Three Cheers for Decline

As the U.S. bond rating falls and the stock market plunges, the American Century looks to be well and truly over. While this has provoked no small amount of hand-wringing, Americans may soon come to enjoy no longer bearing the responsibility for running the world's indispensable nation.

The signs of decline are everywhere. Illegal immigrants are heading back home in search of a better life. China already leads the world in green technology and is about to become the world's biggest economy in terms of purchasing power. Two U.S.-led wars are dragging toward an end charitably described as: mission not completely failed. The United States was able to avoid default only by stopping pretty much all other government business for several weeks. And it's not only U.S. political and economic preeminence that is deteriorating, but its cultural hegemony: India's Bollywood and Nigeria's Nollywood are each producing more films a year than Hollywood (to say nothing of their superior artistic quality).

Of course, the United States still possesses greater military strength than any other country in the world. But what good has being the world's policeman done for Americans? Wielding that might meant the United States saw more combat deaths overseas last year than any other country, according to data from Uppsala University. Beyond the blood is the treasure: U.S. military spending increased 81 percent between 2001 and 2010 and now accounts for 43 percent of the global total -- six times its nearest rival, China. The U.S. military burden is equivalent to 4.8 percent of GDP, the largest economic burden of any OECD country.

It is no coincidence that the man who coined the term "imperial overstretch," Yale University historian Paul Kennedy, is British. Britain was the last country to get knocked off the top spot, after all -- and the United States could learn a lot from its experience.

Britain spent much of the 1950s pretending it was still a global power, which resulted in one of the country's grimmest decades -- food was still rationed until 1954. This exercise in delusion culminated in Britain's attempt to occupy the Suez Canal in 1957, an effort that was scuttled by the world's new ascendant power, the United States.

But it was only a year after the Suez crisis signaled the end of Britain's global reach that British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan declared his compatriots "never had it so good." He was right: Average incomes, health indicators, and levels of education were all far better than in the glory days when Britannia ruled the seas. Then, after Britain gave up on empire -- decolonizing across Africa and Asia in the early 1960s -- they got the Beatles, the Mini, and free love.

Britain may still go on about "punching above its weight" in international affairs, and it has kept some of the trappings of great-power status, such as a seat on the U.N. Security Council and a small flotilla of nuclear submarines, but its burdens are significantly less momentous. Freed from the distractions of colonial oversight and global leadership, it could retire its planet-spanning chain of military bases, shrink the Royal Navy, and devalue the pound without fears that the world would come to an end. And the country learned to collaborate without feeling equal status was a slight to its dignity -- joining the European Union, for example, and signing the Kyoto Protocol.

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ALEXBC

8:18 PM ET

August 9, 2011

US/UK comparison is faulty

I do not understand the media's fascination with comparing the present-day US to the postwar UK. It just does not work on any level.

1. The UK always was a marginal country in terms of its population, size, and resources. Its power emanated from its absolute control of numerous overseas colonies, especially India. Once it lost its colonies, its power resources largely reverted to that of a nation that has a medium-grade population and area. By contrast, the US is a huge nation with a huge population, which, even if it gave up every overseas military outpost (which still, despite their number, are not a real analogue to Britain's colonies) it held, would still hold vast power resources simply by its demographic/economic weight.

2. The UK declined because it suffered a near-fatal invasion by a hostile competitor, Germany, who destroyed its infrastructure and sapped all of its resources. The UK had to defeat Germany, rebuild its domestic front, and give up all of its colonies as part of its rebalancing. The US "decline" is simply a narrowing of the gap between itself and the rest; in fact, one could say that American decline has been nonstop since 1946, since the US share of GDP has declined from 50% to about 25%. The US wasn't invaded, did not face an existential threat, and if anything, its demographic weight is on the rise. A country with 400 million+ people (by 2050) is never going to be a marginal player, sorry.

