Is America Dying?

[indigobusiness]

America is not yet tyrannous, but the past four years under the Bush administration have ushered in some ominous trends.
By Scott D. O’Reilly



At America’s founding, a woman stopped to ask Benjamin Franklin what kind of government we would soon have. “A republic,” the founding father replied, “if you can keep her.”

As historian Gore Vidal notes, Franklin was certain that America’s grand experiment would someday end in tyranny. Is that day upon us? I’m sure Franklin would turn in his grave at the irony that a nation that cast off the yoke of an oppressive hereditary monarchy -- exemplified by the mad King George -- now finds itself in the thrall of yet another hereditary dynasty headed in recent years by a father and son pair of American aristocrats, both named, as fate would have it, George.

Contrary to some caricatures, America is not yet tyrannous. However, the past four years under the Bush administration have ushered in some ominous trends: one hijacked election; a radical right cabal that controls all three branches of government; journalists facing prison time for not divulging their sources (what has happened to freedom of the press under the First Amendment?); and an administration that has demonstrated a selective disregard for the Constitution, international laws and agreements, not to mention “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.”

That the American people, by a slim margin, essentially endorsed the administration’s course in 2004 is discouraging, but it should not be surprising; civilizations and societies have frequently embraced disastrous leaders in times of strife, danger, and challenge. If the past is prologue, the future portends many perils on the path America is taking. Let me explain why.

The historian Arnold Toynbee studied the life cycle of civilizations. Of the roughly two-dozen great civilizations --Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Inca, etc. -- all but our present Western civilization has met its fate. There is a common pattern, Toynbee argues, by which civilizations flower, mature, and ultimately disintegrate because they fail to address challenges in creative and constructive ways.

snip

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=959&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[Demeter]

1. Is That A Depiction of Gondor?

I think the US is terminally ill, and only the most drastic intervention will save her. But we are afraid to act. We have no structure upon which to build a popular movement, and short of doing the Buddhist monk immolation route (the flip side of a suicide bomber), there isn't a whole lot individuals can do. We tried the grassroots with Dr. Dean, and had our heads handed to us by our own compatriots. Kerry is off roaming in Syria and observing the Palestinian elections, instead of working on his own. It is disgusting.

[indigobusiness]

4. Grassroots efforts didn't fail

just because the election hinged on one state. Losing the election doesn't equate to failure. Much good was achieved, and as long as the healthy dialogue speaks with as loud a voice as less healthy dialogues, the message will propagate and take root in the good hearts and minds of decent people. My fears aren't based in concerns that good and wise folk are outnumbered, but that they are successfully manipulated by lies.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Picture is The Tower of Babel, by Breughel the Elder

see eg http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_cult/evolit/s04/babel.html

On edit: sorry, this was meant to be a reply to post #1

[indigobusiness]

7. Yes, it's one of the best. There's more Tower of Babel images here

for those that are interested.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x2243

http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/babel.htm
http://www.occultopedia.com/index1.htm



And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth. - Genesis 11.

---
BTW Thanks for the link, interesting.

[spooked911]

2. We're on the decline, no doubt-- in so many ways

But the next four years be the key-- do we keep these bastards in power or kick them out?

[indigobusiness]

3. The point made about the cycles of empire

makes it clear we are past our peak and on the downslope to reckoning. It looks grim and futile, but everyday is chance to do the small good things that make a real difference.

The halls of power have just spun out of control, reining them in will be painful and ugly.

America won't fare well as a third world country.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. The question is, will we have a soft landing, like

Britain, the Netherlands, and France, which came to realize that they could no longer hang on to their empires and have adjusted well, or will we have a hard landing, like Spain and Portugal, which deteriorated into nearly medieval living standards after their colonies won independence?

[indigobusiness]

8. Right. But Spain and Portugal didn't sacrifice their heart and soul...

like America seems to be doing.

Wait a minute, I forgot The Inquisition...nevermind.

[Name removed]

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