agree on solutions. But as your post itself indicates, there is too much division right now.

[Liam]

...[t]he best salve would be political unity, to begin with, so that the country can agree on solutions. But as your post itself indicates, there is too much division right now.

I would agree if it was the right kind of political unity. Are we talking about a political unity that comes about after an open and fair debate and which embraces real ideas, or more post-9/11 "with me or with the terrorists" absolutist political unity where dissent is discouraged?

[Liam]

I think the Unites States is heading into big trouble and here's why:

1. Military: despite massive $$$, Iraq has demonstrated the viability of assymetrical warfare and the limitations of volunteer forces to sustain persistent large scale occupations. The image of the US as being too mighty to oppose has evaporated.

2. Economic: huge state and federal debt, is now increasingly held off-shore (esp. China, Japan, Saudi & the gulf states). Huge trade deficit, funded by government and consumer debt. Meanwhile, the trade deficit is built on a foundation of diminishing competitive advantage ... the US doesn't produce as much of what the world wants as it used to.

3. Cultural: social divisions (urban/rural, rich/poor, black/white, conservative/liberal, red/blue) have resulted in a fragmented society increasingly unable to form or sustain basic cultural consensus.

4. Government: the US government structure has become ungainly, overgrown, convoluted, and resistant to change. Built-in incentives against the interest of the citizenry are deep-rooted, and graft festers.

5. Politics: related to the above, the political discourse and range of vision has become narrowed and polarized to the point of pathology. The right-wing media echo-chamber spouts Orwellian nonsense virtually unchallenged, while the Republican party continues to execute its half-century campaign of destroying American institutions.

6. International: further to the troubles with the military and the ecomony, the US position in the world is deteriorating. More populous, hungrier competitors have thrown off the shackles of self-deception and have learned to emulate capitalism even more aggressively. Meanwhile, the Bush regime has shredded US credibility and squandered goodwill.

I don't see much sign of these trends being overcome anytime soon, certainly not unless a really good president is elected next time. America could be in for some tough times ahead.

I took the liberty of numbering your points so I didn't have to

each and every one.

1. you won't get much of an argument from me on the military issue

2. deficit management is a HUGE issue for the US, but we've had seemingly insurmountable deficits before and have managed to grow out of them. The Bush deficit will be an enormous task to get on top of and will require belt tightening. The problem as I see it isn't so much the inability to pay off deficits, but the lack of willlingness to do what needs to be done to pay off deficits (i.e., cut expenditures and raise revenue). I completely disagree that the US doesn't make what the world wants as it used to. The US probably is the most nimble of the mega-economies. AS car production scaled down, computer hardware and software ramped up. As those move to India and China, US innovators will be on to the next big thing. Bio-engineering, genetics, whatever.

3. Cultural -- I think the US's mix of cultural/social divisions is what makes it so creative and dynamic. And America *does* have a singular cultural consensus: Americanism. It's the understanding by us down here that country music, rap, jazz, square dancing, elitism, jingoism, etc. all fit into this interesting puzzle. I'd rather live in a country of competing noises than a monolithic, monocultural, monosocial one anyday.

4. Government needs a swift kick in the butt, no doubt.

5. Pendulums swing. I hope we are turning away from the farthest right end of that swing and moving back toward the reasoned middle.

6. Reining in Bush by a Democrat majority in at least one house of Congress will alleviate some of that and the nation will survive him when he's gone in two years. It will take some time to undo his damage, but it will come undone. The rise of China and India are on the horizon, but even if their economic output outpaces that of the US some time in the next 50 to 100 years, I don't think the US standard of living will be destroyed. There are an awful lot of US dollars invested in plant and equipment across China, India and the developing world. And there are an awful lot of US money managers making big profits for their US investors off those rising economies.

I liked reading your post and think you highlight many challenges we face, but I am optimistic about the US's prospects. The one dark cloud you managed to omit is energy. *That's* the greatest threat to the US's future, IMO.

[Michael Hardner]

I would agree if it was the right kind of political unity. Are we talking about a political unity that comes about after an open and fair debate and which embraces real ideas, or more post-9/11 "with me or with the terrorists" absolutist political unity where dissent is discouraged?

I don't know what you're talking about but I haven't seen much unity lately, ie. since 911.

[America1]

I think the Unites States is heading into big trouble and here's why:

-Military: despite massive $$$, Iraq has demonstrated the viability of assymetrical warfare and the limitations of volunteer forces to sustain persistent large scale occupations. The image of the US as being too mighty to oppose has evaporated.