3. Green technology is a dead-end industry that will dry up as new sources of fuel (e.g., shale) turn countries like the US into the world's leading energy producers. China's green-tech investment, in particular, was part of its knee-jerk investment boom in 2008/9. It helped to preserve a superficially high growth rate, but it's unclear what it actually contributed to China's own energy future, which remains heavily dependent on coal and low efficiency. If there even is a "race" in green tech, it's unclear what "winning" it accomplishes:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/13/think_again_green_china
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/19/tilting_at_wind_turbines

4. Sure, China's GDP by PPP may already be bigger than America's. It could be as large as $15-16 trillion. Or it could be $3 trillion, about on par with France:

http://mpettis.com/2011/01/how-big-is-chinese-gdp/

Either way, the larger debate about the GDP "race" between China and America is a sideshow, since GDP as a figure is extremely limited in what it conveys. Is America, at $15 trillion, really all that better off than Japan at $5 trillion, or Germany at $3 trillion? Should America feel bad about "losing" to an economy that is 70% investment?

China's sheer population means that it will likely pass up the US at some point in sheer size of GDP. America shouldn't care about this at all, not only because it has a much more balanced/diversified economy than China, but because demographic trends mean that the China of the coming decades simply won't be able to keep pace with either America or India in terms of adding new workers.

CARLEMAGNE

5:13 AM ET

August 10, 2011

You are right and yet so wrong...

...and I really enjoyed reading this counternarrative of just another true American nationalist who is not able to learn from history (father, forgive them, for they know not what they do). And I would agree that there is little for America to "learn" from Britain.

Fact is that Britain entered WWI as an empire containing within its frontiers a FIFTH OF HUMANITY. The overseas possessions were an essential part of the British Empire (and only WWI made out of self-governing dominions like Canada independent countries).

And here is the main mistake of the comparison. We should not compare Britain of the 1950's with the United States of today, but the Britain of 1913, when the country had already lost its industrial leadership in Europe to Germany and worldwide to the US - due to its wrong priorities in the late 1800's. Without US supplies, Britain would have lost WWI probably as early as 1915. Without US troops, Britain would have lost WWI in 1917. In 1940, without the help of the US, the British Expeditionary Force ran faster than the French Army. After WWII, "Great" Britain received more than twice as much Marshall Plan subsidies from the US than Germany, but was not able to rebuild its industry half as well as Germany.

There will be no "big brother" who will come to America's rescue in the next "WWI". There will be no "big brother" who will pay billions in Marshall Plan subsidies for a country that wants to fight senseless wars in the oddest places instead of rebuilding its infrastructure.

America has to come to its senses now ---- before it is too late.

USREALIST

9:33 AM ET

US/UK comparison is faulty response

Alex ... Britain was never invaded.

I agree with your premise, and the initial response that you got is so flawed it is hard to know where to begin. I will simply say that, yes, Britain had the largest population under its control, but not within its country. It was clear after WWII that they would lose most of this, and thus their basis of strength. The US is not going to break up into several pieces, so their population will remain intact ...

Importantly, the US is entering a period where it will be darkest before the dawn. within ten years babyboomers will begin to die off and a new generation with a greater sense of the environment and a spirit of community service will begin to take power. Just as we quickly discarded 60s leadership (only two Babyboomer presidents), we will move past the remnants of their damage to the country and emerge stronger than ever ...

don't bet against America ... and don't wish for it to fall ... the result will be disastrous. Nobody wants Chinese or Russian Political Leadership. The homogenous nature of India and China mean they can never be true global leaders of culture. Brazil cannot even completely lead its own region or hemisphere, Turkey is slipping form the West into the Muslim world and will be preoccupied there. Who will rise? You need a viable alternate before you speak of decline - nature abhors a vacuum.

FP_READER

11:19 AM ET

The US has none of the problems of the UK.....the US should not even be thought of as declining. Its strength is being sapped by internal corruption, bad governance and pandering to a self-polarized electorate.

The sad truth is none of this is necessary or destined. Its being done by choice.

NATEOMC

1:24 PM ET

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme

First, I agree with comments that have already been made about 1913 Great Britain being a more appropriate comparison.

Second, while the US is obviously a large country and the UK is a medium-sized one, the US population still only accounts for about 4-5% of the global total. That right there should indicate that we don't really need to be taking the lead in every single situation on the planet. Our economic power gives us a lot of say, but it doesn't mean we have to, or should, provide all the answers.

