The fall of the American Empire...

[tk2kewl]

Without a shadow of a doubt bushCo is hasten our demise at breakneck speed. Environmental catastrophe alone would have posed serious challenges to the soc-called "American way of life" over the course of this century, but thanks to mismanagement of every possible facet of the federal government from gutting FEMA to shipping our NG out to Iraq, rocketing deficits and exporting jobs, and the overall gutting and looting of every agency and program designed to help provide for society, bushCo is bring us right to the brink.

So where are we in the fall of the American Empire?

[SteppingRazor]

1. Other...

Nov. 2000 marked the fall of the American Republic and the dawn of the American Empire.

That Empire will last a very long time, at least another hundred years or more, since we are now perfectly willing to take whatever we want by force.

[tk2kewl]

3. yeah... i am not a great wordsmith... i didn't like the wording there

but was thinking of the fall of great civilization past

[bryant69]

2. Nice upbeat poll

Is America fucked? Many Democratic Underground observers note that, yep, America is fucked. This is the kind of inspiring leadership that will move people into a new Golden Age. Well maybe not that, because America is Fucked. But it is the kind of leadership that will let us all feel good about ourselves.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[tk2kewl]

4. feel free to offer an upbeat response.

I started an upbeat thread last night that sank like a stone

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4518025&mesg_id=4518025

[bryant69]

5. What's the point

America is fucked. How do you make an upbeat poll about that?

[tk2kewl]

7. ok... i thought you were criticizing me for my negativity

unfortunately I am afraid it will get much, much worse before as a nation we are willing to do the things it takes prosper in the 21st C

[bryant69]

8. Nope you've convinced me

But I wonder what makes you think we will ever do the things necessary to prosper in the 21st century? That strikes me as wildly out of character with the rest of the post.

[tk2kewl]

11. I think overall, we did a pretty good job as a country

over the last 65 years of the 20th C. We made a lot of progress in civil rights and lifted many millions of peoples standards of living. It took 2 horrible wars, an economic catastrophe, and a devastating drought to wake people up. I just wonder what it will take for the people of this country to feel we've hit bottom this time.

on edit: plenty of horrors in the 2nd half of the 20th C, but on the balance sheet i think we made progress

[Ready4Change]

6. If we continue this course we will fall. But, we needn't stay the course.

We can change directions. I am confident of that. The question is: Will we?

[Mizmoon]

9. This is a reminder of how fragile society is, ey?

One day you've got this fine old city and the next you're up to your neck in sludge, floodwaters, and alligators.

[BillZBubb]

10. The fall of the American Empire will be a great thing for the world

It's not a bad thing at all. We shouldn't be an empire to begin with.

If you are talking about the collapse of American economic might, that's a different story. The cost of Empire and the short term greed of too many of our citizens (outsourcing, "free" trade, etc) will lead to an American economic nosedive that is inevitable. That is the sad truth. No nation has ever prospered under a mountain of debt. Eventually the chickens come home to roost. The Bush mis-administration has already sealed the deal on this. Unfortunately, the collapse won't happen until after he's left the scene of the crimes.

[txaslftist]

12. Let it fall.

Who wants to live in an empire, anyway?