-Economic: huge state and federal debt, is now increasingly held off-shore (esp. China, Japan, Saudi & the gulf states). Huge trade deficit, funded by government and consumer debt. Meanwhile, the trade deficit is built on a foundation of diminishing competitive advantage ... the US doesn't produce as much of what the world wants as it used to.

-Cultural: social divisions (urban/rural, rich/poor, black/white, conservative/liberal, red/blue) have resulted in a fragmented society increasingly unable to form or sustain basic cultural consensus.

-Government: the US government structure has become ungainly, overgrown, convoluted, and resistant to change. Built-in incentives against the interest of the citizenry are deep-rooted, and graft festers.

-Politics: related to the above, the political discourse and range of vision has become narrowed and polarized to the point of pathology. The right-wing media echo-chamber spouts Orwellian nonsense virtually unchallenged, while the Republican party continues to execute its half-century campaign of destroying American institutions.

-International: further to the troubles with the military and the ecomony, the US position in the world is deteriorating. More populous, hungrier competitors have thrown off the shackles of self-deception and have learned to emulate capitalism even more aggressively. Meanwhile, the Bush regime has shredded US credibility and squandered goodwill.

I don't see much sign of these trends being overcome anytime soon, certainly not unless a really good president is elected next time. America could be in for some tough times ahead.

hahahaha - this post is complete joke.

Canada as well as every other nation on earth would kill to be in our current position in every area you mentioned. Your obvious bias to see only the negative and disregrding ALL positives of the US’s current position makes your assesment a load of complete crap.

[bradco]

I think the Unites States is heading into big trouble and here's why:

-Military: despite massive $$$, Iraq has demonstrated the viability of assymetrical warfare and the limitations of volunteer forces to sustain persistent large scale occupations. The image of the US as being too mighty to oppose has evaporated.

-Economic: huge state and federal debt, is now increasingly held off-shore (esp. China, Japan, Saudi & the gulf states). Huge trade deficit, funded by government and consumer debt. Meanwhile, the trade deficit is built on a foundation of diminishing competitive advantage ... the US doesn't produce as much of what the world wants as it used to.

-Cultural: social divisions (urban/rural, rich/poor, black/white, conservative/liberal, red/blue) have resulted in a fragmented society increasingly unable to form or sustain basic cultural consensus.

-Government: the US government structure has become ungainly, overgrown, convoluted, and resistant to change. Built-in incentives against the interest of the citizenry are deep-rooted, and graft festers.

-Politics: related to the above, the political discourse and range of vision has become narrowed and polarized to the point of pathology. The right-wing media echo-chamber spouts Orwellian nonsense virtually unchallenged, while the Republican party continues to execute its half-century campaign of destroying American institutions.

-International: further to the troubles with the military and the ecomony, the US position in the world is deteriorating. More populous, hungrier competitors have thrown off the shackles of self-deception and have learned to emulate capitalism even more aggressively. Meanwhile, the Bush regime has shredded US credibility and squandered goodwill.

I don't see much sign of these trends being overcome anytime soon, certainly not unless a really good president is elected next time. America could be in for some tough times ahead.

hahahaha - this post is complete joke.

Canada as well as every other nation on earth would kill to be in our current position in every area you mentioned. Your obvious bias to see only the negative and disregrding ALL positives of the US’s current position makes your assesment a load of complete crap.

Nobody is saying America isnt the most powerful. The argument is it may be in decline relative to other nations. Most people with the ability to use their brain can see this.

Liam: Energy is a big threat to the US. However I think the amazing potential power of China is still the largest threat. They are growing three times as fast as the US and will have the ability to produce anything the US and the rest of the world can at a fraction of the cost. The ever more increasing industrialization of China, and others, works to compound the energy problem for the US. Im currently reading China Inc. by Ted Fishman (slowly since I have boat loads of reading and writing for school). Id recommend it, it really shows the transformation China has and is making and the ridiculous speed its doing so.

[PolyNewbie]

The USA is purposelfully being destroyed by Globalists. The USA and its constitution are too strong and could resist the movement toward Global government. This will be a fascist dictatorship ruled by central bankers and the intellectual elite. David Rockefeller states that he does have undo interest in the USA and that he is working against the interest of the USA. You can see Rockefeller quotes in Quotes Only. The last election was between the Rockefeller Democrats and the Rockefeller Republicans.

This is easy to see and verifiable several ways

(1) Open borders and implementation of the police state to terrorise citizens. We know that if the war on terror was real that Osama would have sneaked up through the Mexican border and killed everybody by now.

(2) Destruction of industry - selling off heavy machine tools to China and allowing China access to American markets. This destroys the economy and workforce.

