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[–]RandomCollection[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

https://archive.is/OYdj7

What's alarming about the US is that it seems so self- inflicted. Maybe it was inevitable that there would be a loss of US hegemony. India and China both have over 4x the US population. But the poor governance of the ruling class, their greed, and lust for world domination have accelerated this process. The US being surpassed by nations 4x in population need not have led to a catastrophic fall in living standards. Keep in mind that Nordic nations, at least before their neoliberal turn, had a good living standard and a small population.

[–]CaelianPost No Toasties 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

What's alarming about the US is that it seems so self-inflicted.

Most if not all empires fall from self-inflicted failures. Napoléon and Nazi Germany both decided invading Russia was a great idea. Often it's because of an unsustainable economic model. You can only pillage for so long before you run out of people to pillage (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Spain, England). Portugal's empire was done in by an Act of God — a devastating earthquake.

China, on the other hand, is going strong after thousands of years. I've read that China's success is because of Confucian philosophy.

[–]RandomCollection[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Fair enough. Then the US kind of joins the ranks of empires falling due to self inflicted problems.