Third, "green technology" applies to a lot more than solar panels and wind turbines. Even those two technologies can be applied in various ways and have the potential to improve in the future. There are some nuclear power options out there (including things like molten salt reactors). "Green tech" also means mass transit, or things as mundane as higher fuel efficency and an improved electrical grid and other ways to save energy and use it more efficiently. This is only going to become more important and valuable as the price of fossil fuels rises.

The idea of "other sources" of fossil fuels saving the day, like shale and natural gas, are misleading. Both of these can be difficult to obtain and may not be safe in certain cases. In the case of natural gas, it is only an efficient source of fuel in its current applications: power generation and mass transit. If it is opened up to personal vehicles and other individual applications, it's price will rise and all of its economic benefits will disappear. Popular Science had some good articles on the future of energy a few months back that explored a lot of these issues.

Finally, the US hasn't had its industrial base destroyed by a foreign invasion, but it has lost a good deal of it to foreign competition. The effect of this has been somewhat similar to an invasion. If we want to rebuild this capacity, then we have to reinvent ourselves. We need to start building things here in the US (infrastructure and the like) and creating things that only we can (green tech, etc).

We've still got some advantages, but we need to start using them more wisely.

DAN_

3:42 PM ET

While it was subjected to

While it was subjected to heavy bombing, the UK was never invaded in WWII.

11:28 AM ET

August 11, 2011

Nature also abhors

Nature also abhors unipolarity.

BEINGTHERE

2:26 PM ET

An Inexperienced President, an Ego-Driven Congress= THIS

Agree with FP_Reader. Don't mean this as a sexist remark, but the debt ceiling debate that sparked what may be a double-dip recession for the U.S. was fueled by testosterone. Yes, women have it, too, but most of the posturing and fury was enacted by men and their uncontrollable egos.

The U.S. must have a new paradigm to push the country forward in a positive way. For starters, we must have an experienced president with character and leadership. Obama has the first, but not the latter. We also must have more diversity among the elected officials who represent us - and they, too, must be highly qualified. This diversity is more likely to encourage collaboration, focus and the posing of really important questions, such as "Why is our country in two wars, spending trillions and costing lives of Americans and innocent civilians? Let's fix this." As of now, we have a mostly older, mostly white, mostly male, mostly very wealthy leadership base. It's not working and hasn't for almost three decades. There are no magic wands to be waved, but people who care about the country have to recognize that all citizens need someone who can represent them.

XYZZY

12:10 AM ET

August 16, 2011

@USRealist -- our generation is no better

"a new generation with a greater sense of the environment and a spirit of community service will begin to take power."

Having been a volunteer since the early 90s on a wide variety of projects, I can tell you as a mid-thirtysomething that the post-Boomer generations are *not* more civic-minded. No matter the circumstances, as a volunteer I'm invariably one of maybe 2-5 people at most that isn't either a teenager with a local high school service club or a Baby Boomer -- and most of the time, one of the people near my age is a woman that grew up volunteering alongside me with our parents, and another is the teenagers' teacher.

That's not even counting the increasing trend towards self-centered/selfish political attitudes among voters/citizens from post-Boomer generations... Try reading the comments on articles around the web about poor families, adults down on their luck, disabled people, severe cuts to services for those individuals (or to special ed, mainstreaming of disabled kids, etc.) and so forth sometime. What you'll find might have been normal for Boomers from highly conservative areas in the 70s-90s, but not for the ones from more liberal ones.

BISHOP_110011

8:55 PM ET

ZOMG..."nollywood"?! i think

ZOMG..."nollywood"?!

i think this article is at least 30 to 50 years premature. anyone remember taking japanese classes in 1985?

But, one legitimate question the article raises is, "why are american citizens not that much better off than german, japanese, british, swiss, singaporean, canadian, etc AAA citizens?" surely being the most powerful country in the world for over a century must carry some tangible benefits.

my answer to that is, I think America's success (more or less) over the last hundred years has raised standards of living in most / almost all of the rest of the world (viz - invention of the internet, MRI, GPS, wireless comms, aviation, etc).

speaking from the admittedly idealistic standpoint of rooting for the progress of "human civilization", would you still support the central premise of this article?

p.s: On the post above re China's GDP statistics being unreliable, one easy sanity check on the size of China's economy is this: don't you notice that almost anything you can buy (not just in this country, but the whole world over) is made in China? that oughta tell you something about the true size of their economy. on the whole, I think that's a net plus for the world too, but I don't want to get into that argument. one can support development in both countries...