(3) Illegal wars fighting "insurgents" who are really just school teachers, bakers, etc that are fighting against our professional armies to prevent a new gov of corporatism from taking over their countries.

(4) Increasing national debt

(5) Highways and natural resources being sold off to foreign investors at discount rates. The same thing is happening in BC with electricity generation.

(6) Destruction of the constitution with HR 6166

(7) Merging with Canada and Mexico to form the new American Union- see www.spp.gov

(8) Fighting wars they cannot win - Iraq. Iraq will soon be divided into three separate states as this was the end game of the orgiginal invasion plan. This will happen soon and be announced in mainstream media as a new plan.

(9) Controls for the media and the financial district have gradually been lifted starting with Regan. This means more central power in the media and in the banks. Less competition. John D Rockefeller is quoted as saying "Competition is a sin".

(10) No bid contracts given to corporations such as Haliburton to make the country go broke quicker.

Thats just what I can think of off the top of my head.

The Council On Foreign Relations has the goal of finding ways to destroy the country so that a central global government can be created. Corrently corporations are merging with government through secret meetings. Soon many people will lose their properties to corporations and they will not get fair pricing.

Sections of the USA have already been signed over to the UN and US citizens are not allowed in large sections throughout the mid west.

[PolyNewbie]

The war on terror is just an excuse for a police state that is being implemented along with a central global government. This will be a fascist dictatorship with its own (UN) army.

The purpose of all this is to prevent people from doing anything about what is going on once enough people figure it out.

The police state has to be implemented before they comfisgate guns (before 2009 according to Janet Reno) and before they take your property away and give you a fraction of its value whenever it serves corporate intests (such as implementing too roads).

The world is being reshaped by people like the Tri Lateral Commission, Builderbergs and Council On Foriegn Relations. The world is being reshaped to better serve the interests and goals of a few elites. This kind iof thing happens whenever a small group gets enough power to try it !.

Wealth is highly concentrated and is mainly owned by central bankers although you don't see that in Forbes. Bill Gates, you, and me are all owned and operated by central bankers.

Bankers are very rich because banking is highly profitable. When you lend someone money as a banker you create money from nothing and lend it at face value. A 25 cent piece of paper can be made worth $100.00 as easily as $10.00. When you have the power to do this then you have power to control society.

No one can talk intelligently about Global politics without understanding the influence and operation of global banking. The problem is that the facts of money creation are a secret being withheld from most people. They sure don't teach it in our UNESCO schools. There is very good (15 minute video) called Money As Debt. Type in "Money As Debt Canadian Action Party" in google to find it. There are also many books, "Why Only In Fantopia" is 68 pages. The Creature From Jekyll Island" is another. Its a simple concept to learn - sometimes too simple. Banking operates is such a simple fundamental way that the complexities of the economy cover up something so simple that John Kenneth Gallbraith said " It is so simple that the mind may be repelled".

[Jerry J. Fortin]

While central banking may appear to be the apple of the eye of the average conspiracy theorist, it has very little impact on the little guy. The little guy is the one that can carry the ball across the line. It is the great unwashed public that has the true power.

The United States is founded upon that principle and it is recognized in the Declaration of Independence, and it is also accurate in its foundations. Democracy is a tool for the people to use to their advantage. In time, the citizens of this earth will become aware that through their common effort all war and poverty can be combated with democracy. We have seen the rise and fall of the city states, and we have seen the rise and fall of empires. We are living in the age of nations and will watch their fall as well.

In time the free citizenry of this planet will unite to deal with human interests to the detriment of corporate welfare but until that day all will suffer.

[PolyNewbie]

Banking is how money (power) is created and it is always used to shape society. Banking has strong influence on the average person and does so when they start school. Central bankers direct society through foundations and think tanks (UNESCO). They also collect a sizeable portion of your income tax to pay for this.

Our economy is designed to collapse. It must eventually happen and is a mathematical fact due to the fact that central bankers print and collect interest on every dollar thats ever existed. A dollar exists because it is borrowed from the banks. It ceases to exist when it is returned.

In addition to the dollar being returned it also earns interest which also must be printed off. If we paid our debts we would collapse the economy because there would be no more money. We would still owe interest if we paid back the bankers on all the money that was borrowed - all money in circulation.

Our monetary system operates on a privately owned debt based fiat currency and this is the most oppressive form of money. Governments could print it off and collect this interest instead of private bankers and the people would then own the banks.

[Figleaf]

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Edited July 19, 2007 by Figleaf

[M.Dancer]

I don't know about the Outlook for America but if it's anything like Outlook for Windows, they're screwed.