The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire

Greece...but without the good weather.

I totally agree: American has declined enormously and the process continues. It's NOT all Obama's fault or doing. There is little he could have done to reverse the decline, and almost nothing he or Romney, pretender to the the throne, can do in the future.

The problem lies with the American people themselves. New Caesars such as BHO are simply a consequence of the state of philosophy in the heartland. Americans have lost sight of what made their nation great and have "let it go." America is imploding as it should.

In the decades to come I expect to see a second civil war in the land as chunks of it attempt to separate. Thus pre-occupied, America's influence abroad will continue to evaporate until it is next to nil.

In the run-up to the Second American Civil War we will see another monetary failure, rampant inflation followed by depression and more autocratic leaders. Perhaps a military coup or an attempt at one on America's march to collapse.

Bill

P.S. Most Americans who might attempt to read the above opinion will not be able to do so, crippled as they are by their "education" systems.

The US is well on its way of becoming unraveled.

The Mexicans want the land.
The Gangs want the cities.
The Communists want the government.
The Degenerates want the culture.
The Diversities want the drugs.
The Muslims want the law.
Monsanto wants the food.
The Unions want the jobs.
And the Banksters want the money.

That doesn't leave much for the regular folks.

If California is Greece what does that make Ontario?

Ontario is running about the same size deficit as CA at $16 billion. But Ontario’s population is 13 million people; however CA is bigger than Canada at 35 million. McGuinty has doubled the debt during his reign from $130 billion to nearly $260. He was screaming at the PCs in the early 2000’s for debt level at 27% of GDP but now he has driven it up to 38% and it will go to 41% before his projections start to reduce it in 2018.

nomeblog .... exactly what I was about to ask.

Hey BillD - BS! The US is not near collapse. It's economy is so large that inertia will keep the US in a dominant position for decades even if nothing is done to improve the situation. There is an economic war going on with China. China is manipulating it's currency to gain economic advantage while the US under the incompetent Obama is letting it happen.

The US with the right leadership can reverse the decline. Will Romney be any different or is the ruling class in the US short selling the country?

BillD- heh, so you try to deflect criticism of your opinion by claiming that those who might 'attempt to read' it (ie understand and critique it) won't be able to because they are ignorant. Neat tactic. But a tactic rather than an argument.

Your speculations are just that: speculations. You've provided no facts or logical argument, just a pulpit apocalyptic scenario.

"The thing about modern liberalism that most liberals don’t see is that it is so unbelievably square and conventional, so hopelessly old-fashioned. It is the most unexamined of unexamined wisdom. It’s not even an ideology. It’s a pose.

And leftism is just a massive form of social sadism that leads to the totalitarian state."

Yes,it IS a "pose",a posture with nothing behind it,a bending in the wind of PC,with no principles,no morality,and herds of sacred cows grazing all over the liberal landscape.

"...Dan Mitchell: “At best, the results are mediocre..."

Now, that's what I call putting a spit shine on a moose turd.

We can't be too smug here in Alberta. Without our God given oil we would be worse than California. We just had a provincial election where the majority of the population voted for the party which promised to care for them and protect them from themselves. Canada, like Greece and the USA has become a society that demands to be taken care of. When, not if, the crash comes most people will not know how to look after themselves. Like Kate said, That's why I'm investing in Kevlar pajamas

Leda88;
Rome was the greatest power of the ancient world and it went down in less than a 100 years.

I think you should review the math of the American debt problem before taking comfort in a reversal happening. Not only the USA but most world governments are forecasting GDP figures which are grossly overstated on the high side. Factor no growth and increased interest rates into the equation and things get pretty scary.

m and dmorris, exactly.

Rome is a good example. Once a society degenerates too much and the people are interested only in free food, circuses and that government will take care of them, it is tough to reverse that. Rome had some good leadership during the last centuries of its existence, but they could not stem the tide.

This month's Street Rodder magazine has an editorial, the first sentence of which is: "The American HotRod is under attack and there's nothing we can do about it."

I just read that this morning, and Simon's article brought it back rather forcefully.

Yes, the traditional American hotrod IS under attack. Has been for a long time, its just that now the attack has accelerated to the point where we frogs can feel the water getting hotter.

The car mag editorial laid out four fronts of government action that threaten the hobby immediately and in the longer term, but the true threat is the global scope of government interference.

Dystopian Optimist @ 5:48am >

Neat, well done!

As for others criticisms of the US collapsing, they aren’t reading leading experts opinions very well. The US is in a financial and economic collapse, and nothing is going to reverse the trend, save for little illusionary financing tricks to kick the can down the road a little longer. Sooner or later it all comes apart.

As others have stated, you can't turn around the endemic cultural and social rot that is within the American system - corporate, government and general society.

It's a done deal, the only way to fix it will come from strong spirited people rebuilding after the collapse, whatever shape that collapse may be. I suspect something akin to Argentina in the 1990’s, but no one really knows. It could be much worse considering population size, racial demographics, and the endemic entitlement culture not as readily seen in Argentinean culture.

I was listening to a commentator last week. I have not verified his information. He claimed if the USA eliminated all government departments and government employees tommorrow they would still be running a deficit as their "entitlement" programs exceed government revenue from all sources. How do you correct that? Any cuts to peoples entitlements brings about riots and overthrows governments. Correction ussually comes through a meltdown.

m, it will be either the barbarians from without or the barbarians from within. Take your pick.

An excerpt from Adrian Dorrington's "The Fall of Rome" in the 5th century.

"Emperors held absolute authority. This worked well with good emperors, but incompetent ones could do great harm. The rules for succession to the throne were never clear, and debilitating civil wars often resulted. The bureaucracy that managed the empire on a daily basis grew more corrupt, increasing the dissatisfaction of the common citizen. The wealth of the empire gradually concentrated in the hands of a minority while a large slave population did most of the work. The borders of the empire were immense and put a strain on military resources (500,000 soldiers defended a frontier that required 3 million or more to be secured). Roman conquests had ceased in the second century A.D., bringing an end to massive inflows of plunder and slaves. Taxes increased and production fell as the work force declined. A plague may have killed 20 percent of the empire's population in the third and fourth centuries, further reducing trade and production."

There was no one reason, just as there will be no one reason today.

Ken (Kulak) >

Well said.

The biggest difference regarding impact of a collapse today is the complete disconnect from pre-industrial society and agriculture that the Ancient Romans had.

During the Great Depression of the 30’s, estimates of over 7 million people died from starvation in America, when nearly 90% of the population was considered rural and could still work with their hands.

Not so today, when something like 16% of the nation is considered rural and nearly half the nation subsists on some form of government financing, or have “jobs” in uselessness.

Again not so much in Ancient Rome or Pre-Liberal America.

Wow. Lot's of guns and gold types posting I see.

Let's not get too carried away.

All it would take for a fix is some higher inflation, slightly restrained spending/cuts, and a few years of decent GDP growth.

Never count the U.S.A out of the game.

jeff >

"All it would take....."

All it would take.