MEMPHISDWELLER

8:15 PM ET

Why Americans not that much better off?

The answer to that is simple. We are saddled with very large population clusters, primarily African American, that are culturally, educationally, and functionally bankrupt and broken, with near 80% rates of govt subsidized illegitimacy, less than 50% high school graduation, a lack of work ethic that leaves them unemployed and unemployable, and with a victimization complex that you would not believe. If you take them out of the computation, I suspect Americans would actually score much higher.

LETSTRYKEYNES

3:18 PM ET

August 12, 2011

@MEMPHISDWELLER

Really? Its all the blacks' fault? I guess all we need is a good old pogrom.

STEFAN STACKHOUSE

9:13 AM ET

One-fourth of the globe is quite enough

Mark out that section of the globe that falls within both the northern and western hemispheres. That is the natural sphere of interest for the USA. The US must remain the dominant power in this sector to assure its own security, and we can certainly do so with a much lower level of expenditure than is presently going to "defense". One fourth of the globe!!! Isn't that enough?

This, of course, implies that the US needs to wind up its overseas engagements with all deliberate and responsible haste. I am not just writing of Iraq and Afghanistan, but also of terminating most of our treaty obligations, shutting down our bases, and redeploying forces back to our own quarter of the globe. The rest of the world will have to fend for themselves, as they somehow have for the previous thousands of years.

Were the US to pursue this strategy, it would then be possible to reduce the size of our navy (with Marine Corps) by about 1/3, the air force by about half, and the army by about 2/3 (and with most of that being National Guard units). What remains very roughly describes the military force that the US actually needs for genuine DEFENSE within that one-fourth of the globe that we must defend. This is, in fact, all we really can afford for the long haul.

That would be a fantastic

That would be a fantastic idea if all the energy supplies weren't in the Middle East.

NICOLAS19

6:39 AM ET

RE: MD

There is no need for military domination to obtain the necessary materials. Take rare earth materials for example, the US imports them from China without subduing that country. Moreover, energy has been imported from ME long before the US established bases there or went to conquer. That is a poor excuse for overcommitment.

DAVELNAF

10:30 AM ET

The lib dream on display

I agree with your argument that the US should use this as an opportunity to retrench and bring back a lot of our overseas military commitment. But much of your article is a leftwing fantasy that sounds like it originated in a college faculty lounge. Were you saving it up for this article?

Lefties seem have swallowed whole the silliness that China is now the real power in the world. Unfortunately, for those who want to believe this fable the reality is that China is so dependent on the rest of the world that the current financial crisis has it wondering out loud if it can do now what it plans to do at some future time, which is become a largely self-sufficient of exports. This would also include science and technology innovation; something they are not too good at (the US patent office gave only 130 patents to China last year). So, how can a country that vigorously begs, borrows, and steals others’ technology ever become the world’s biggest power?

It seems that every time the US goes through a period of crisis and adjustment to the circumstances that brought it on lefties come out of the woodwork with this kind of stuff.

1:00 PM ET

Tell me

When did spending money on your own problems, not being knee-deep in everyone's business, and being more cooperative with your neighbors become "lefty"?

This article simply makes the point that it's time for the United States to make some rational changes to the way it does business for its own benefit. Any logical person can look out the current situation and see that the US has its priorities out of whack. This isn't "lefty" or "righty"; it's the truth.

When average citizens stop viewing things through simplistic partisan lenses, the US will have taken a key step in the right direction.

XIRA666

10:15 PM ET

You aren't going to convince

You aren't going to convince me that having alot of fiat money is better than having a high-tech industrial base.

Ever.

Also. The USA grants virtually 0 patents to Chinese companies, just like China grants virtually zero patents to American companies?

You realize copyright isn't 100 years over there and they you can legally use micky-mouse in say a theme park if you want to? What makes our laws better than theirs, considering they have all the industry and money?

You forgot the golden rule. He who has the gold, makes the rules.

