Fall of the American Empire - can it be reversed?

[_TJ_]

You've got a president so asinine he would put Nero to shame.

You've got a pointless war that's costing billions and is
tearing the country asunder.

You've got creeping fascism and religious hysteria under every
stone.

You've got a population so inert, so uninterested in political
matters that they don't give a shit that this is all happening.

Something about all this seems very reminiscent of the decline
and fall of so many previous empires and great societies.

You people have got to do something about this. I can't help but
feel that America has passed its zenith and is heading toward
inexorable decline. You good people have got to turn this thing
around and make America great again!

[Burma Jones]

1. nah, let the Chinese have the next empire

we're tired.......

[Toucano]

2. Empire is unAmerican! n/t

[K-W]

3. Since when is being an empire 'great' exactly?

I have no interest whatsoever in any empire.

[Benhurst]

4. No. Next question. NT

[LaurenG]

5. I agree I think our country and the world have turned a corner

What goes up must come down. We can do it the hard way or we can do it the harder way. I don't think we have to fall apart completely but I think we have to change our thinking NOW.

Too many people don't have a clue about what may be coming. If they did we would see such a revolt the likes of which we have never seen.

Perseverance will get us where we need to be, I only hope it's in time.

[_TJ_]

7. Good call

There are MILLIONS of good Americans out there. I know they want
to make a better world. If only their energy could be channeled
in the right direction the whole shitty situation could change.

If the Demmys win the next presidency would that turn things around
or just slow the decline?

[LaurenG]

9. We could change it if we had a few "good men" (or women)

leading the way. IMO our biggest problem is integrity. Integrity can cover a multitude of bad decisions. Do we have any DEMs with integrity? I would say we do and those are the ones we need to elect.

[leeroysphitz]

14. imho It wouldn't

It wouldn't change jack shit. Most so called democrats are just as beholden
to their corporate paymasters (within the context of the legalized bribery scheme better known as campaign finance) as any republican (with the obvious exception of Delay). And the evidence is staring us in the face.
The majority of dems helped give this corrupt administration cart blanch for war in Iraq. They now turn around and complain "Oh we were lied to! We would NEVER have voted that way if we'd only known!". To which I say BULLSHIT! If I knew and millions of others around the world KNEW that this war was based on lies then those in washington (ALL those in washington) knew. The Iraq war was decided on years ago by the people who write the checks and nothing was going to stop it. I'm disgusted with my sell out party. They were/ are just as complicit as any repug...
It's democracy for hire these days and the American people have been priced right out of the market and the democrats are NOT exempt. (sadly)

[LaurenG]

19. My father always said this

There are no differences in parties when it comes to corrution. I tend to believe that all are not all corrupt. Conyers, Boxer, Pelosi to name a few. The ones above who have taken corporate gifts have admitted it and not forced anyone to investigate.

To say bullshit in the face of those who belived the president is an error, imo.

They may have had their doubts but that administration played the game of Iraq with a straight face and many believed that it was true. It's a generational thing as well. My guess is you are either highly intuitive or born well after WWII.

[leeroysphitz]

21. There are exceptions to every rule...

And I believe, like you, that there are a few honest people on both sides of the aisle (the names you provided being good examples) but you will never convince me that those people that we elected to be knowledgeable and responsible enough to manage our democracy, the people on the "inside" did not see this thing for exactly what it was. It took no special intuition to see the lie for a lie as it evolved through multiple rationals for war until they found the one that worked best. This was obvious to thousands around the world, as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands who protested before the war on just these grounds.

[LaurenG]

22. There are many who did truly believe them

I can't say which of our representatives went along with the war because they were in it for the $$$. I know though that too many people were really afraid and believed we needed to attack Iraq.

The problem was if one didn't listen carefully to all sources one would blindly follow the bs.


I have to say that yes those on the "inside" would have known the truth. How many of ours were on the inside? That is where I can give them some leeway. If and when it comes to the fore, heaven help them, history will not forget what they did to our nation our people and the rest of the world most importantly the Iraqis themselves.

