Of course it is. China and India are the next thing. The UN will be expanded to include India. The US will lose what little toe hold it has in the Middle East, and US traditional allies will find it more advantageous to side with US's old foe, China.
The Fall of Rome was inevitable, so too, is America's fall from Grace.
Even South America is moving towards the left and away from its love affair with the 'market driven economy'.
When did South America ever "love" capitalism? They gave the world Hugo Chavez and Che Guevera.
The question is not "Is America the next Empire?" but "what stage of the empire lifecycle is America currently in?". We are certainly not at the beginning, nor are we at the end. But are we past the peak already? I don't know.
I think we peaked. Our art is derivative. We have a fucking huge trade deficit. Our people shun education and hard work. The Romans had Gladiators, we have Reality TV.
> The Romans had Gladiators, we have Reality TV.
"Reality" TV is such a misnomer. This is more like it: http://poisonedminds.com/Flash/FlashShow.php?ver=5&w=300&h=300&id=arse&bg=00CCFF&q=high&url=./SOC/SOCSurvivor.swf
Yeah, but the concept is the same as Gladiators, just less severe. Cause complete strangers misery for the amusement of a fickle crowd. They had guys fighting with swords, we have torturous immunity challenges.
>>2, when you say "the UN will be expanded to include India," what do you mean? India has been a member of the UN for more than 50 years.
Blame the shitastic public schools. I'm amazed American kids manage to graduate literate, let alone knowing things.
I'm not certain schools are primarily to blame. Culture plays a large role.
In all the schools I went to, without exception, the best students were first- or second-generation Asian immigrants. It's not that they were more intelligent, it's just that the Westernised majority consisted primarily of drug addicts, party animals, and the slothful. What's worse, these fools were apathetic and thoroughly self-deserving.
You can lead a horse to water, et cetera.
The whole US<-->Roman Empire comparison is pretty silly IMO. We live in such a different world than that of the Roman Republic circa 250 BC.
If the comparison were valid, our "Roman Empire" would still be in its infancy, and when you consider our current economic and political position, it's a ridiculous idea.
It is relevant, because frankly history does repeat itself. The Soviet Union fell apart, thus showing that if enough of the fundemantals of good society are ignored, any civilization can fall apart.
The Soviet Empire wasn't a civilization. It was peasants ruled by brigands. It should not have lasted as long as it did.
The U.S. isn't a civilization. It is peasants ruled by brigands. It should not have lasted as long as it did.
The Roman Empire wasn't a civilization. It was peasants ruled by brigands. It should not have lasted as long as it did.
will the pope move to america?
The Chinese isn't a civilization. It was peasants ruled by brigands. It should not have lasted as long as it did.
>>12
ok, it's true that the comparison between the US and Rome was never meant to be chronological. Things happen faster now. (Back then, the fastest anything traveled was as fast as a horse. nowadays we have cars, planes and trains.)
Ultimately, the US will fall just like Rome, and I had come up with this analogy a longs time ago. The 2 countries have many similarities, not only in their structure but their history and culture as well that are somewhat disturbing as you investigate them.
However, to think that one day the US will spontaneously fall into ruin is idiotic. That will NOT happen, just like it did NOT happen in Rome. We probably won't even be able to tell when the US has fallen for decades afterwards.
Regardless, I believe that the US will fall from power within a few decades of my death. Basically, it's coming and no on can stop it, so get over it. The only question is when.
bah, complete nonsense. everyone is just hearing the cries of machines made obsolete by the swift changes in technology. the new weird america is actually beautiful and familiar, young and powerful. we are removing religion from our system and remaining individualistic. we are loyal to nothing and adaptive to everything deemed functional, a dynamic culture.
you are scared of us. we are RANDOM.
In a time where religious fundamentalism in the U.S. has reached a new high, you are truly removing religion from your system .
How very...believable.
>In a time where IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION IWATCH TELEVISION
the US is already falling if you look at it's 'power' comparatively to the rest of the world, and then go back to say, the cold-war era where the power of the US was more or less absolute, nothing they did was wrong. today the US is still the only super-power, but alot of the rest of the world has stabilized too. The EU stabilized from WW2, and EU as an institution is becomign more and more cemented. Russia as an exporter of natural resources and a developing nation are growing too. China of course, exporting and developing, where a long time ago china wasn't nearly as powerfull as it is today. Southern america is trying to establish things too, after years of being a victim of US ideological experiments and usery. The mercosur project, chavez' ALBA ideal, and the surge of left wing parties in latin america, and just the fact that chavez is allowed to fool around the way he is shows that the US has sort of given up on controlling latin america the same way they used to do.
I don't know if it's right to say that america is decaying, but the rest of the world is growing up, and america can't stay the supreme power forever, and unless we get a trans-national, binding, network going, that can impose sanctions that actually have consequences, I daresay we'll end up in some silly war between major powers all trying to control shit, although the latest 20 years have shown that we all profit much, much more from increasing our interdependence than from trying to do everything ourselves.