JOEAVERAGE

3:10 PM ET

And Japan didn't get it's start the same way China is starting

Back in the 60s and 70s Japan was in the same position as the Chinese today. They sent their engineers to America and other Western countries to tour factories, take pictures, and take notes wherever allowed to do so. They went back home and learned to build better widgets than we made and became an industrial power.

China has been GIVEN the technology of the world by the investor and management class of America who sent factories to China left and right because Chinese labor is cheaper and environmental regulations nearly non-existent. In my opinion that has accelerated their entry into the world industrial membership by leaps and bounds. They'll accomplish in a decade more than it took Japan to accomplish in multiple decades. On top of that the world has all manner of industrial advantages such as modern 3-D CAD/CNC/CAM/PLC controls and automated industrial systems that weren't in existence when the Japanese were starting out after WWII. All it takes a limited number of people to learn the technology where 50 years ago people had to learn trades and become good at it for a company to become competitive.

So you want to count how many patents that China filed with our government? They don't respect patents and I suspect they don't expect anyone to respect any patents they file. They'll get by just fine copying other brands' products, being cheaper than everyone else, faster than everyone else and making more widgets than everyone else for at least another decade or two. Eventually their domestic expertise will no longer be consumed by setting up factories and manufacturing processes and the Chinese will become engineers that dream up and test their own new technologies. They are already reverse engineering and improving technologies that the industrial powers like Germany, Japan, the USA and other parts of Europe have had to themselves. Every industry from construction equipment to automobiles to electronics to Italian textiles are competing against the Chinese.

No, don't sleep America because competing against Chinese goods sold by Chinese companies in America who learned their trade from American companies eager to manufacture American designs on the cheap for American markets will be the next big challenge. All it will take are some clever features, a low-low price and some advertising - just like the Koreans did in the 1990s. Some things such as personal electronics don't even have to be durable b/c the fads change so quickly and some people replace their gadgets so often just to keep up.

Just like we did with Japan, we are already seeing cheap Chinese scooters, go-carts, and motorcycles beginning to reach American markets. And they aren't all bad either. Start watching the scooters on your roads. Used to be they were all Japanese here when the scooters began appearing on the roads several years back. Now over half of them are of unknown brands coming from China. Use them up and replace them because they cost about 50% less than a Kawasaki, Yamaha, or Honda scooter. I've been into the engines and gearboxes of a couple belonging to a friend and a coworker. The second one definitely showed an improvement in casting technologies and tolerances. A friend showed me how one he took apart had nearly the same design as a Honda. Almost interchangeable.

China will copy Japanese products for a while and then they'll build their own designs. Guess what - a long time ago - America did the very same thing with European designs.

JSTONER

4:24 PM ET

August 14, 2011

3D printing

Joe Average cites advanced manufacturing technology as though it will always be bound to the factory floor. But he's not paying attention to the real endgame for industrialism. 3D printing is on a path to become a desktop technology. Designs for objects will be freely shared and downloaded.

It's happening now, and that technology is moving fast. I think it will upend any country that bases its economy on manufacturing of cheap plastic stuff. China might (might) be far enough along to avoid it, but a lot of their current investment is going to be worthless.

The world's economies are moving from economies of scale to economies of flexibility. Countries and businesses that adapt to and enable that trend will prosper. Countries that oppose it will, ahem, not.

JLIC53

2:02 PM ET

It's destin

The US should not be placed in the same category as the UK.....the US should not even be thought of as losing or declining, even with all our struggles. Our strength is being sucked by our governmental dictatorship making improper decisions.

It's hard to believe that this is being done by choice.

loyaltymarketing

HURRICANEWARNING

3:36 PM ET

While we are most certainly

While we are most certainly in the midst of a form of decline...I find it hard to believe that it is permanent, or that it will last for long. At the end of the day, America is an empire, the greatest the world has ever known. And while that may be horrifying for most Americans to wrap their heads around, it is the truth. If we collapse, so will the world order, and our collapse will only be temporary. A nation like ours won't stay down for long, and will almost certainly never suffer the mediocrity involved with being a second rate power. It's just not part of our psyche. Americans are not subserviant, and we are not ones to take a back seat on something. We are a country of individuals, who have been taught since Birth that we are exceptional (whether or not it's actually true is up for debate). But that type of mentality is hard to put down. Just saying, we're not out of it yet, and we won't be a "regional power, at best" for at least 100 years.

