that would be fine if we were in the 18th century. Hell, even the 20th century. But we're not. And that is part of the problem.

China.

http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/99496.pdf

We have gone from the largest creditor nation the world has ever seen, to the worlds largest debtor nation the world has ever seen. China holds our debt. Others do too, but you know those sneaky reds.

The tax rebate check, an obvious give away to China. Considering nobody is rushing out to spend it on American made goods. If they can even find one.

The fannie and freddie bailout is another give away to China. Guess who buys the treasury securitys from fannie and freddie.

We are being taxed and then the money is being shipped overseas, not put back into our own infrastructure/economy.

We are sinking fast. The Republican mantra of "privatize the profits, socialize the losses" is the final nail.

Having the preeminent military on earth has been an effective means to ensure empire throughout the history of mankind.

Nothing magical happend on 1 Jan 2000 to change that. Nothing at all. It is more true today than ever IMO.

Our can't do attitude and pretending that old technology is going to save us.

i.e. our inability to challenge ourself and change.

Todd:

You often make very profound statements. I particularly agree with what you say in the first and third paragraphs. However, I think most cultures are guilty of thinking their way is superior to all others. In my experience, American citizens are middle of the road offenders at most on this point

Perhaps the root of our "decline" in America is that we lack a common set of beliefs and ideals that the overwhelming majority of Americans are willing to sacrifice or even die for. Without these beliefs or ideals (and I am NOT referring to religion), there is no "greater good". It all comes down to individuals, not Americans.

When the knee jerk reaction to the question "what are you" of a huge number of our citizens is not "American" first, we are well and truly screwed.

MIke

If there is a 'final nail' it will be the leftist mantra of "A free lunch for all."

My brother—who lives in LA—just married a girl from Shanghai.

Said he was hedging his bets.

Todd makes the point above that times have changed. Historically empires used their military to plunder their enemies for the good of the empire.

That's harder to do today. The world has become a global community. Today the US military is just one more cost for the US taxpayer to absorb.

Agree 100%. The takeover of our country is not going to be by bomb, tanks or soldiers.

There are other ways to obtain the keys to the kingdom, and it's already underway.

Damn good question and lots of good answers. Mine are:


Political Correctness
Illegal immigration
Foreign entanglements...what the lefties call imperialism but isn't
Liberalism and resultant entitlements

Add socialism, PC, lazy kids, people always blaming others for for literally everything instead of taking responsibility for their own actions & foreigners who keep trying to tell us what they think we should do, almost left out video games & MTV:D

So your skate boards aren't US made??? Mine are, as are my BMX bikes:D

Can't forget this guy
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1216166428.jpg

No specter of Invasion..
Snipe, their thru the fence and dancing in the compound.
And for all our might and bombs, we don't do scheisse.

Rika

Read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. I consider the book to be prophetic...

Liberals. We were made up of pioneers in the early days and they forged ahead making this country what it is now. They had kids and half of the kids were "go getters" and the other half were wimp liberals. Fast forward a couple of generations and the "go getters" are pushing forwards and getting killed faster than the wimp brothers and sisters.

Eventually the wimp liberals come into power as they vote the "go getters" out. This is not far from happening. Everytime we get a "Jimmy Carter or Slick Willy" into the office they mess things up for years so a conservative comes in and gets things worked out, then the wimp libs think that they can take over again and it happens.

Its a viscious cycle and eventually those of us who take chances and get ahead in life will be out numbered by the wimps who want the govt to do everything for them. Like Obama, they want to talk with the terrorists instead of killing them. They do not understand talk, they think that talking is for pussies. They understand violence and power and the more you talk, the more they plot to kill you...

There, thats whats happened to America and how we will fall to the same level that the UK and France will be shortly.

Except for the Bible, this book is rated the #1 book that influenced people in many surveys.

This book nails what I wrote above... and what we will become if we do not wake up!

First, it isn't clear that the US _is_ an empire. IF it is, then we have a very elastic definition going on.

Then you'd have to decide what aspects of the term "Empire" would have to reach what level to answer your question.

e.g. suppose we wind up sharing the planet with China and India - which may well happen - give or take a chunk for Europe and maybe Japan. What would your answer be then?

But for a quick response, I'll say right wing nutballs. They have been proliferating lately and are clearly over-grazing their habitat. If they can't regulate themselves, we will have to call in Terminex (or Roto-Rooter).

Joe,
That is certainly true for me. I can ignore the atheistic rants in her book, but the rest is spot-on, 100% prophecy...

That is only true for as long as it's in our interests to be a 'benevolent world power'.

At some point self-interest trumps all. We do not plunder our enemies by choice, it's not because we are not capable.

That has always been the case for any military in any empire.

Only because a large % of our population views their presence as non-detrimental, if not an outright positive.

You know, cheap labor and all. It is roughly akin to the Romans importing masses of slaves from their vanquished enemies conquered territories. In many ways, the illegal immigration problem is a spoil of (economic) warfare. Slave wages here are better than where they came from- thus providing us with masses of slave laborers. Unlike the Romans, we don't even have to pay for their transport back to Rome. ;)

Greed and Narcissism.

