The United States; End of a Era
The United States has reigned supreme politically and economically over the world for the last 60 odd years. Founded in 1776 as the Americans rebelled against the British, the state was a relativity small country until the influx of new settlers pushing west spreading the American Dream. This was the start of the American Empire and was called Manifest Destiny.
Manifest Destiny was a belief held by many Americans that the country itself was destined to conquer the continent. The belief was fueled by the idea that America was a divine country and this was gods will This belief continued out after the 19th century and has survived well into the 21st.
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| Puck Magazine cover April 6th 1901 |
Skip Forward to the events after World War II. America is now the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. Scared of the threat towards democracy the United States sets up military bases all over the world to quell the Soviet threat. By doing this the United States had given the new Allied states funding effectively allowing them to control governments and set up "puppet states" . This allowed Americas political sphere of influence to increase even larger.
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| American (Green) and Soviet (Orange) Spheres of influence |
By the end of the Cold War the Soviet Union had collapsed and the only sole remaining power in the world was America. Needing new enemies to fight the Americans then targeted in on the Middle East after the Soviets had previously failed in an attempted invasion of Afghanistan. America has now been in the Middle East for over 12 years. America spends 4.4% of it's annual GDP on military expenditure making it the largest in the modern world.
All empires must fall and the United States is no exception. The recent economic fall of America has resulted in huge debt and political and social problems in America. China the new rising power in the east now holds an estimated 10 Trillion Dollars or 68 cents to every dollar is now owned by China. Some theorists don't think America can ever pay every cent back to China in it's current state effectively allowing the Chinese to own the American market. In 2008 the economy hit it's lowest point in modern
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| Dow Jones Indutrial Average from 1971 to 2012 |
Because of the United States economy in dismay and the countries it's overspending of military and over use of military the United States has stretched it's limits much to that of the likes of the Roman Empire. The United States will fall but when is a question with strong economic activity and new generation of youth wanting change the fall could come much later then expected by the experts.
I agree with your points here. The United States is falling in a similar way to previous empires. If I were to change anything of what you said though; I would compare the circumstances of the United States to those of the great empires before their falls. As an example, like how the Roman Empire had stretched it's army thin and spent great amounts of money on it's army and it's people. Or how the growing lack of jobs in the States is similar to the mass unemployment of the Plebs in Rome, which was another significant factor in it's collapse as an Empire. In all however, I feel your point is made very clearly regardless.
ReplyDeleteTaylor, you provided a succinct summary of the United States' rise to power. You also provided examples to support your thesis. You need to remember to use parenthetical citations to cite your sources within the post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nick that you should have compared the fall of the American empire to that of other empires. In fact, I think we had a discussion about this, where I caved and said you could discuss the Roman empire, as long as you also used an empire the fell within the time frame of the course.
Taylor I agree with your statement on the fall of the U.S.A. Size is a very big issue in the US and Americans like to have the biggest cars, houses, and even the largest economy. But such things are no longer true. The country has fallen in hard times and the future looks bleak for both jobs and the economy. One of the factors you talked about with the US debt to China is evidently true. We both know that since the recession in 2008, many countries, including the US, still have not been able to recover. Foreign governments own about 46% of all US debt held by the public, $4.5 trillion to be exact. Their largest foreign holder, China, holds more than $1.2 trillion in bills, notes and bonds, according to US treasury. This means that 8% of those debts is owned by the chinese government. The domestic market of the US, may actually be on a verge of a foreign takeover. As this debt clock continues to increase everyday, even if the US tries to pay back the debt, they wont be able to pay it in full.
ReplyDeleteLike you said Taylor, it is the next generations turn to takeover the issues occurring in this world. We maybe the last hope in restoring balance to the US economy, and determining if North America, is on a verge of continental collapse. Your points are valid, and creates questions in many of us, wondering where the future of the US is really going.