Dutch Uncle
* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
Thanks for the link. It was a decent read even though Wade Davis, a Canadian-Columbian, seems to not only be sampling his psychoactive drugs but also trots out every Democrat trope of the 21st Century:
"Odious as he may be, Trump is less the cause of America’s decline than a product of its descent. As they stare into the mirror and perceive only the myth of their exceptionalism, Americans remain almost bizarrely incapable of seeing what has actually become of their country. The republic that defined the free flow of information as the life blood of democracy, today ranks 45th among nations when it comes to press freedom. In a land that once welcomed the huddled masses of the world, more people today favor building a wall along the southern border than supporting health care and protection for the undocumented mothers and children arriving in desperation at its doors. In a complete abandonment of the collective good, U.S. laws define freedom as an individual’s inalienable right to own a personal arsenal of weaponry, a natural entitlement that trumps even the safety of children; in the past decade alone 346 American students and teachers have been shot on school grounds.
The American cult of the individual denies not just community but the very idea of society. No one owes anything to anyone. All must be prepared to fight for everything: education, shelter, food, medical care. What every prosperous and successful democracy deems to be fundamental rights — universal health care, equal access to quality public education, a social safety net for the weak, elderly, and infirmed — America dismisses as socialist indulgences, as if so many signs of weakness."
I'm inclined to recall Mark Twain's comment "The report of my death was an exaggeration." The United States may, indeed, have peaked from WWII to the end of the Cold War, but it's not dead or dying. It's too large, too robust for that to happen. Additionally there is the factor Fareed Zakaria brought up in his book "The Post-American World". Zakaria points out immediate in the book:
This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else. It is about the great transformation taking place around the world, a transformation that, though often discussed, remains poorly understood. This is natural. Changes, even sea changes, take place gradually. Though we talk about a new era, the world seems to be one with which we are familiar. But in fact, it is very different.
Yes, the world is changing and the US must change with it. Yes, the US is no longer the leader in everything on the planet, but that doesn't mean it will fall to the bottom or give way to some other nation. IMO, it means the US will be sharing the stage with all the other nations which have caught up to the United States.