[JRob]

6. It's all true with one alteration and I hope we can too...

I don't believe that they "don't give a shit that this is all happening" I think that they are distracted by misinformation, non-issue issues and the pursuit of "the ideal lifestyle" as portrayed through television, monies, marketing etc.

[mcscajun]

8. I don't want an "American Empire"

I just want the decline of the US to be reversed. That alone seems an insurmountable task.

Empires are always disastrous undertakings in the long run.

[Boomer]

10. There's no going back

We've dismantled the manufacturing industries that were the basis of our economic growth and the political policies that created our middle-clasee.

It's so much easier to destry than to build, and even if we could reverse the political pattern that is taking us down, we will not recover the resources we have squandered.

At this point our biggest flaw is a national debt that makes a hollow mockery of our economic strength. The current administration will take us beyond the point of no return very soon, and some stray event will bring down the hall of cards.

Frankly, no matter how painful that experience may be, I will sigh with relief that our empire is gone. Let someone else shoulder the guilt for imperialism.

[NeoConsSuck]

16. Excellent post..

capitalism might have been conceived in America, but it never had any loyalties to any political border. They'll shop around the world for the cheapest labor, cheapest natural resource.

I no longer invest in the American stock market (DOW, S&P, NASDAQ). There is too much money to be made in emerging markets. While the American stock market has been stagnant since Clinton, I've done quite well overseas.

IBM lays off 10,000 American workers and hires 10,000 workers in India and Eastern Europe. Microsoft more or less does the same.

The empire is over. Time to bring the American standard of living down to the third world so we can 'compete' again.

Isn't capitalism wonderful?

[rurallib]

11. Global warming should put an end to it

and everything else in about 30 years.

[enid602]

12. ?????

Ask Argentinians what happens when your government makes too many mistakes. No, you don't get it back.

[Karenina]

13. Americans have scant

points of reference to really "grok" human suffering. They truly believe the destruction of WTC was the ULTIMATE (even if they had never been to NYC, or even 50 miles from their small town in Buttfuck, Idaho).
"WHY do they HATE US??? CALL THE COPS! There's a BROWN person driving a Mercedes with out-of-state plates! Must be a turrist!!!!"

How can they comprehend the experience of having BOMBS DROPPED ON THEIR HEADS??? Or Ireland, or Palestine, or Germany, or Israel or Dafur or Haiti??? The only point of reference is, "WE are the GOOD GUYS."

Zu viel Macht und zu viel DUMMHEIT. (Those here to expand their horizons excepted ;-) )

End of rant.

[carnie_sf]

15. Many of us Americans

would welcome the end of the American Empire

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Let's hope not. It would be nice to say "We're Number 6!"

Just an ordinary country among other ordinary countries. If we didn't have the expense of throwing our weight around maybe we could actually do something to help our citizens and the rest of the world instead of seeing them as a threat.

[earth mom]

18. The majority of the population of the U.S. isn't educated in politics

and to many people here it's just flat out boring. Things in this country won't change until people are personally affected. Once they are struck by job loss or pay loss, the Draft or Depression III...only then will things change.

I would love to leave and go to either Canada or your lovely isle, Ireland. Do you know any Americans who've made that move and what their take is on it? TIA! :)

[wli]

23. Depression III? What was Depression II?

Doubtless it was obscured by a PR campaign.

[earth mom]

26. Meant to type II, but maybe it really feels like Depression III

to me since our family struggled for years as the working poor until just the last year and who knows how soon that could change with they way things are going in this country...

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

20. Why should we be an empire in the first place? n/t

[wli]

24. no, we're all toast

The rest of the world is going down with us, too.

[Flying Dream Blues]

25. I think that the leadership

that will rally Americans into changing this horror show will come from outside the political system. And I think things will have to get really bad before it happens. Most Americans are still asleep. By the time we have critical mass, I'm afraid we'll be pretty far gone. Unless the bird flu gets us first. :)