is america reaching a climax in its power?

[renegade000]

i'm sensing the state of the nation and our position in the world can only get worse. we have a corrupt/manipulative administration that is supported by a good section of the populace that has suceeded in polarizing the nation. we are streched thin militarily, facing worsening guerilla war after failing to provide infrastructure to the countries we invaded. the anti-american sentiment in the world is at an all-time high. north korea is flexing its muscles and is becoming increasingly hostile in rhetoric and action.

NATO has lost cohesion to an extent, while the UN lost legitimacy. the UK faces a growing mistrust of their own administration, china grows stronger, the fundmental underpinnings of our nation are being attacked by legislation such as the Patriot Acts and programs such as TIA. we are participating in the operation of secretive prison camps (ie guantameno), which are turning into death camps for those unlucky enough to be labelled as terrorists.

the meaning of freedom and democracy has been steamrolled by unquestioning patriotism. i'm stopping i'm getting depressed...:-(

[DrPepper]

1. Yes

Can't have an imperial military that is heavily reliant on oil when the majority of your imports come from a hostile part of the world. Iraqi occupation or not, if the world wanted us gone from that region, they could make it impossible for us to stay.

[Old and In the Way]

2. Apparently, the rest of the world is not particularly enthralled

with the neo-con wet dream of Pax Americana. Can't say that I blame them. I, for one, have no interest in world domination.

I think this PA "vision" is pretty well derailed though. I mean, Bush and his administration in 2 short years have managed to almost bankrupt this country and proven that we can't handle 2 3rd world countries that spend 1/1000 on Defense that we do. They have drained every ounce of goodwill we've accummulated in the past 225 years, too.

So I guess they will have to set their sites on something they can manage....maybe a Mr. Big Burger in Bumfart, Maine, for instance.

[MisterP]

3. read Palast's book

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy; it's a guidebook of sorts.

[Clete]

4. My husband and I think we are being

taken down a primrose path by some very stupid but corrupt people. It doesn't bode well. I hope somewhere some good leadership will reverse the direction these corrupt and stupid people are shoving our country into.

[w4rma]

5. That depends on future leadership

and how hard we fight to get good leadership. And our collective wisdom.

[Cascadian]

6. The pinnacle was reached in the late 40's to the early 60's.

Things really started going down the tubes after 1963 with the assassination of JFK and the escalation of the Vietnam War. Things have steadily been declining since then. Bush and his crowd have just accelerated the process.

John

[Star]

7. I was thinking the same thing

The pinnacle is long gone. The corruption that's in power now has only hastened our downfall. We can still gain back some of that, I think, but it will take an incredibly strong leader because there's been so much division between the people of this country.

[Cascadian]

9. We need somebody who is not going to cater to the mulitnationals

The biggest problem these days is that the government has given away power, too much power, to the corporates and multinationals. That has been the problem. There needs to be somebody who can work for the people and put the corporates in their place. Sadly, too much power has been given away that it might be too late. It is dangerous and it is a fact of life. Even many of these politcans are now corporate lackeys and that goes for certain Democrats, yes Democrats too.

John

[CHIMO]

10. Agree

But to get voters out to vote for their benifit there has to be a way to get them to the voting booth.
Also people have to understand that the people elected are there to work for them, not for a trickle down theory for example.
How do you make people aware when they are not interested or given up? I think that it requires a commitment from people. Just imagine if everyone convinced another person to vote. No body could then say that we didn't get what we wanted.
Things can turn and it can happen with each individual person taking on a commitment to make democracy work.

Look what Ghandi did or Mother Teressa did starting from the bottom. Each person can make a difference.

Starting to ramble on so will break off for now.

[CHIMO]

8. Maybe

But I would take issue with your statement that the UN "has lost legitimacy". That is the Bush line.
Why is he trying to obtain help in policing Iraq from the UN?
Your attitude exemplifies US against everyone else. There are more people on the globe than the US!

If the spending on adventures is kept up then I think that your fear will be realized. However, the US has a way of realizing errors and correcting for it.

So in short I am not pessimistic but optimistic.
One reason why I keep comming back to this site.

Don't give up.

[RichM]

11. Probably. This is what "Wealth & Democracy" is about, comparing

characteristics of the US historical trajectory to the last 3 world leaders of commerce - Britain from 1780 to 1920 (roughly), Holland from 1620 to 1740-ish, & Spain from 1520-1620-ish.

All hit their apex with a wave of "financialization," manic speculation, rising domestic inequality, debt, & enmeshment in costly draining imperial wars.

[corarose]

12. We lost our power when we stopped having a legal election

:kick:

[KT2000]

13. Yes - but for reasons not yet apparent

In their hubris, this administration has created what you wrote about but there are surprises in store as well. By that I mean the results of our corrupt healthcare policy.
Simply, healthcare is available to the insured. Running parallel to the covered are the growing number of people with chronic illnesses and communicable diseases - many without the health insurance and health care they need. In fact,, many chronic illnesses take so long to be diagnosed that the person has lost their job and coverage by then.
Giving up on the environment as this adminsitration has, only guarantees more will slip into this group.
For those in your 40's and 50's - look around at your friends and count how many have had cancer, how many have an autoimmune disease, how many have children with disabilities.

England suffered such a plight when Rhodes was in Africa and asked Queen Victoria for troops to take land there. The Queen had to decline because the overall health of the country was so bad that only one out of four men of service age were healthy enough to serve!