Post WWII England and us...

[Javaman]

Prior to WWII England still held the high ground as a world power. They were still pretty bad ass on the high seas, but as the cost of WWII raged on prior to the U.S.'s involvement, England was spending itself into debt to maintain its defenses against a possible German invasion. For a variety of reasons, some real some down right bizarre, Hitler called off his planned invasion of Britain. After the Battle of Britain and the non-German invasion, Britain was in deep financial trouble.
Pearl Harbor happens, the U.S. enters. We gear up our war production and the rest as they say is history.

Fast forward to the present.

The U.S. is spending itself into oblivion on Iraq and its new bloated governmental agencies that basically do nothing (read HLS). Our economy is at the breaking point, the dollar is dropping, inflation is under reported, employment and production is anemic at best.

When we go under who will be our benefactor?

China, Korea and Japan, since they hold the lion share of our T-bonds. The hold the purse strings.

When looking at how certain things are being played out in the world right now, it comes as no surprise as to why we look the other way when china does anything that either mildly or grossly pisses us off.

And so the failed empire building by the neo-cons will transform us into a second rate country that will have to parcel off it's possessions to pay off it's debts (read Britain's India and middle east).

These are the days to come.

What we have to figure out is, which piece of prime real estate do you think will be given up to appease our chinese overlords in the future. I'm betting on Alaska. With climate change, that tundra should make pretty good farm land at some point when the temp is just right.

[Ezlivin]

1. Chalmers Johnson has noted as much

In his "The Sorrows of Empire" and "Nemesis" he documents the spread and the cost of our empire.

In "Nemesis" he basically says that other empires failed because they proved too costly to maintain, as you have noted.

The American Empire is in its last throes...

[dave_p]

2. Britain was going down by 1905

Britain found even before then that it couldn't maintain its power alone. The US today is at a similar point, probably further along the road if it only realised. Few do.

It's not a failure or a tragedy. There are no Men Who Sold America. It's just the way shit happens. The winners are those who see it coming and deal with it. It's what makes GOP world-domination nuts such pathetic losers.

The US is still strong enough & influential enough to deal. If it can't cope the rest of the world will give it the finger and roll on regardless, as happened to poor, pathetic old Britain.

It's America's call. Fukuyama got it wrong. History doesn't stop dead for losers.