"US primacy" Topic

A thoughtful article that spells out US superiority over its rival, China:

link

Although there is some wishful thinking in the article, it does present a plausible case for the US having a definite edge. And it does this without recourse to blowhard threats & gung-ho fantasies.

For non-Americans, it's worth remembering that with all its flaws, the US is our best hope.

Thanks for the kind thought – I suffer from having read
Gibbon and am apprehensive since the parallels 'tween
his depiction of Rome and our (US) modern-day situation
are both striking and bode ill.

But perhaps that can be said or has been said of any
culture in the world's history which rose to prominence
and then fell into decline.

Having both run for public office in the past, and as a current co-host of a political round table show, I confess that I have often been guilty of playing up gloom and doom scenarios. That said, while the U.S. has its flaws, with the possible exception of Switzerland, one would be hard pressed to find another country in the world better suited to meet the challenges that faces it. Whatever the case, speaking as an American, I would in no way exchange our circumstances for those of our primary competitors like China. I guess one could call me a realistic (that is, comparatively speaking) optimist.

@KevinC, well said!

Complacency aside, I'm not sure the US is in a terminal decline. They've gone through hard times, poor leaders & social upheaval before.

One aspect of the current health crisis that strikes me is despite the slow response to the disaster & the somewhat piecemeal measures to counter it, the sheer power of the US is amazing. How many inhalators are they turning out? Amazing.

Decline need not be terminal. China was millennia ago
a world power, albeit the world was in some respects a
smaller yet at the same time a larger place.

Chinese fleets roamed many places and explored a large
part of the planet, much as European powers did perhaps
almost 2000 years later.

Then came a sunset – decline, but not terminal

I've read very little of Egyptian history but perhaps
the same process took place.

Ed, the Bronze Age Collapse gave Egypt a lingering decline over hundreds of years. Although unlike the Mycenaeans, Hittites, various Syrian kingdoms, Egypt wasn't destroyed but it never held its pre-eminent position again.

Clearly it's hard to judge the long term results of events you are living in. I would say the state of the media in the US is of some concern. A lot of independence has given way to sycophancy. But we students of history know that things have been worse & recovered.

I remain optimistic.

History has shown that no empire lasts forever. Pax Americana is only 75 years old, so if its "gradual decline" lasts as long as Rome's that's longer than most people would have any right to expect.

As for democracy being superior to autocracy, it depends. China's "benevolent" autocracy is embraced by a vast majority of the Chinese population, normal people who willingly, to paraphrase Australian PM Scott Morrisson, bartered away their liberty and freedom for economic prosperity and security in a social contract. The Chinese value social order and collective responsibility over individualism, so one should not assume that democracy is appropriate for everyone.

History has shown that no empire lasts forever

So far.

An optimist falls off the top of a 100 story building……

As the optimist fell past the 20th floor, he quietly whispered, "So far, so good"!

An oldie but a goodie…

West as a concept revolving around a global leader based on democracy, human rights, equality etc has been dismantled for a whole now.

We are back to a multiple world ala pre 1945. We are also headed to other pre-1945 norms – ultra rich elites and masses of poor and/or disenfranchised and security infrastructure increasingly dedicated to controlling dissenting opinions.

Our descendants will view the period 1945-2050 as a lost golden era.

"Human history: A dark and turbulent stream of folly, illuminated now and then by flashes of genius."

-Isaac Asimov
Dedication to ‘Asimov's Chronology of the World'