Not corporate greed as Dottore suggests, but personal greed. Corporate greed is merely an outgrowth of the personal mantra of "more is better, because it is more". Everybody must have an iPhone (or whatever gadget you'd like to insert), or a McMansion or ..... the list goes on. It is further promoted by the media to encourage the "engine of economic growth" (the american consumer) by shows like "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" (now "Cribs").

Corporate greed is certainly a part of that. For instance, it is somewhat laughable (to me) that there is a large portion of economics devoted solely to maximizing profits by "price points". Establishing the cost of an item and marking it up a x% is no longer good enough. We must calculate cost/item vs predicted #'s sold to max the profit.

Personal responsibility has segued to "it's all about me". And entitlement expectations are once again driven by greed "politician x says that everyone should have 2.5 children, a house, 2 cars, and free healthcare......"

in a digital world, soft power can be prevalent and insidious. To think that America is "safe" because we have nukes is fine for the world before the network. Forget Atlas Shrugged, just watch Star Wars.

Greed and narcissism go hand in hand with hubris.

My g/f is from HK. Speaks Cantonese and Mandarin (as well as fluent English and some German). Double hedge bet...

Maybe you can explain, how does taking our tax money and giving it to Iraq and China and the others who hold our debt make our country wealthier than taking our money and re-distributing it throughout our country.

I am not for handouts and believe that people should have to work for welfare( that solves our field worker problem), but I can not see the downside of building our roadways, schools, levees, bridges, factories, border fences, law enforcement, teachers, etc,,,,,. with the money we currently give to other countries.

We are in debt because we don't manufacture anymore.

You're quote above is funny, as your republican administration steers the Titanic.

You do realize your tax dollars are going to bail out the real estate crash. Your tax dollars are going to bail out the mortgage industry and your tax dollars are going to bail out the banking industry.
You are not even going to get any stock shares for this investment, does this sound fair to you?

Now if these companies made record profits, do you think you would see a check? I do not think so.

Like I said republicans "privatize the profits, socialize the losses"

Socialism.

You're right, I am so glad Bush came in and got things worked out. If you philistines weren't busy joking about Jimmy Carter at the time, your t-bone Pickens character would not be needed right now.

I realize he had one of the highest IQs of any president, but that doesn't mean he is speaking a foreign language.
I don't expect you to be a progressive thinker but laughing at those who are just makes you look even stupider.

Now look at the mess the neo-cons have gotten us into. You're even thinking about voting for grandpa McCain, jesus, the guy is just learning how to use a computer.
He is a luddite.

Long shot...her name's not Cheryl is it? (My ex who lives in LA.)

that would be funny. Nope. Your ex an artist?

Liberals and elitist snobs don't like that book, or any other by Ayn Rand.

one could also argue psuedo-intellectuals and weak-minded parrots think Rand is deep. So what's your point other than name-calling? ;)

Can a thinking person not like Ayn Rand, or is it a universal truth that she was brilliant? fwiw I know some liberals who love Atlas Shrugged...

Speaking from what I believe is roughly the center, I could agree with the previously mentioned, "Right wing whackjobs." Fortunately it is... uh... fairly easy to... uh... keep track of several of them...

They, of course, would be followed closely by "Left wing whackjobs." As a group, however, they are not nearly as vocal or active (except in the whacked out delusions of right wing whackjobs).

As for the person who suggested that Republicans are always having to clean up messes left by Democrats... Have you ever read any American history? Surely both are to blame for their share of crap but does stuff like the Great Depression ring any bells? How about the year 1973?

This is the root of our problem.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1216177948.gif

just to clarify I'm not saying that people are of any particular ilk because they like Rand. She certainly is the darling of the right and I understand why. I just don't care for her work, and while I agree with a few of her tenets, I certainly find some of her positions to be disturbing.

I dunno know about that. More than one Rush album's lyrics are based on Rand's writings and anyone who's read Neil Peart's own books knows he's about as far from a righty as one can be.

Saturated fats, insidious taxation and government (not the ideal of government, but our current government: Dems and Repubs).

China won't kill us, they're counting on us and we both need to be good partners to each other.

So did I say something that wasn't true?

Liberals and elitist snobs don't like that book or any other by Ayn Rand.

read my previous post - I said I know liberals who like Rand. But she is certainly a poster child for much of the right.

They're making a movie out of Atlas Shrugged for 2009 release. It stars Angelina Jolie.

Can't wait to not see that one.

Russel Crowe and Brad Pitt are both also slated to be in it.

Can't wait to see how Hollywood rewrites it. I can't believe they could follow the book. Maybe they updated it to The Clinton years.

Ignorance. And the willful pursuit thereof.

I was getting a little scattered during the edit (3 y/o distraction), but intended to acknowledge that greed/narcissism and hubris are two faces of the same coin.