They don't do anything besides put on a show and that's it. They seem to play a role in America's decline, how? The whole celebrity things seems like a distraction from the actual problems of this country. There seems to be no critical thinking or organized effort to examine the state of America and her relation to the outside world on the part of American citizens. Its almost as if they want to watch and observe whats going on in sports and shit but not actually partake in anything to somehow change or create things. Americans seemed accustomed to having things taken care of by other people/institutions and being passive; somehow this materialistic culture plays into that. It seems like there is no purpose to innovate, explore and embark on new things since the end of the cold war. Tragic since they pretty much have everything.

Agreed.

The US is done. I don't mean that in a, "the country is going to collapse" way. But in terms of the influence and power and qualify of life it's had over the last 100 years, it's done. Sad thing is, no one living in it seems to notice. They're all in denial. Everyone still blindly believes that we're the most advanced nation in the world in every category, when we've been passed in every pretty much ever category other than military and GDP (standard of living, GDP per capita, health coverage, education, life satisfaction, working hours, wages, employment, etc., etc., etc.). The problems are all systemic and no one seems to give a shit enough to do anything except for psycho Tea Partiers (who are making it worse).

If you're super smart and want to get rich, the US is still probably the best place to go. But if you're an average Joe... or if you have ANY other priorities than money or fame, you're better off in many other places.

America and the Western World are not as decadent yet as the ancient Romans used to be 2.000 years ago.

Just compare Paris Hilton to Valeria Messalina, the Roman emperess, wife of emperor Claudius.

She publicly challenged the most notorious Roman whore who of them both could satisfy more men on a single day. The emperess won, because the prostitute gave up after 25.

Panem et circenses! Bread and entertainment! These were the basic needs of the average Roman citizen.

(09-12-2011 03:12 PM)Mark Wrote:  Agreed.

The US is done. I don't mean that in a, "the country is going to collapse" way. But in terms of the influence and power and qualify of life it's had over the last 100 years, it's done. Sad thing is, no one living in it seems to notice. They're all in denial. Everyone still blindly believes that we're the most advanced nation in the world in every category, when we've been passed in every pretty much ever category other than military and GDP (standard of living, GDP per capita, health coverage, education, life satisfaction, working hours, wages, employment, etc., etc., etc.). The problems are all systemic and no one seems to give a shit enough to do anything except for psycho Tea Partiers (who are making it worse).

If you're super smart and want to get rich, the US is still probably the best place to go. But if you're an average Joe... or if you have ANY other priorities than money or fame, you're better off in many other places.

I just registered on the forum only to ask this question :

Could you please expand a little bit on that?
When you say "many other places", do you have someplace specific in mind or do you mean any place other than the US?
Who will take over the role of the USA? China? Brazil? India? Russia? Japan? Or Europe again?

China is way too overhyped and I seriously don't consider that's its going to be number 1. That being said,
Japan is on the decline, as is Europe which is facing immigration problems. Most likely Brazil and India, but then they will most likely be beneath the U.S but have a say and representation in world politics; ie they will be number 2 but the U.S will still remain number 1 due to the state of things.

If China can hold it together politically in the next decade (which is a large "if"), they'll be number one. No doubt about it. Everything from their growth, to the amount of cheap labor, to the investments in new technologies going on there... One could argue that for a person with a western education, it already has more opportunity than the west.

The US will still play a major role for a long time. But the days of, "US wants to do this so everybody listens" are going to soon be over.

But I don't think we're going to see a single dominant super-power like we did with the US in the 80's and 90's again. The world is moving toward a more multi-lateral state again. Most of the 20th century only had 1-2 major powers. We're moving back to a period where there will be 4-5 major players again, the way it was in the 19th century and prior.

The Stockholm Syndrome with Wyatt Cenac



http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-ap...rome-pt--1




http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-ap...rome-pt--2


And Wyatt forgot to say that Opeth is from Sweden.





US Competitiveness Ranking Continues to Fall; Emerging Markets Are Closing the Gap
http://www.weforum.org/news/us-competiti...losing-gap

I disagree that they could be number #1 in any way. I I don't think they can hold it together. Most of their population is aging, there isn't a large young population to replace the older generation. Secondly you have the gender gap which skews the dating market there, which leads to an insufficient production of new people. You also have corruption and weak leadership, a complete homogeneous population with a system that brainwashes them and turns them into robots with little capacity for broad thinking. You have bigotry and greed at a basic level which simply taints your reputation and the workings of the government. You have a tiny minority that holds all the wealth while the rest of the population lives in poor conditions. There is no Chinese "dream", people around the world don't aspire to go to China or live up to any Chinese "ideal" and create new things. China is surrounded by neighbors that it doesn't get along with it Singapore+India+Russia to an extent+Middle East+South Korea+Japan+league of South East Asian countries+U.S+Europe+African countries doing business with China. Its shown several times that it has an extremely weak corrupt political leadership, several CCP members were caught in Las vegas spending Chinese tax dollars. Culturally its insignificant, as I've said there is no Chinese ideal, so it has no "soft" power like the U.S does. Chinese people are universally looked down upon and they are rated the least physically attractive race of all races as well being the worst tourists. They haven't really contributed anything to global culture or invented anything new and set frontiers/boundaries like America did. You have ethnic tensions with Uighurs and Mongolians, the whole Uighur debacle is straining China's relationship with Turkey, another possible power player in the future.

Lets put it this way, if the U.S were to do something about the Chinese pegging U.S currency, impose tariffs on all foreign made goods and products, the Chinese would be completely screwed. There system would fall apart instantly. There are already ghost towns and railroads falling apart in China, not to mention traffic that lasts for two days.
Its entire industry is set in manufacturing and its shown poor abilities in innovation despite whatever progress they have made. Regardless of how powerful China's ground army is, its navy sucks, the troop technology and distribution is terrible. All of its recent technology has been stolen from the U.S which further proves my point that they aren't innovators. Its Olympic team was caught doping providing questions as to whether their Olympic performance was illegitimate and a political ploy. I really really don't think China's going to hold it together.

I totally agree about China's demographic and political problems. But it remains to be seen how they handle it. Many countries have managed to be economic powerhouses despite political and demographic issues. There are a lot of very, very smart people who agree with you, and a lot of very, very smart people who agree with me. But nobody really knows.

I guess we'll find out.

I definitely think china will have a gigantic meltdown in the next 10 to 20 years, but it is totally conceivable that after another five years it will get its act together and start roaring ahead. The US came out of the great depression as the dominant western power, etc.