It's said that Americans are an optimistic people, and that's generally true. But they're also a very insecure one, constantly on the lookout for threats to their prosperity, way of life, and international predominance. Whereas communist infiltrators and Japanese salarymen once provided continual grist for media doom-spotters, today it's the Wall Street Occupiers and hyperqualified Asian tiger-children that launch a million trend stories.
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In September, FP Passport began a new feature tracking the datapoints and trends said to be illustrative of the ongoing process of American decline, and assessing their relative slumpiness. They range from financial Masters of the Universe going without their customary cocaine binge, to starving Muppets invading a nation's TV screens, to the unanswered question of just how many goats live in the American heartland. Sometimes these stories are alarming, sometimes absurd, sometimes even signs of continued American dynamism.
Will this moment one day be remembered as the time when the sun finally set on the American empire, or will these stories seem as quaint as Red Scare-era newsreels? Only time will tell, but it's time to start collecting data.
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