MOOKSTHEOOKS

4:52 PM ET

I agree. From a Canadian's

I agree. From a Canadian's perpective, American's have always had this admirable cowboy-balls-out attitude. The question is: can that attitude ever change?

I agree. From a Canadian's perpective, Americans have always had this admirable cowboy-balls-out attitude. The question is: can that attitude ever change?

11:38 AM ET

Nature and history have this

Nature and history have this funny way of making change happen that was once thought to be impossible. All major world empires and their citizens have had this attitude and they are all gone now. What has a beginning also has an end.

KEYBASHER

1:40 PM ET

cowboy-balls-out attitude

@MOOKSTHEOOKS

>> I agree. From a Canadian's perpective, Americans have always had this admirable cowboy-balls-out attitude. The question is: can that attitude ever change?<<

Should it?

ZYGOR Z

6:32 AM ET

August 17, 2011

Yes, that attitude will change very soon. The world heading for a financial collapse on a scale never before seen in history. When this happens, I think the attitude of westerners will change, dramatically.

- Zygor

RUTGERVANM

4:16 PM ET

The Suez crisis

The Suez crisis took place in 1956, not 1957.

CRAZYDENNIS

6:35 PM ET

Not finished yet.

If Britain was able to kick back and relax in the 1950's (debateable if you ask anyone who lived there in the 1950's) it was because they had the US to defend them against the Soviet Union. The sad fact is, the US must be the world policeman. Otherwise it will exist in a world where bad actors like Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Communist China call the shots. That might not be such a relaxed atmosphere to kick back in.

We are like Britain in 1919, broke. There the comparison breaks down. We are not demoralised like Britain was in 1919 after losing 20% of its young men in WWI. Nor do we have a social order that resists change, a working class frustrated to the point of revolution, or an industrial base that is completely outmoded. Britain's military is always underestimated in WWI, and essentially defeated Germany at the battle of Amiens in 1918 and was the leader in driving the Germans back to their borders, killing and capturing more Germans than France and America combined. America was hardly in the war at that point, but was all potential. But Britain came out of the war exhausted morally and financially.

America is a leader in technology, manufacturing (yes even compared with Chinese output), banking, management, resources, and military power. America is nowhere near morally exhausted. We are frustrated and fed up for sure. But it's more like the teenager who say's he is "starving, and where's the pizza?" We will come out of this as a world power. Not as powerful maybe, but still a world power. China has tremeandous internal problems that will come to be seen at length. I wouldn't bet against America.

7:39 PM ET

Most Diminishing to U.S. Limp Leadership in D.C. and Military

Kenny's bound-to-happen-make-the-best-of-it theme sounds more palatable to people with some savings left than for the jobless - and people who have slid from middle class to lower class. Or poverty level. For the global perspective, there is a silver lining if the impotent D.C. lawmakers can agree to make budget cuts where needed (slash defense and related agencies* but go slower with cutting government services that create more havoc and unemployment). We must also elect a president and other top leaders who will guide us away from the war mentality we have developed. This diminishes us as a people more than anything else.

*WSJ article: $34 Billion Misspent by Pentagon on Contractors in Wars

10:22 PM ET

We'll have riots. And

We'll have riots. And pogroms. And race baiting, and internal wars, maybe a succession or two.

We've been propped up by the rest of the world's money for too long, we have developed bad habits(like an oversize military, benefits without the taxes to support them, lackadaisical policies like 99 week unemployment, no taxes on the rich, maybe a succession or two. ect)

It takes time to break bad habits, time we may not have(depending on China's mood). If it collapses there's not alot of reserve to stop it.

7:59 PM ET

Thanks, you just cinched it

Thanks, you just cinched it for me. I'm voting for Rick Perry.

BRAUERR31

10:13 PM ET

This Article Is Very Very True.

Not only will this downgrade help open our eyes about what is really going on, it will be the catalyst for America to finally get it's act together. No longer will people sit around a play flight simulator for mac games, when they really need to be solving our problems. Hopefully, the recent events in the American government and stock market will have a lasting impact that now is the time that our country must change for good. No more messing around.

