"The Conceited Empire"

[McKenzie]

Just read the long thread on the CIA's comments about Europe being unable to sustain its welfare system leading to eventual collapse of the EU. Even a blind man could see that it is propaganda.

I then fished out a link to an interview in 2003 with Emmanuel Todd, Historian and Political Scientist at the National Institute for Demographics in Paris. Todd wrote a book titled "The Conceited Empire" which predicts the end of America as an empire. His predictions are often accurate; in a previous work, in 1976, he predicted the fall of the Soviet Union. Read that again...1976.

Now look at his commentary on the likely future of the US. Bear in mind that this guy is no standard lefty so his arguments can't be easily dismissed as rhetoric.

<snip1>

It is often said that the Europeans are somewhat naïve and passive.
They are accused of having neglected their military. But when you understand that military might is no longer the true power, and when you see that presently the Americans no longer possess the economic means to maintain their military apparatus, then you must conclude that the Europeans have done the right thing. They have placed their reliance on their economy. They have introduced the Euro. Their industrial policies are coherent and substantial. Airbus is only one example. Europe is well armed.

<snip2>

The only remaining superiority is military. This is classic for a crumbling system. The final glory is militarism. The fall of the Soviet Union took place in an identical context. Their economy was in decline, and their leadership grew fearful. Their military apparatus gained in size and stature and the Russians embarked on adventures to forget their economic shortcomings. The parallels in the US are obvious. The process has significantly accelerated in the past few months.

<snip>

http://www.countercurrents.org/us-senn080803.htm

[IrateCitizen]

1. Actually, the book is "After the Empire"

The title of the book is actually After the Empire, or Apres l'empire in the original French title. I read it when the English translation first became available. It is excellent -- I highly recommend it to everyone.

[McKenzie]

4. LOL! My bad. Just Googled for a link or two

found this one, read a bit about the guy but assumed the title of the book was as shown at the top of the article...wrongly.

thnx.

[Larkspur]

2. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr would agree

He said in his famous speech denouncing the US war against Vietnam that a nation that spends more on military expenses than on social needs of it's people is a nation undergoing spiritual death.

[Warpy]

3. I've been saying that for a very long time

that this country is going to be SOL very quickly in the next big war. We no longer make cloth. We no longer make shoes. We no longer make the electronics components the military is utterly dependent upon. We don't even manufacture sufficient bullets to supply the forces now in Iraq.

The government (and I mean free market dogmatics in both parties) has allowed us to be systematically looted of every industry this country will need if even mild economic sanctions are imposed, let alone an all out war. We are now in fact a very weak nonindustrialized country with an increasingly desperate population and a disporpotionately large military funded by debt.

These stupid and shortsighted policies have put us all in grave danger. The system cannot be sustained unless radical changes are made.