Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Carlton
On the other hand, the economic success of an individual should not be the measure of whether the country as a whole is on the right track politically and socially for the next 50 years. There are plenty of people in this country who have the very narrow minded view of the fact that they have a huge $hitbox and a giant place to $hit and, therefore, everything and everybody else can just go pound sand. Things are wonderful.
I'm not one of those people.
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There are some very telling parallels between the present state of the US and the state of the British Empire during the heights of the Victorian Period.
1) Business had never been better for the wealthiest members of society, who felt the UK had reached its pinnacle based on the ability of entrepreneurs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, innovate, take chances and generate wealth. The masses, of course, had a very different experience and many lived in poverty and endured horrific living conditions as they provided the necessary power to make the economy happen. The wealthy merchant class and titled upper class had that "let them eat cake" mentality.
2) Britain had assumed the role of world police force in order to protect their commercial interests. They developed a navy powerful enough to overcome any obstacle and often used it aggressively to make their point in trade disputes. The navy cost a staggering amount of money to keep and grow in order to maintain technological and numerical superiority over potential enemies.
So what happened to the UK? Their great society literally rotted from the inside out and the working class finally had enough and forced the changes they wanted through collective action. At the same time the cost of the military nearly bankrupted the country, compounded by the cost of WW1. By the time 1918 rolled around the UK was a second rate power. This, after being the dominant global force for over 150 years.
Now I'm not saying that the US is on the road to ruin. I think it is at something of a crossroads. Military expenditures are enormous, and are felt necessary for the protection of commerce. Lots and lots of people are feeling left out of the prosperity they keep hearing about, and from a social perspective enough of the country is rotting from the inside out (schools, health care, infrastructure, etc) that it will become an issue. How the US chooses to deal with these challenges will be instrumental in terms of global positioning in the next 20 years. I fear that a "business as usual" approach will only lead to Chinese hegemony by the middle of this century.