3:48 PM ET

Who plays flight simulator

Who plays flight simulator anymore?

4:10 PM ET

For Mac? Who plays Flight

For Mac? Who plays Flight Sims on a Mac? (I should know, we use Linux and Macs at my house) You mean liberals? Just curious...

I do think shrinking our military and other related expenses would enable the gov't to go on a diet.

I would like to see the military brought home and put on a diet.

Use some of the savings to prop up our debt (and conquer it). Spend some to fix our infrastructure. Fix healthcare. How - I don't care - just get the cost under control. We gripe so much about the price of gasoline but not enough about the cost of medical insurance! My premiums go in lock step with my raises. How many folks' incomes have stagnated b/c of their health insurance cost increases?

Do a moon shot type program with NASA (-NOT-DETROIT-) to improve mobile AND stationary battery technologies and other green tech 'cause the oil and coal isn't going to last forever and I'd rather see our Appalachian mountains remain MOUNTAINS as long as possible.

Fix our schools where necessary. Teach parents that their child's education is only as good as the amount they value it and reinforce the child's education at home. Tutoring. Homework checking. Reminders to complete assignments. teaching the child that knowledge is important. So is manners and the ability to function somewhere besides a chatroom, street corner, or playground.

Show the folks who don't want to get out of bed in the morning or learn to do something that an employer might pay them to do - isn't going to yield a paycheck and the rest of us aren't going to fund their poverty. We aren't all born with the same faculties but no reason that an able-bodied person ought to collect welfare. I say that as a person who has paid for his own college education, gave the military six years of my life, gainfully employed in a professional job and went on to be a successful parent and spouse. I've swept floors, mowed grass, washed cars, and cleaned bathrooms among other jobs that get no glory.

GHOSTCOMMANDER

11:45 AM ET

American Empire or Not?

We, the U.S.A., are in the last chapter of American Empire, and the sooner that last chapter is finished the better off America will be.

The building of the American Empire has been a disastrous "March of Folly."

FSILBER

2:01 PM ET

Considering the world's

Considering the world's resentment of G.W. Bush's interventionism, I'd say the author's recommendations are appropriate -- as long as we don't merely switch to spending blood and treasure under some other country's leadership..

DIANA RELKE

6:41 PM ET

Excellent!

Anyone who quibbles with this article should read the late Chalmers Johnson's trilogy on American empire.

MITTAL

8:16 PM ET

Don't worry America India will save yoou

Chinese are bad bad bad.
But don't worry America, we Indians will save you.
We Indians are not afraid to go to war against bad bad bad China.
So what if India get nuked and millions die, it is really no big deal.
At least China will have no time to take on US for a while.
See we Indians are very friendly & nice people.
I got a technical degree from CowDung Tech in Bombay.
I will work really cheap in your Silicone Valley for 30K.
I can hire any unemployeed American to take out my trash and clean my toilet for $4.50.
American unemployment will be solved if more Indians like me can get a visa, and may bee green card soon.

FR0STY

11:12 PM ET

Not Very funny

So we've just been downgraded because we are spending 4 billion borrowed dollars per day and you suggest we should spend even more on horrendously expensive "green" energy projects and hopelessly unprofitable high speed rail? Then you imply that China is somehow "winning the future" on green technology and somehow decline will what? Make us environmentally competitive with China? China, whose carbon emissions are already greater than ours, and who plans to open nearly 30 new coal burning power plants a year for the foreseeable future? Then for good measure, you throw out that old canard about US lifespan being less than other so called 'civilized' nations because we don't have universal healthcare, or socialized medicine, or whatever the euphemism is nowadays. Just FYI, a better measure than lifespan (which is inaccurate because of the way different countries exclude certain types of fatalities) is cancer survival rates, which are, surprise, highest in the US.

This article is such a muddled mess of progressive wishful thinking, inaccuracies and disordered logic that it must be a joke. Wait, I get it! It's sly satire meant to fly right over the heads of the progressives who actually believe in this stuff. I've changed my mind. It is kind of funny after all! Well done.

BOBBYB007

4:11 PM ET

I'm sorry but I can't stop laughing after reading this article

As I read this article I kept waiting for the gotcha moment when the author would reveal this entire ruse was written tongue-in-cheek.

This is a perfect example to show students how to write an article that represents the epitome of defeatism. Just because we have managed to elect a Leninist who is rapidly destroying our country with both ill-advised foreign and domestic policies that have helped lead us to the current state of affairs is no reason to close the lid on Uncle Sam’s coffin just yet.

While it's true that one day the sun will set on our great nation, to compare us to others who have fallen before us is imbecilic. Even in our weakened state, we are far better positioned to turn things around than I think the author gives us credit.

Let’s throw out the “Dictator in chief”, end the nonsense of Obama’s Healthscare plan, dismiss the talks on cap and tax, remove all the anti-job growth regulations we’ve placed on our employers and industries and get on with rebuilding our great nation.

To Mr. Charles Kenny I would like to say, “Love it or Leave it!” I wasn’t raised by my parents to quit when the going gets tough, but rather to dig in and be willing to do the hard work; whatever it takes to get the job done! Shame on you sir…you disgrace our nation with your words and your presence!

KNATIVE

11:37 PM ET

Dictator-in-chief? Um, Obama

Dictator-in-chief? Um, Obama seems to be willing to compromise an awful lot with the right wing. Would Rafael Trujillo compromise with his political enemies? No. They would get assassinated. Is you serious?

DEW603

9:11 AM ET

The US Needs A Leader

What this country needs now at this point in history is a good leader. Someone who can really inspire and lead. Someone who can force change and make things happen that need to happen. Obama is an empty suite with absolutely no leadership ability. He is an intellectual who is good at debating and lecturing. But getting things done that need to be done he is useless. The US needs a dynamic national leader and it needs one now.

N2NOV8ING

12:35 PM ET

Washington on Partisan Craziness

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

12:36 PM ET

Washington on Debt

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.

IMANT

9:50 AM ET

August 15, 2011

Is there still the American

Is there still the American Dream? When I was at the university, everybody was dreaming about going into the USA and stay there, but after I visited this country I returned home absolutely sure that there is no future for me there - I just did not belong to the USA. The States cannot expect to be on top of the world all the time only because of the military power. The health care and the educaton are really poor there, and if the country does not invest in its citizens, then it does not have any future - it is that simple. So, to my mind the USA should pay more attention to the society problems and do not try to conquer all the world, especially by military power.
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CHANGS

9:39 AM ET

August 31, 2011

The U.S. Should Take Care Of It's Own Needs First

It is time for the United States to start taking care of it's own needs first and requiring Europe, Asia and the Middle East to start taking more of a role in caring for the needs of their regions.

The U.S. needs to rebuild it's manufacturing base and start creating jobs for it's citizens instead of allowing corporations to export the jobs to 3rd World countries.

We need the same type restrictions on imports that Japan, S. Korea, China, and European countries have on U.S. imports to their countries. It would be rough at first, causing prices to raise in the U.S. since our manufacturing base has been destroyed by unlimited cheap imports from these other countries. If we have a need for a dog proof trash can then let's build it in factories located in our country and not import it from China.

But it would build a stronger country again as we rebuild our manufacturing base, creating jobs for our citizens and not the citizens of other countries.

The World does not appreciate the huge amounts of money we have spent in helping their countries build and compete. So it is past time to put a stop to U.S. taxpayers supporting the rest of the World and time for those tax dollars to be spend rebuilding our own country.

MATHALIE

5:42 AM ET

September 4, 2011

One method of preserving it

One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously sázkové tipy throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant.

EGISTUBAGUS

7:56 AM ET

September 7, 2011

Americans may soon come to enjoy no longer responsibility

the American Century looks to be well and truly over, As the U.S. bond rating falls and the stock market plunges, . While this has provoked no small amount of hand-wringing, Americans may soon come to enjoy no longer bearing the responsibility for running the world's indispensable nation. how come is can be?
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Foreign Policy Magazine

Inside National Security

Look on the bright side, America: Downgrading your global ambitions could make you a healthier and happier nation.

BY CHARLES KENNY | AUGUST 9, 2011

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